'Do you ever get busy?'

Life Today I visited the new Wal*Mart store in Huyton, near Liverpool. I'd expected to return filled with stories about putting one over on the global multinationals in their own territory, of debunking the myth that globalisation doesn't mean homogenization. But after an hours travel by bus to get there, I found a ruddy great Asda. It might have the logo familiar and infamous to Americans on the side of the building and on the carrier bags, but disappointingly it looks just like the shop we have round the corner from were I live. It's on two levels with a moving walkway between, and it emphasizes the George clothes line as much as the food but it's exactly the same as the rest of the British business. And no guns for sale, which I hear is a hallmark of the US stores. So rather than making Naomi Klein proud of me, I bought a bag of sugar and a Radio Times and drank one of their cups of coffee. That said, the proximity of the store to the main Huyton shopping precinct will no doubt put paid to a fair few small businesses in the long run, so by that token it's fairly clear that the US strategy is being followed fairly closely.