I'm not necessarily fond of Wal-Mart either, at least the GC one, even before construction. Glen Carbon is better, and Collinsville, as far as selection and employees is world's better....
I only go in there because it is closer than most other large stores in this area. I wish our K-Mart was better than it is as far as the store and employees. I went to one that was a "Super K-Mart" in Indiana once with my brother in law, and it was better than most Wal-Mart stores...
As far as unions/how they treat their employees, I don't like the way they handle their employees and pay them, but quite frankly, if you set up the perfect store, let's call it "Union Mart", with good pay, US made products (if you could even find them), it wouldn't last long, especially in this economy, the prices would be too high.