Wal-Mart is consistently profitable, found everywhere, presents itself as a formidable competitor, and has undertaken a serious effort recently to improve their image worldwide after LISTENING to the feedback of their customers.

Spirit is more like K-Mart....found in certain markets, hanging on for dear life every few years, and managed with a general feeling that one store closing could devastate the entire enterprise. And of course, K-Mart is always, and I mean always...looking for investors to pump capital into their corporation just to keep the dream alive.

Ahhhhh...but just like Spirit, K-Mart employees hold out hope that "growth" is just around the corner and that their image as a retailer will improve with the public. Of course, there's just one little problem: that pesky corporation called Wal-Mart and its vast enterprise.

Regrettably, K-Mart employees watch their local store in Podunk, USA close a few months later as Wal-Mart brings a new store to their town, complete with a newly paved parking lot, fancy LED traffic lights, better terms on purchases and returns than K-Mart, and cheerful greeters. They build a Sam's Club across town for an encore simply because it gives them more presence in that market. For good measure, they get the "wink-and-nod" treatment from local city council members for anything they desire.

But then again, K-Mart always seems to survive...somehow...without really getting any bigger. They have a knack for moving around to different cities and finding some way to make it all work, much like our beloved "Espirwin."