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Made in America store

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BlahBlahYouToo

Lifer
They're 100 percent American-made, every dang product.

A hardworking upstate welder got so fed up with losing work to overseas competition and being forced to lay off his own relatives that he decided to forge a new business -- a sprawling, Walmart-style store that peddles products entirely made in America.

Store owner Mark Andol says his proudly named Made in America business is defying hard economic times and thriving in Elma, near Buffalo. It's become a must-see for the tour-bus hordes heading to and from Niagara Falls.

"I always supported America. So I wanted to try something a little crazy," said Andol, 47, a married father of four. "People told me it would never work. No one wanted to buy American anymore."

But at the grand opening of his store last year, 800 people stormed through the doors.

"Everyone was shaking my hand and crying," Andol said. "People lost trust in the system. This gives them hope."

His patriotic store's shelves are crammed with products such as old-fashioned maple syrup tapped from US trees and bottled in jars made in America. There are wood-crafted educational toys from Pennsylvania, shrink-wrapped in American-made plastic.

A pair of Texas-brand jeans made in North Carolina goes for $30. US-made toilet paper is 50 cents a roll.

Sales have doubled since the store opened, Andol says, although he keeps the exact numbers close to his vest -- which is American-made, of course.

"When we opened the store, we had 50 products, some manufactured by ourselves, like a campfire ring," Andol said. "Now, we have 3,000 items, and I'm looking to expand it to 6,000.

"When you go through my doors, I've done the homework. I have done the research for you," said Andol, noting that he and his staff thoroughly check that nothing "is foreign-made."

Unlike some manufacturers, who can legally claim that their product is "made in America," even if some of the parts are imported, Andol said such items won't be sold in his store. Every stitch or screw or raw material has to be from here, he said.

Andol said he hopes to eventually open stores in Nashville, Tampa and somewhere in Texas.

"I think I could open a small [store] in New York City, too," he added.
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Online store- http://www.saveourcountryfirst.com/

:thumbsup:
 
Bookmarked. I'll give it a better look later, but I'm not very impressed with the hat and shoe selection. I was hoping they'd have the old school fitted engineers caps, but no luck. I still have my ancient one, plus a backup, but it would make me feel better knowing they were still available somewhere.
 
I've got to admit that I was expecting more of a variety for boots and other shoes. There are still some very good bootmakers in the US. Hell, New Balance has sneakers and things made in the USA and they don't have a single one.

I also dislike the URL of the store, save our country first? It makes it sound like a charity. I don't want to contribute to a charity, I want to find good quality products that are made places that actually have things like labor laws and environmental standards. There are good things made here that can be sold on their own merits.
 
Bignate603 said:
I also dislike the URL of the store, save our country first? It makes it sound like a charity. I don't want to contribute to a charity, I want to find good quality products that are made places that actually have things like labor laws and environmental standards. There are good things made here that can be sold on their own merits.
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that's a very good point
 
i think the idea is good; unfortunately most of the people i've met who try to explicitly 'buy american' are racist jackasses.

outside of the bigger cities in TN, you'll see 'american owned' signs at convenience stores and stuff...when i went to college in one such smaller town i tended to avoid those and go to the foreigners because they were nicer.

again, though: idea = good. it's just that we need actual socioeconomic change that encourages us to make and buy products within our own country, not just a few 'patriots' opening general stores. i commend the guy in the article assuming his heart's in the right place (i.e. motivated by something other than xenophobia), but it's kind of like closing the barn door after the horse got out and also the barn door is made of toothpicks.
 
brblx said:
i think the idea is good; unfortunately most of the people i've met who try to explicitly 'buy american' are racist jackasses.

outside of the bigger cities in TN, you'll see 'american owned' signs at convenience stores and stuff...when i went to college in one such smaller town i tended to avoid those and go to the foreigners because they were nicer.

again, though: idea = good. it's just that we need actual socioeconomic change that encourages us to make and buy products within our own country, not just a few 'patriots' opening general stores. i commend the guy in the article assuming his heart's in the right place (i.e. motivated by something other than xenophobia), but it's kind of like closing the barn door after the horse got out and also the barn door is made of toothpicks.
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You go to college in Cookeville?
 
Bignate603 said:
I want to find good quality products that are made places that actually have things like labor laws and environmental standards. There are good things made here that can be sold on their own merits.
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Yeah, how about fair trade tariffs as well?
 
If there were a "made in a country with decent labor laws and civil/human rights" store, I think I'd buy there.

Personally if it's made in the US, canada, various european countries, japan, s.korea(I guess?) etc. , then it is okay. China is doing better but still... it would be nice to push them towards at LEAST more humane hours and working conditions.
 
nonameo said:
If there were a "made in a country with decent labor laws and civil/human rights" store, I think I'd buy there.

Personally if it's made in the US, canada, various european countries, japan, s.korea(I guess?) etc. , then it is okay. China is doing better but still... it would be nice to push them towards at LEAST more humane hours and working conditions.
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I agree.

Honestly, I'd like to see people start to buy less stuff but better made stuff.
 
Who would visit an empty store? what will the sell? "nothing"? It has to be a hoax, I dont believe anything can be 100% made in US of Fail
 
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Bignate603 said:
I agree.

Honestly, I'd like to see people start to buy less stuff but better made stuff.
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yeah, some people do seem to forget that the chinese are FANTASTIC at being able to cheaply build a product to an exact spec.

unfortunately, american and european companies are generally telling them to build crap (as consumers collectively demand). not exactly their fault.
 
nonameo said:
If there were a "made in a country with decent labor laws and civil/human rights" store, I think I'd buy there.

Personally if it's made in the US, canada, various european countries, japan, s.korea(I guess?) etc. , then it is okay. China is doing better but still... it would be nice to push them towards at LEAST more humane hours and working conditions.
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Is "better" in China really still anything but crap?

We buy all this stuff as a way to skirt labor laws, it's just legal and on an international level.
 
Doppel said:
Is "better" in China really still anything but crap?

We buy all this stuff as a way to skirt labor laws, it's just legal and on an international level.
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true, I'm not saying its roses now but, maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel. That's all.

There are some things you just can't get around made in china with. Electronics are(usually) one of them.

Monitor: NEC multisync 1760v - made in china :-/

IBM keyboard: - made in china :-/

TI-89: - made in taiwan 😀 (well, china sorta but not really china, also not too familiar with the current labor situation there. I know at one time in the recent past there was a @#%$ of corruption and it was basically a dictatorship. I think I read somewhere that it had shaped up since then)

You know what would be awesome?

good country/bad country thread.
 
DesiPower said:
Who would visit an empty store? what will the sell? "nothing"? It has to be a hoax, I dont believe anything can be 100% made in US of Fail
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Empty? It's up to 3,000 items and looking to expand to nearly 6,000. Doesn't sound empty to me.

I might buy a pair of those Texas Jeans to see how they work out. I prefer relaxed fix though.....might see if I can find the Texas brand in relaxed fix.
 
Doppel said:
Is "better" in China really still anything but crap?

We buy all this stuff as a way to skirt labor laws, it's just legal and on an international level.
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basically wrong on both counts. as stated, decent stuff can be produced in china, it's just that most companies that are outsourcing their production there a) are cheap and b) know consumers are cheap. higher quality parts and labor are not unavailable; it's not a country of a billion people living in mud huts and making things by banging rocks together.

and labor laws are not the reason companies outsource to china. YES, labor laws are worse there, and yes, most goods made in bulk are cheaper to produce there, but the two do not necessarily share a direct correlation. yeah, it's a factor, but the real reason chinese goods will always be cheaper is, to paraphrase the situation, governmental economic shen[anigans]s.
 
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