Maybe we should just accept the fact that journalists are determined to define everything in terms of red and blue states. Here’s how it works for big box retailers: Like today’s Democratic Party, Costco favors highly trafficked urban and edge-city locations … Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Founded in Arkansas (a blue-turned-red state), it grew by spreading into the adjacent South and Great Plains. Like today’s Republican Party, it focuses intensely on rural areas and generally avoids cities. BTW, LA recently (sort of) banned Wal-Mart, but not Costco.