I end up at WalMart about once a year.  (Last time because I was on the way to the shooting range, and it was the only place on the way that would have targets.)  I end up a Target so rarely, I don't even know where there closest one is.  (The one I shopped at occasionally closed several years back.  I think there's another in the area, but I've never been to it.)

It's not a matter of principle, though.  Mostly it's just a matter of not buying much general merchandise stuff.

We buy groceries at Schnucks and IGA, both of which are within walking distance.  We're also lucky in that we have an actual old-fashioned hardware store within walking distance as well.  The last time we needed to get general merchandise of the sort that you can't get at a grocery store, we went to Farm and Fleet (part of a regional chain of "big box" type stores), which was having a great sale on compact fluorescents.

I suppose part of it is just that we already have a lot of the stuff that you might buy at a store like that--we've got a TV, a camera, dishes, pots and pans, clothes, etc.  We don't have kids, so we're not having to constantly replace things that are getting outgrown.  Our clothes do wear out, but that happens pretty slowly.  I don't think I've bought any new clothes since last summer, and only one pair of new shoes.  (I'll have to buy some new clothes once the weather turns warm, although maybe I can hold out until the new season's things go on sale.)

I take a certain amount of satisfaction from not patronizing those stores, but it's really cheating for me to do so--I'll break down and shop there when it's most convenient. Mostly, though, I don't.