Dollar General Stores!
http://www.dollargeneral.com/ourstores/pages/storelocationsmap.aspxThey are the market leader in dollar stores with storefronts within 10 miles of a very large percentage of the urban American population, and have a solid website. Not perfect, mind you, but it would give them a small edge within an already competitive market.
And I love the 'bitcoin card' idea, also. It would allow bitcoins to be sold *anywhere* just like prepaid phone cards are now. Still not the most cost effective solution, but a workable one that should appeal to the privacy concerned.
I did notice, while I was a Walmart today, that the space that used to be occupied by a tax prep company is now occupied by a "Walmart Money Center". There is already a bank branch, so I did a quick looksee on my way out. It appears to be a currency exchange/international transfer desk. Has anyone else seen this? And if I'm right, and Walmart is now manning a full time currency exchange (most likely for hispanics sending money back to the motherland for family) why would Bitcoins be objectionable? Sure, Walmart is a corporation and as such is a 'legal entity' created by the state, and not likely to push back if the feds ever get sideways with bitcoin; but Walmart is actually *bigger* than many governments, and has plenty of their own influence with the state. As long as no one is actively trying to portray bitcoins as a subversive subculture, things should be fine. I've noticed that many forum members seem to view themselves as proto-monetary-revolutionaries, but I certainly don't look at things like this. If the public were to view bitcoins in a similar light, there is no way it can ever succeed. It's just commerce, guys. Free trade of the freest form, and nothing else. That might seem revolutionary to some in our modern world, but it should only seem that way to those whom have a deep vested interest in the status quo, and that is exactly the kind of person that we don't want to attract attention from. Nor are they the kind of people that tend to shop at Wal-mart, Dollar General or online most anywhere; and *certainly* don't buy anonymous phone cards for a pre-paid cell phone.
The anonymous nature of bitcoins is not it's most important feature. That's just a side effect of it's cash-like nature. The most important feature for it's success, now and forever, is that it does not require the implicit support of any single political structure; be it a single wealthy individual, corporation or government. Such support wouldn't hurt matters; but the death of a man, nor the bankruptcy of a corporation, nor the overthrow of a government could not doom bitcoins to destruction. The balkenization of the international Internet might, but maybe not even that. Only the complete and permanent destruction of the Internet itself could stop bitcoins from becoming the future money of "Snow Crash" and "The Diamond Age", and if that ever happens very few people are going to be worried about their checking account balance either.