I think it's good to ask yourself why you are giving money to Starbucks or Home Depot instead of a local merchant (if possible) or one more allied with your values.
On a national scale, why give our money to China or Saudi Arabia.
As for consumerism, a real problem is that kids are subjected to the marketing blizzard at a very young age, and it is very effective on them (to the annoyance of parents everywhere). But when you grow up in such an environment, it becomes normalized and it can be hard to shake or look at critically. One of the genius areas in America is marketing, making things sound impressive and desirable, and that you are worse off without whatever item they are touting.
One of my favorite examples, there's a German cereal called Chocolumpus with some generic cartoon animal on the packaging. It looks like someone whipped that whole concept and ad campaign up in one afternoon on their own. It's almost like admitting that's it's just cereal and not that important. In the US, it's Count Chocula, or Frosted Flakes with Tony the Tiger, who has his own catchphrase and almost seems like an old friend by now.