I think I'm going crazy . . .

Henry · Jul 18, 2005

I don't want to like Wal-mart for various reasons, but when my grocery bill is $40.00 a week lower, I can't afford not to.

Starman · Jul 18, 2005

reveal said:
[rant]

If you go into any location with a pre-conceived notion of who/what you're going to find in there, then of course you're going to "feel dirty" or think that people in there are stupid. Gimme a break. I find it asinine that people complain about Wal-Mart first and then go in there and "their opinions are justified." That's BS. You're opinions are justified because you WANT them to be justified. You find anything you can to verify your opinions and make yourself feel better that you don't shop there. Get over yourself; you're not perfect.

[/rant]

So, which Wal-Mart do you work at?

reveal · Jul 18, 2005

Starman said:
So, which Wal-Mart do you work at?

I don't work at one and I never have. This was simply an observation of how people can go into a place with preconceived notions of the people who shop at Wal-Mart (or any place) and get very self-righteous when they're "proven correct." I think it's sad that people are ready to call others "stupid" and "idiots" without knowing anything about them. Maybe they had a bad day. Maybe they made a mistake. That doesn't mean they're stupid; it means they made a mistake as any human would.

DarrenGMiller · Jul 18, 2005

Henry said:
I don't want to like Wal-mart for various reasons, but when my grocery bill is $40.00 a week lower, I can't afford not to.

My wife and I were having that discussion the other day. We root for the local business, but when you are barely getting by paycheck to paycheck, you become dependent on low prices like those at Wal-Mart and their Sam's Club. They are making themselves indispensible, or trying to, by making sure you can't live without their bargains and will not pay a higher price to support the local guy, or shop where people know you by name. We are learning that most of the "bargains" are illusions however (we chose to disbelieve). You can find lower prices if you look hard enough, but then you waste time when you can just shop at Wal-Mart and get a pretty good deal on most everything.

It is all Tom Cruise's fault. As he said in Rain Man, "K-Mart sucks!" At least we can blame it on him.

DM

reveal · Jul 18, 2005

wolf70 said:
My wife and I were having that discussion the other day. We root for the local business, but when you are barely getting by paycheck to paycheck, you become dependent on low prices like those at Wal-Mart and their Sam's Club. They are making themselves indispensible, or trying to, by making sure you can't live without their bargains and will not pay a higher price to support the local guy, or shop where people know you by name. We are learning that most of the "bargains" are illusions however (we chose to disbelieve). You can find lower prices if you look hard enough, but then you waste time when you can just shop at Wal-Mart and get a pretty good deal on most everything.

Near our last home, they had a place called No Frills. It was a "bag your own" grocery store that had really low prices compared to the other grocery store near us. Then they put in a Super Saver right behind our townhome. We made a list of the items we commonly purchased and went to SS. We wrote down how much everything was and did the same at No Frills.

In the end, was SS cheaper? Nope. Was No Frills cheaper? Nope. Did SS have a wider selection? Yep. Was SS directly behind us within walking distance? Yep.

Basically, convenience and selection were the key. As you said, you may find lower prices elsewhere. In the end, it's up to the consumer to figure out the best place to shop. Right now, Wal-Mart is the best place in our area. Once the new Hyvee goes up, we'll check the prices. Even if it's a tad more expensive, convenience (Hyvee's a few miles closer) and a larger selection will make Hyvee more favorable to shop at.

Henry · Jul 18, 2005

wolf70 said:
We are learning that most of the "bargains" are illusions however (we chose to disbelieve). You can find lower prices if you look hard enough, but then you waste time when you can just shop at Wal-Mart and get a pretty good deal on most everything.

In our case, we can definitely tell in the budget when we've been making the trip to Super Wal-mart (about 15 miles away), versus getting lazy and shopping at the local Food Lion/Piggly Wiggly/IGA.

A Target moved into the area about a year ago, and when shopping there, I looked at the prices and felt like I was getting ripped off!

It's a good store in terms of selections, but not enough to persuade me off of the "W".

reveal · Jul 18, 2005

Henry said:
In our case, we can definitely tell in the budget when we've been making the trip to Super Wal-mart (about 15 miles away), versus getting lazy and shopping at the local Food Lion/Piggly Wiggly/IGA.

Ah Piggly Wiggly. It's been a long time since I've been into one (1984 when I lived in Valdosta, GA). Good times, good times.

Einan · Jul 18, 2005

I do not shop at Wal*Mart and will not, but this is due to having worked for them for 5 years. And someone said above that a lot has to do with the Store Manager: this is true. I've worked in three separate Wal*Marts during my tenure and I concur. However, a great deal of the problem with Wal*Mart transcends each store. Wal*Mart has learned from great practice that it is far better to hire and train a new worker than promote a current worker and thus spend more money on them. It operates very efficiently and clinically in its actions. I have seen far too many good workers driven out in order that the store could post higher profits by hiring a new worker at a lower wage.

In addition, the store is patently designed to minimize thought and capitalize on the fact that Americans are lazy.

Example: You purchase a microwave. You go to the microwave aisle. Next to the microwaves are microwave popcorn, microwave safe dishes, etc. All of these items in a traditional store would be in a different aisle, along with others members of its genre or type. At Wal*Mart, they put them together, in the idea that lazy consumer will see them and impulsively think, "I need those items, too!" It's an absolute genius strategy: plant impulses in consumers' minds by placing complementart items together. No other store or chain does this to such a degree and the sales figures show it. I shudder at the genius whenever I think of it.

Further: Wal*Mart's store building strategy is to buy land outside of city limits, thus depriving cities and school systems of the property tax revenues. This maximizes profits, but does nothing to benefit local areas. Usually it harms them further because after Wal*Mart moves in, local businesses who do contribute to the local government tend to close, ending the city's revenue from taxes.

Plus, most of what Wal*Mart imports comes from China, including goods produced in forced labor camps. Political prisoners are forced to work long hours for no pay and all the money goes to support the Chinese government. Meanwhile, US manufacturing jobs are moving to third world suppliers, and unemployment among undereducated workers in America rises.

Wal*Mart may be amoral, but you have a choice whether you support what this "amoral" company is creating in our society. I urge you to think twice before shopping there.

Einan

Hijinks · Jul 18, 2005

Iowa's really important!

Huzzah! We rock! Of course, I'm transplanted from Northern Virginia, but that's ok, I like it here!

I don't want to like Walmart for various reasons, but when my grocery bill is $40.00 a week lower, I can't afford not to.

I agree. This is why I primarily shop at Walmart when I can bring myself to tough the crowds. My preference is Walmart > Target > Hy-vee. Walmart is by far the cheapest in Cedar Rapids, and their selection is the best; their produce is even better than anywhere else that I've found, except for farmers markets of course. Target has an ok selection, not great, but is a little more expensive. Hy-vee is the most expensive that I've found in the area. I have a $50 per week grocery budget. At Walmart, that amount will get me substantially more groceries than at Hy-Vee, ergo I shop at Walmart.

I do agree that putting up with the inconveniences at Walmart make it tiresome. Yesterday I went in around 8 pm. I brought 5 12-packs of cans to put in the recycle machines. I LOVE the recycle machines - sure, they stink, but they're oh so convenient, when they're working. There were several people waiting to put cans in - why they don't install a new can machine, I'll never know, since 75% of the people who bring in recyclables are bringing in cans, but I digress - and my turn was next. One lady had a cartful of cans and was using one machine, so I went to the other one. "Bin full, contact store personnel." Great. A Walmart employee showed up to empty the glass bin, I told him about the can bin. "Oh .. ok .. I'll be back." Twenty minutes later he hadn't returned, and the other lady was STILL shoving cans in the other machine. Finally she finished - no sign of the Walmart employee - and I went to use her machine. "Out of ticket paper, contact store." %&#*%&%&@!!!!! I just pushed my cart aside and abandoned it. Coulda used that $3 too

You're opinions are justified because you WANT them to be justified.

It's "your".

convenience (Hyvee's a few miles closer) and a larger selection will make Hyvee more favorable to shop at

Ordinarily I would agree with you, but the Hy-Vee near my house is hopeless when it comes to selection. I was trying to find canned red peppers - the hot kind - for a Thai recipie I was trying. I looked and looked - nothing. I looked in the produce section - not even any FRESH hot peppers, no jalapenos, no serranos, nothing. I asked an "assistant manager" and he led me down the canned vegetable aisle, and handed me a jar of sweet red peppers. Um. Thanks. I said "hot peppers," nimrod! Bleh. I only got to H-V if it's one or two things to pick up on the way home.