Thoughts On Walmart

What is your relationship with Walmart?


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    21

hyson

Forum Jerk
Oct 19, 2008
11,844
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This just came to my mind.

I wanted to gauge your opinions on Walmart. Do you shop there? Do you avoid it? Or something in between?

Thoughts, feelings, opinions, observations, etc are welcome.
 

blyons200

These pretzels are making me thirsty.
Oct 12, 2008
8,448
1,548
113
The BBQ Capital
This just came to my mind.

I wanted to gauge your opinions on Walmart. Do you shop there? Do you avoid it? Or something in between?

Thoughts, feelings, opinions, observations, etc are welcome.
I avoid it like the plague. I only go there if I absolutely have no other choice. Target has better stuff, though I don't go there often either.
 
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semipenguin

Cheeseburger Connoisseur
Oct 11, 2008
25,162
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Janesville, MN
It's a good place to do my shopping while I'm on the road. Water. Fruit. Movies.

They put Suncoast out of business ...

Some will let truckers park there to shop. Some won't. Truckers have given themselves a bad name.

They just had one of their worst quarters in years. Big box stores may be on their way out ...
 
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hyson

Forum Jerk
Oct 19, 2008
11,844
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Did anyone see Penn and Teller's Show "BullSh!t" that features Walmart?
 

Wolf

Well-Known Member
Oct 11, 2008
33,309
10,059
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Phoenix
I would like try to avoid Walmart, but I go there for my grocery shopping and couple of other stuff. They're the only grocery store with cheaper grocery prices and plus they price match other store ads, unlike my other grocery stores do.
 
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memebag

Top Brass, ADVP
Oct 11, 2008
17,404
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Lake Huntzing
Warning: Anecdote Alert!

There are lots of different Wal-marts.

When I was young the first Wal-mart I ever saw was in Woodville, Texas. My grandparents lived there and were super excited by it. They spent a big chunk of time each Saturday there. Before Wal-mart moved in, Woodville didn't have much in the way of retail. They had a grocery store and a hardware store, but if you wanted a TV or something you had to drive to Tyler. Saturday was a party. There were hot dogs and roast corn, and everyone in town was there. And the prices were shockingly low. It was a kind of rural consumer paradise.

The Wal-mart in Sugar Land is clean and has good prices on synthetic motor oil. I'll stop there sometimes.

The Wal-mart near my house is disgusting and sad. It's filthy, and the people who shop there all look like their spirits have been crushed. There's a target less than a mile away that's clean and full of happy shoppers. The prices aren't that different as far as I can tell. I have no idea why people go there. Maybe it's some form of masochism.

Closer to my house is a Wal-mart Neighborhood Market. It's a 24 hour grocery store with an eclectic selection. Some categories are really limited, but others they have hard to find stuff. Kroger has a wider selection of just about everything.

Wal-mart Neighborhood Market, however, is a kind of modern torture chamber. It's easy to get in and find your items, but when it comes time to leave the horror begins. They usually have one check out aisle open, and the line for that is very long. There are four self serve check outs, but one or two are usually out of order. The rest are clogged with people who should not be allowed into self serve check out aisles. They do not understand how to follow the prompts on the screen. When it tells them to place their item in the bagging area they DO NOT PLACE THEIR ITEM IN THE BAGGING AREA. They place items in carts, or on the floor, or up their own asses. They all carry cash, and it's old wadded up wet cash that's been scribbled on that can't be fed into the bill receiver. Inevitably they thwart the best efforts of the friendly self serve check out machine and it calls for assistance, but there is no assistance. And so you stand there with your pint of Ben and Jerry's Americone Dream rapidly melting in your hand and try not to scream. You really try.
 

scotchandcigar

All I wanted was some steak
Feb 13, 2009
23,411
18,659
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Vacationland
Funny how many of you say, "I only shop there because they have this or that a little bit cheaper", as that's exactly how they overran the country with their lowest-common-denominator crap. Americans are spineless; we won't pay an extra 5% to keep a local business alive, so this is what we get. And it's also a shit place to work.
 
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blyons200

These pretzels are making me thirsty.
Oct 12, 2008
8,448
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The BBQ Capital
In Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota they have an employee owned grocery store called Hy-Vee, I usually by my groceries there, though we have 2 local butcher shops I usually get my meat from.
 
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memebag

Top Brass, ADVP
Oct 11, 2008
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Lake Huntzing
Funny how many of you say, "I only shop there because they have this or that a little bit cheaper", as that's exactly how they overran the country with their lowest-common-denominator crap. Americans are spineless; we won't pay an extra 5% to keep a local business alive, so this is what we get. And it's also a shit place to work.
But that's how it's supposed to work. That's capitalism. We shouldn't pay anything extra. The market seeks the closest optimal solution, ignoring long term consequences.
 
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blyons200

These pretzels are making me thirsty.
Oct 12, 2008
8,448
1,548
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The BBQ Capital
But that's how it's supposed to work. That's capitalism. We shouldn't pay anything extra. The market seeks the closest optimal solution, ignoring long term consequences.
I pay more because I demand higher quality than you get at Wal-Mart. My local grocery store also provides a much more pleasant shopping experience overall.
 

memebag

Top Brass, ADVP
Oct 11, 2008
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Lake Huntzing
I pay more because I demand higher quality than you get at Wal-Mart. My local grocery store also provides a much more pleasant shopping experience overall.
OK. But if you were happy with Wal-mart's quality and experience (like a whole lot of people seem to be) you'd shop there instead.

The problem with telling people they should use some moral criteria when choosing where to buy stuff is that it isn't a stable strategy. Some people will do it, but the ones who don't gain an economic advantage over them.

I'm not saying this is a good thing. It's a fundamental flaw in capitalism. It's ideal for finding quick ways to maximize profit, but that's not usually what generates the most human happiness.

When I was a kid there was a great deli in the mall near our house. It was family owned. They imported all kinds of meats and cheeses, beer and wine, tea and coffee, chocolate from all over the world. They supplied my first hazelnuts. They made killer sandwiches and pizzas using top notch ingredients.

There's no way the place was as profitable as a Subway, though. Subway can move a ton of bland sandwiches to people who don't care and squeeze every last penny of profit out of that. The family deli required someone's passion and joy to stay in business.

The deli is long gone. Subways are everywhere.
 
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goreds2

Well-Known Member
Oct 14, 2008
6,163
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OH H.....EYE OH
They seem to have everything I need. I usually do not get grocery's there. I go to ALDI. Walmarts return policy is great and I have bought things there because of that. Cash register lines seem to be a long wait at times. They need to make that a bigger priority. They will let RVers stay overnight with permission from a manager.
 

scotchandcigar

All I wanted was some steak
Feb 13, 2009
23,411
18,659
168
Vacationland
How can we overlook Trader Joe's?
Those guys are the real pricks here.
Huh?

Anyway, meme made several good points; people want to save and don't think about anything else. In a free market, people are often conned into making bad choices. Years back, the struggling US automakers invented a whole new category of vehicle - the SUV - to con people into spending huge bucks on unsafe, gas guzzling, unnecessary highway cloggers (yes, they are necessary and useful to some, but few). Funny how today, we're fatter than ever, have more kids than ever, tow more recreational things than ever, but yet the SUV as we once knew it is no longer necessary; they're either gone, or they've become "crossovers".

It's true that you can't tell people what's good for them (aside from limited govermental oversight), but unfortunately, the stupid majority rules.