POLL: On Walmart

I do. I don't necessarily like it but, we have little to choose from around here.

 

In the metropolis I rarely shop at Walmart but, when I lived in the country, it was about the only store to find anything at.

Ernest

 

I can either shop at Wally's, or spend all day running around town, trying to get all my supplies. Local shops tend to frown on returns, Wally has no problems with returns.

I have a 'social conscience'. But I also have very little money. So I buy what I can't find, barter or trade for, or make myself.

This thread will eventually lead to American vs. Chinese made. Which came first, the chicken (jobs lost to China) or the egg (Walmart forcing work to China).

 

I go there 3 or 4 times a year, always spending a ton of money. I don't have any options when it comes to shopping, other than secondhand, which I use as much as possible.

 

I don't really like the store,it has TERRIBLE customer service,it is always out of what you want(it seems) and the product they sell is pretty cheesy(but then so are most other stores nowadays)

I dislike their business practices and only really shop there when absolutely necessary.

Everyone RAVES about Super Wally Worlds(SOOO convenient) but in the end you will stand in line forever and there are no baggers so it takes twice as long to get you groceries.

Is also ALWAYS crowded.

Now this is around here so it might be different where you live.....the people in this town stood in line for over an hour to eat at the new Applebees,even though the one in Savannah is only forty five minutes away

Same thing with Outback,quite sad really.

 

My biggest gripe is that they are always and I mean always paging a manager over and over again, can't even talk to the Mrs. over the P.A. system, and then it takes forever to get a manager when you are waiting in line. And then if they overcharge you for something you have to go wait in line at the service desk to get your refund. It used to be customer friendly but not so anymore, whenever you need help you can't find anyone, and when you do there are several of them standing around shooting the breeze. I shop else where and pay a little more for it, knowing that I am help keeping another competitor in business at least for a little while longer. What is going to happen when Wal-mart puts all the competitors out of business??? One would think that the price of an item would be the same at any Wal-mart, well the areas that Wal-mart is the only business around, you will find prices higher than where they have competition.
Dave

 

Its just another store I shop at.

 

10 years ago it was the nations sweetheart, Now the lawyers are just mining it for money for a bunch of lazy whiners.

mikell

 

You mean back when it sold 'American Made' and proudly stated it?

And then oddly enough dropped that program and now doesn't really state where all the goods are coming from.

I honestly can't even fathom the incredible pleasure some people get from having a Wally World to shop at.

When we tell people we HATE that place it is like we are deriding their religion or something....

 

Mixed feelings. HATE the crowds. Like the service/return policy. Like the selection/convenience/prices. Would rather support the "little guy" - do so whenever feasible but on a real tight budget I just can't most of the time.

Funny ... some of the walmarts in the small town/rural areas are like "hangouts" family reunion type places. It's like people go there to run into old friends.

 

I've only been to Walmarts 3 times. Bought wash cloths once. I am cheap .The prices are too high for me.

 

might seem like a trivial thing but i've never been in a w//w that had background music playing - and, i like that - i usually walk out of a store if they have any of the "modern" music blaring away

 

Like many others, I shop there to save time and money! Ours is a Super Walmart --food to car care and everything else. So I can get everything in one place with out running around. I go in the early am to avoid the crowds. We do not have a Kmart, Target or any other large department store except a small Belks where towels are double the price--along with almost everything else! And the closest mall/shopping centers are 1 hr. away!

 

We (my husband and I) do not shop at Wal-Mart. W live in a very rural area, where most (I mean most) people think it's the only place to find what you need.
Up until last fall, the Super Wal Mart 15 minutes from my house was the biggest one on the east coast. And of course, there's an empty old Wal Mart right across the street. This store pulls their business from approx. 5 counties with less that 15,000 people per county.

Today I need to buy some thermal underwear for my husband. He went to Dollar General yesterday, they were out. Today I'm going to the small clothing shop in town to buy them. Yes, they'll be more expensive. BUT, I'll spend less time shopping, and won't spend money on anything else. (and the people are pleasant, etc. etc. etc.)
Is WalMart really cheaper when people almost always buy stuff they don't need?

Besides all the reasons stated above by everyone else that I agree with, here are two specific, recent cases of why I can't stand Wal Mart.

1. Did any of you get the e-mail about Target being anti-military (and pro homosexual and French, etc.)? It's not true. It was a spin, smear campaign by Wal Mart, put out right after their fairly recent illegal immigrant workers bad press.

2. The "I have to shop at Wal Mart" mentality. Last week I was chatting with a lady in the line at the grocery store. She said she "had to go to down to WalMart" to buy some cedar bedding for her puppy. (Wal Mart was 20 miles in the opposite direction of her home). I asked her where she lived, and then reminded her that she drives past 2 farm supply stores on her way home that have bagged bedding. "Oh thanks honey, I forgot about those places, and it will save me time, and I won't buy a bunch of other stuff I don't need, tee hee hee"

People don't always want to shop there, but the marketing of Wal Mart that makes it instinctive in some people's minds is very bothersome.

By no means do I lump all Wal Mart shoppers in one category. But, the "I have to go to Wal Mart to get it" mentality really gets to me. I think the "sheeple" term applies.

 

They pretty much have the market sewn up around here. I avoid it if I can. Don't like: Checkout wait, system of buzzers going off when people walk out and then being checked out with a fine tooth comb--only to find it's a error that system did not deactivate the tag hidden in a product. Nowdays the thing goes off so much I don't see what good it is anyway. I've even had a "hot" tag in my pocket just to further throw it into a tizzy. Enough of that and they might just junk the detector systems.
Like: You can take a problem product back without having to go to a big hassle. Little stores---getting a refund in like pulling hens teeth.

Wnat to add: WM has pretty well killed the little guy in alot of areas. But not the grocery business---yet. We avoid buying grocerys there at all cost. If every one would do that we would keep a selection of store to shop at. Otherwise---------don't complain if it's oneday the only game in town. Same with gasoline. FB

 

For many items you have no other choice - WalMart has run their competition out of business.

Ann Landers use to have a key question for someone considering divorce - would I be better or worse off without this person? In the case of WalMart, I think the U.S. would be better off if Sam hadn't started his first store. It was a predatory strategy from the get-go. Look for towns too small to interest the big players at the time, like Sears, and then build on the outskirts of downtown so you suck the life out of it. You ask what happened to the middle class in small towns. WalMart now employs them as part-time clerks at minimum wages.

Ken S. in WC TN

 

I avoid walmart if I can. I used to shop at K-mart or Gibsons until they closed down. Now I check the dollar store. I have noticed lately that walmart doesn't have the cheapest price on everything. I can still find cheaper cigarettes for DH at my local grocery store. I find cheaper and better made clothes on sale for my daughter at department stores.

I see that most super Walmart stores have a Dollar Tree store on their property. I guess they own them too? Why else would they allow a Dollar store on their property? Anyone know?

 

We don't have a lot of choice where I live, they drove all the little stores under. Well people that shopped there instead of local business did anyway. Now if I want something that the local ace store or grocery doesn't have I have to drive half an hour to Walmart!! We used to have Ames and several independent stores in a local shopping center and our downtown had clothing and other stores, all gone!! Where the Walmart is there is a mall with Homedepot, BJ's JC Penny and so on and that's fine, but if all I want are socks I've got to drive a half an hour to get them!! One might say well if you live in rural farm country or, or...well I don't I live in South Jersey. Yes we have a lot of farm land but this ain't Kansas by any means!! Walmart, I hate it.