# Dear Walmart **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 3, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554 "2014-11-03T21:38:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554/21 "2014-11-04T15:33:12Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I don’t believe I’ve ever been in a Wal-Mart that wasn’t air conditioned. I’m pretty sure that would be called “Hell”. My local Walmart has a Burger King stuffed in a little alcove near the entrance…it smells absolutely rotten. ---
**Author:** ![mage-girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@mage-girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mage-girl)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554/22 "2014-11-05T01:18:26Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > I dislike Wal-Mart for all the usual reasons. > > I _ **HATE** _ that I am so poor that I can afford to support the remaining small shops only rarely. > > There is a reason Wally is the largest in the world. > > Yes, having impulse-buy stuff lining the check-out aisles is universal (in case you hadn’t noticed). > > At W-M, the candy bars there sell for .75. Most retail shops charge $1 for a candy bar. > > I do wish they’d drop tobacco - I suspect just having to pay full retail would save a few lives. I agree with the being “poor” part leaving you fewer options. My mom and I have limited incomes, so the money we save at Walmart helps our monthly budget quite a bit. We don’t go there EVERY time we have to go grocery shopping, maybe only twice a month. When we go to a “regular” grocery store - say, in our area, Hy-Vee - some items are $.75-$2 more expensive. So there are things we buy specifically at Walmart, like Fiber One bars. Plus they have low prices on picture frames, microwavable mugs, etc. If I had to pay 1.5 to 2 times as much for these, I might not be able to get them at all (or would have to defer my purchases). My friends - all of whom have better incomes - turn their noses up at Walmart. I wish I had that luxury, but like many others, I don’t. ☹ And I agree with another poster who said shopping at Walmart is just exhausting. We were there Monday, and I nearly had a panic attack afterwards. It didn’t help that I’d had a severe asthma attack before we even went to the store. Mom and I always leave Walmart in noticeably worse moods than we were in before. - I mention my mom a lot not because I’m still living at home, but because she came to live with me after her last stroke. I spend more time with her than practically anyone else, so I’m sorry if it’s a little annoying that I mention her so much. :o ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554/23 "2014-11-05T11:05:42Z")
I hate WalMart too but sometimes I just need some basic stuff cheap. Underwear, toothpaste, socks, toilet paper, all that stuff. People in New York City have no WalMarts or their equivalents and pay thru the nose for those things. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554/24 "2014-11-05T11:14:49Z")
I miss walmart ☹ ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554/25 "2014-11-05T11:27:51Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I miss walmart ☹ Are there any in the Caribbean? ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554/26 "2014-11-05T11:32:24Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Are there any in the Caribbean? NO Paying $10 USD for a pair of boxer shorts will have anyone worshipping the ground walmart er is built on? ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554/27 "2014-11-05T13:39:49Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Are there any in the Caribbean? You know its funny but years ago when I visited Hawaii on Maui the residents were excited because they were soon getting their first WalMart. If you have ever been to Maui you’ll know that most of the shops either cater to tourists or are very expensive. And they need that because if you’ve ever been there you’d know the average Hawaiian is dirt poor. My relatives living on Oahu said it was a big day in the 80’s when they got their first KMart and people there could finally get items cheap. From what I’ve heard from people living in island areas like the Virgin Islands is its cheaper to have your relatives send you boxes of basics than to buy them there. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554/28 "2014-11-05T14:28:01Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Complaining about the service at Walmart is sort of like complaining about the lack of fine cuisine at McDonalds. Their whole business model is built on cutting overhead to the minimum and then cutting a bit more. When you pay your employees shit, you get shit employees. No one there is empowered to do anything; it takes a manager just to look up the price on an unmarked item. So what happens? The shit employee offers to just sell you that $6 item for $3 (a price determined completely arbitrarily by her) just to avoid the hassle. Sure, I saved three bucks on the deal, but-- actually, I’m down with this. I can dig it. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554/29 "2014-11-05T14:31:56Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > You know its funny but years ago when I visited Hawaii on Maui the residents were excited because they were soon getting their first WalMart. I was in Alaska, vacationing with my son, shortly after the [first Walmart opened in Juneau.](http://www.capitalcityweekly.com/stories/091907/community_20070919014.shtml) Everyone was talking about it. There was actually increased air traffic as people flew in to check it out. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554/30 "2014-11-05T14:33:43Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > From what I’ve heard from people living in island areas like the Virgin Islands is its cheaper to have your relatives send you boxes of basics than to buy them there. I laughed out loud. People here call it getting your family to send you a barrel. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554/31 "2014-11-05T19:21:04Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > She looked at you blankly because there isn’t a goddamn thing she can do about it and she’s tired of customers badgering her over things she can’t do a goddamn thing about. Or else she’s biting her lip to keep from saying, “Then why not just order it from Amazon then?” Seriously, I hated all those customers who’d always complain and tell us, “well, OTHER STORE does this for us, why can’t you!” If that’s the case, then why aren’t you shopping there? Every time I visit our local Walmart I feel like I’m at Larry the Cable Guy’s family reunion. I swear, it’s full of hicks. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554/32 "2014-11-05T19:34:11Z")
Our local Walmart is a cesspool of humanity and yep, that desk I wanted but could not be shipped was all the way in the back corner, in a box half ripped open like wild jackals (aka the customers) tried to get at the innards. I ended up simply leaving and getting a different cheapo desk elsewhere. Online. So that it could be shipped to me. … However, I remember as a kid that there was (and probably still is) a mega-Walmart near the camp my family had in a rural township and it was - no kidding - the destination point for everyone nearby. As in, people would get excited about driving an hour to get to that Walmart. It was actually quite well maintained and fun to shop at. I have never seen its like elsewhere. I imagine as others have mentioned, when you have nowhere else to get stuff for cheap it is a very well looked upon addition to the neighborhood. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554/33 "2014-11-06T03:15:21Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Walmart has really slow lines but their convenient. What can you do? Target and KMart are just as bad in their own way. > Order online if you can. How is Target just as bad? Clean and neat stores, decent prices, quality merchandise, some of it quite stylish, reasonably well-staffed, and SHORT LINES! How is that equivalent to Walmart? ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554/34 "2014-11-06T05:43:11Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > … quality merchandise, some of it quite stylish… Remind me to remind the floor lamp that fell apart when slightly tilted (heavy base, non-existent threads holding sections together) that it was “quality” merchandise. And the elegant plastic shades in sick shades of green, blue, whatever - well, it will never be mistaken for “stylish”. Target does not have the product density of W-M, which is probably what makes people dislike W-M so much. But you don’t get the product selection either - having 6’ and skinny shelves means having more product than 4’ gondola shelves. But you have a more “open and attractive” shop. Not the selection, but a more open floor. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554/35 "2014-11-06T15:47:52Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > But you don’t get the product selection either - having 6’ and skinny shelves means having more product than 4’ gondola shelves. But you have a more “open and attractive” shop. Not the selection, but a more open floor. I’ll take the openness over selection any day. Walmart always has that garage sale or flea market feel to it of an overstuffed bazaar. I wonder if Walmart conciously does this to appeal to immigrant minorities by making the store feel more like what they are acustomed to. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554/36 "2014-11-06T18:56:56Z")
First time I have heard it suggested that Wal-Mart, of all entities, does Anything to “appeal to immigrant minorities”. It is an interesting concept - it would also explain their wage scale, wouldn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554/37 "2015-03-24T21:15:58Z")
> [@pohjonen](#): > > Dunno. The item was a “store pickup only” which I only learned when I selected a second item to reach the 50 buck requirement and tried to check out online. They would ship my underwear to my house, but not the tablet. Grrrrr. > > I’m sticking to Amazon from now on. I’ll be hot enough when I go to Hell. I don’t need a preview. Turns out that one of our little kitties needs special food, which I found a great deal on at Amazon. But they were taking so long to ship the stuff that I cancelled that order and paid more at Walmart’s site. Then I added a dozen packs of wasabi peanuts for myself to get the free shipping. Today, FedEx delivered a box which Walmart labelled wasabi peanuts but actually contained 8 pounds of dog biscuits. You’d think somebody would have noticed that 4.4 ounces of wasabi peanuts × 12 != a 10 pound box. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554/38 "2015-03-24T21:32:00Z")
If you have an Aldi’s in your area, definitely check it out. They generally don’t have name brands, but they’re really well-priced for a grocery store and their stuff is pretty decent. > [@Morgenstern](#): > > And here I thought it was build on stepping on the employees, their rights and their dignity. > > I go to Walmart to study the colorful and interesting Walmartians shopping there. You can [do that](http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/) from home as well. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554/39 "2015-03-24T21:47:44Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > What’s the deal with Walmart’s parking lot designs? Are they purposely designed to f with the customers and make the lot look like a total cluster? Is it to give the appearance that business is booming over at Walmart? Just look at the melee out front? > Some rows are two-way mixed with a bunch of one-way rows that throw everyone off and you always get some moron going down a one-way the wrong way. And the bizarre parallel parking handicap spots? > Waht a frickin mess. I, for one, am annoyed by their insistence on sticking signs on some of the prime parking spaces that declare them to be reserved for “Wounded Warriors”. Is this a _thing_? Am I supposed to acknowledge this? Is “Wounded Warrior” a status recognized by law? Do I need a special sign to park there? Am I going to get a ticket if I don’t have that sign? If a warrior has been wounded but not to the degree that he or she legally qualifies as handicapped, what does he need a special parking spot for? ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554/40 "2015-03-25T00:03:36Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’ve run into a similar situation with Barnes and Noble. Sometimes I’ll ask if they have a book and they’ll tell me they don’t have it in stock but can order it. Fair enough but then they’ll tell me they can only order it for an in-store pickup. > > Why would I want to combine the inconvenience of waiting for a special order with the inconvenience of driving back to the store? I can order the book through Amazon and they’ll deliver it right to my house. I just got a Barnes & Noble delivery in my mailbox today. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-walmart/703554.md?page=3)