I almost never shop WALMART. i always find them to be pretty strange-there seems to be large numbers of elederly retired people (“Wallmartians?” that hand around the stores all day-God knows what they do there. WM is OK for basic stuff, but the extremely low quality of the clothing/shoes is a huge turnoff.
face it, you get what you pay for…that said, TARGET stores are at least clean and well lit
I have hated the Walmart Machine and all that is represents:plastic shit from China, destroying small town infrastructure and crapping on their employees.
BUT, having worked for two years at a midwest megastore ( Meijer.) I can tell you, they are not that much different in any capacity.
The prices at Walmart for food are awesome.
I have no idea how Kmart still holds on in this world. I never see a buttload of people there whenever I go in there.
I like the Target stores better because they’re cleaner and less crowded, but they seem to have less selection, higher prices, and large amounts of the same cheap stuff that Wal-Mart does.
I’m in this category, and it is true for me. Target has excellent small appliances, and sometimes good clothes. Mostly it doesn’t make me sick, which WalMart does the once every two years or so I go there. I have two Targets closer to me than WalMarts, neither with groceries. I don’t know if the WalMarts have groceries or not - I’d be scared to buy food from them.
Both WalMarts near me are located in relatively upscale shopping centers, so their slumlike appearance has nothing to do with geography. The clearly don’t want to raise their prices to hire enough people to keep their shelves look like a rummage sale, and they get shoppers for whom squalor is their decorating style.
One of our Targets is in the mall, and the shoppers there seem no different from those in Macy’s.
I’m refraining from making obnoxious and elitist comments about WalMart shoppers - except to say that if you weigh 400 pounds, you shouldn’t really wear a tube top - sir.
We’ve got a Super Walmart and a Target close by. I much prefer Target to Walmart because the store is cleaner and in human scale, so I don’t feel overwhelmed and overstimulated.
I do prefer Walmart for summer clothes, since they’re cheap and I don’t feel bad when I get rid of them at the end of the summer. But that’s about it.
Robin
While Target tends to have a slightly more upscale aura about it, I find that Walmart tends to have lower prices. I generally avoid Walmart, because of their effect on communities and low quality. But occasionally there will be some random item that I need and I just refuse to spend more than X dollars on it.
A couple months after Wal-Mart opened the big store, the local Schnucks grocery where I shopped bailed out. I started buying groceries at Wal-Mart; they had far better selection than the Sav-A-Lot which is still hanging on. A smaller local chain moved into the store vacated by the Schnucks chain, but they downsized the produce section by a third, so Wal-Mart was still better. There’s nothing even competitive with Wal-Mart in groceries or discount-store stuff, without driving at least 25 miles past the Wal-Mart store - that’s 50+ miles extra round-trip to go to K-Mart or a competing grocer…Target’s much farther.
Ours is clean and bright and orderly. There are no more fat, ignorant people in the store than in the general population…ok, it goes up a little when I get there, but still… The employees are friendly, cheerful and helpful. Probably about half the time I’ve requested they stock a specific item, they’ve done so. They sell me my prescriptions by my name, without requiring me to remember a thousand prescription numbers, insurance plan numbers, privacy-protecting passcodes, blah blah blah…and they don’t redesigh their prescription ordering process more frequently than I order (all of which the old mail-order prescription place did).
I don’t buy clothes there, except underwear…they carry the brand I want. I don’t buy meat there, because of the ‘soaked in saline solution’ issue mentioned previously…I’m not buying salt water at porterhouse steak prices. For what I buy, they offer me convenience, reasonable prices, and a pleasant store.
Wal-Mart has things (I think there’ve been maybe two times I’ve thought “I could probably find that at Wal-Mart” and been incorrect), is cheap, there are four of them within driving distance, and they’re all open 24 hours.
Target seems to have about six things I’d want interspersed between the clothes and pretentious furniture and all six of them cost more, there’s only one location, and it’s open for about three hours during the time I’m not at work…which means I either get to shop there with everyone else in the frickin’ world (not my cup of tea), or not at all.
Personally, I’ve never understood the direct comparison between the two stores. Apart from clothes and electronics, they really don’t seem to sell the same sorts of things, even in their similar departments (check out the toy section of a Wal-Mart compared to a Target sometime). Put it this way: if I wanted 90% dark chocolate with squid heads and a faux-Japanese screen made of pressboard and paper, I’d go to Target. If I wanted some roast chicken and a wrench, I’d go to Wal-Mart.
ETA: The purpose of Kmart is to buy things that Wal-Mart is out of, because nobody goes to Kmart so they’ll have plenty of stock. This is how I’ve purchased at least three popular game releases, as well as a Wii.
Did anyone grow up with Caldor? That’s the main place my father would go to shop for household items, clothes for us, etc. It’s the only thing I knew but I don’t know how it compares to current choices. I’m pretty sure it was the equivalent of a KMart?
Anyhoo, we have Wal*Mart and KMart but not Target. I don’t mind either one but our WalMart isn’t particularly large so selection isn’t huge in some key areas. They’re definitely the cheapest though.
Target has 2 advantages not yet mentioned:
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Their clearance items are superior, and often far cheaper, than those at Wal-Mart. I have gotten tons of really, really nice clearance items from Target, although I haven’t found quite as many values in the last 2 years. I still pine for the excellent $65 binocs I found at a Target years ago, for $17.50 (which were stolen out of my luggage during a trip)
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Their snack bar kicks everyone to the curb. I am basically addicted to their popcorn, and it was much before this summer, as you could get a bag of yummy popcorn and a refillable soda for $1. Now it’s $1.50.
+1 Nashiitashii and I always shop at target. In our area no one speaks English at the walmart, and it is dirty. Recently, she wasn’t feeling well, but not bad enough to go to a doctor (we can’t afford medical insurance). She explained to the pharmacist that she had a cold, and thought she might have a sinus infection. He asked her a few questions, determined that it probably was not an infection, but recommended that if it got worse she go to the doctor. He suggested a proper sudafed type generic and additionally checked our other items out along with her medicine. He even gave her some tips on how to use her netti pot nose rinsy-thingy more effectively so she would be more comfortable. Awesome service, and exactly what we needed without any bullshit.
At the walmart, all I ever get is blank stares and “que?” or even worse, a surly and heavily accented “Don’t you speak Spanish?” When you DO find someone who can converse with you, they can’t answer your question and you have to find a manager who is as elusive as sasquatch.
p
Oh, yes…absolutely! That’s how I get most of my clothes and clothes for my niece and nephew!
Meijer also stocks Bacon Salt.
You go to Target because you want to get some stuff. You go to Wal-Mart because you have to get some stuff. Therein lies all the difference in it to me.
I’m sure my snobbery costs me a few bucks, but I absolutely despise Walmart, most of their items, and the majority of their clientele. Everything about the experience of shopping there screams lowest common denominator. An extra twenty dollars is well worth not having my eyes scalded by stratospheric florescents, my shoulders bruised by inconsiderate, rhinocerian families, and the prickling of rage when trying to communicate with any of the barely-literate employees.
Target fares only marginally better but I do admit that their presentation implies a more up-scale mentality. Electronic purchases are the only things that bring me into the discount conglomerates - when the homogeneity of the product and (often drastic) price incentives make up for the sheer unpleasantness of the trip.
When possible and practical, I like to shop locally. The ability to have an informed conversation with whoever’s schlepping your good of choice is worth its intangible weight in proverbial gold. Lots of people however care only about the bottom-line, and price alone is enough to bring people through the door.
That’s an important point. Walmart may be cheap but they also, in many cases, simply do not have what many people would consider a middling quality brand, especially when it comes to clothes. You might not care to spend $100 on a single pair of jeans, but if you want a pair of Levi’s for $50, you can’t get those either. They do have Levi’s, but they are a lower quality line specifically targeted towards Walmart and similar stores.
Jesus, what Wal-Marts are some of you people shopping at? Mine is always clean, well lit and organized. The wait at the checkout is never more than 5 minutes.
Sorry that some of you live in Dogpatch but a modern Walmart is nothing like some here are describing. Maybe it is management, I don’t know.
Target does have a few higher end products, especially clothes but on everyday consumer products Walmart wins. Yeah, maybe I need to get around a few more fatties but it is worth it.
I know this isn’t the pit but every time I see one of these threads about Walmart I begin to see red.
Sorry, gravitycrash, but I have to concur with most of the other posters here. The Target near my house, as well as most of the other Targets I’ve visited, is relatively spacious, clean and well-stocked. I go there mostly because it’s within walking distance of my house, but the prices and selection appeal to me as well. The two closest Wal-Marts to my house, however, tend to be crowded, messy and have narrow, closely-packed aisles. The lady at the Norwalk Wal-Mart’s fabric counter was kind and helpful, though, when I had occasion to buy some fabric there last month. The last time I went there was on Black Friday, mostly to keep Mom company. I spent more time in line to pay than actually shopping, and it was hellish getting to the electronics department due to the large amount of people jonesing for their reduced-priced laptops, which I can’t be arsed to remember the price at the moment. Plus I cut my left arm on the shopping cart. Well, at least I feel positively slender every time I set foot in the place. 
My favorite Wal-Mart was one I visited in Georgia a couple of years ago while visiting relatives. I think it was the one in Lilburn, but I’m not sure. It had a supermarket, and was open 24 hours, unlike the Wal-Marts in my neck of the woods. My mom was awed by the place. We even found souvenir keychains near the checkout stands. It was neat.
I think that you’re lucky enough to live near a great Wal-Mart. My local Wal-Mart is dingy, disorganized and incredibly massive. I hate it. On the other hand, I live close to a pretty decent KMart and a good Target. It probably does come down to local management on some level.
Jesus, it’s not our fault that the Walmarts near us are the way we describe them. I don’t think that anyone is lying about their experiences. The Walmarts I’m talking about are not just found in small towns, but everywhere. I have no reason to make anything up about what I’ve seen.