# Is Target any better than Walmart? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 20, 2005, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322 "2005-04-20T22:11:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322/21 "2005-04-21T16:17:16Z")
K-Mart deserved to die. Their stores are slightly less depressing than WalMart, but only slightly. I have not heard of Target doing the following things that WalMart does - hire companies that hire illegal aliens to clean. And then claim they know nothing about it. - Lock employees in stores overnight. - Pretty much force employees to work off the clock. Is Target unionized? All, I know, I enjoy going to Target (as much as I enjoy any shopping) but only go to WalMart as a very, very last resort. Maybe twice in the past five years. ---
**Author:** ![Aangelica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Aangelica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aangelica)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322/22 "2005-04-21T16:39:42Z")
Target for sure. Customer service, atmosphere, layout, product choice, etc. Aside from the aforementioned factors: Target (to the best of my knowledge) has never refused to carry a book, CD, movie or other media product because of its content, rating, or theoretically socially-damaging nature. Wal-Mart does. With some regularity. Also, I agree that while neither WalMart nor Target are model employers/corporate citizens, the people working at Target are superficially less oppressed. They don’t look or act anywhere near as downtrodden as WalMart employees do. Everytime I go into WalMart I see at least a couple of employees that make me half-convinced that they’re going to try and slip me a note reading “get me out or kill me”. Additionally, I’ve never run across a Target employee that either didn’t speak English AT ALL or spoke it (and understood it) so badly as to be incomprehensible - including one Target employee who was deaf. I run across that at Wal-Mart with startling regularity. In at least one instance, the employee spoke neither English nor Spanish and appeared amazed at the concept of language. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322/23 "2005-04-21T17:18:31Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I have not heard of Target doing the following things that WalMart does > > - hire companies that hire illegal aliens to clean. And then claim they know nothing about it. > > - Lock employees in stores overnight. I guess you’ve never seen [Career Opportunities](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101545/) with the lovely Jennifer Connelly. My vote is for Target being slightly less evil. Apparently, no Target stores have [unions](http://www.targetunion.org/). > [@](#): > > The United Food and Commercial Workers has been quietly laying the groundwork for a major organizing campaign at Target’s store in West St. Paul, **which the union hopes will become the first of Target’s 1,330 stores to unionize**. > > Target spokeswoman Paula Thornton-Greear said that the company offers a wage and benefit package that is “among the best in the retail industry” and that workers don’t need a union. “We don’t believe that a union or any third-party representative would improve anything, not for our team members, guests or the company,” Thornton-Greear said. > > Though unions have long complained about working standards at Target, the Minneapolis-based retail chain has managed to avoid the sort of criticism and persistent organizing efforts that have plagued Wal-Mart since the 1980s. Not too flattering. Basically, I think you have to be kinda ruthless to compete at that level. That’s not to say the Target is worse than Walmart, but those low low prices are probably due to similar business practices. To be honest, worrying about how “evil” a corporation is is too much work. I used to work for famous consumer advocate. He would launch into these long rants about how almost any company you could think of is evil. Sadly, he was right (factually) 99% of the time. It gets to the point where trying to avoid companies that do immoral things is too difficult. You’re better off just trying to be a good citizen in other areas. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322/24 "2005-04-21T18:33:55Z")
> [@Aangelica](#): > > Everytime I go into WalMart I see at least a couple of employees that make me half-convinced that they’re going to try and slip me a note reading “get me out or kill me”. Come into my office, and I’m just as likely to slip you that note. I’ve been in Wal_Mart stores a total of two times. The only positive I can say about them is that they were better than the K_Marts I’ve visited. I prefer Target. I don’t know how good / bad of a corporate citizen either is…in NYC, neither pays a living wage. But prices are so out of hand here, I don’t think Bill Gates, if transplanted to NYC, would be receiving a living wage. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322/25 "2005-04-21T18:38:37Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Target doesn’t normally go into small towns, so they aren’t as guilty of killing small town businesses. This is such a faulty argument. It’s not Walmart’s fault; it’s the consumer’s. If people truely cared about the “small town businesses,” they’d shop there as opposed to the retail giant. While I’m no fan of Walmart, I can’t fault them for giving people what they want: Decent products at a low price. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322/26 "2005-04-21T18:53:27Z")
Part of the story about Wal-Mart that has not been mentioned yet is their successful (some say ruthless) practice of demanding price concessions from suppliers/manufacturers. It goes something like this: Wal-Mart: We want to sell your item. Supplier/Manufacturer: OK, that’ll be 1 each. WM: Nope, we're gonna sell 100 billion of them so I want them for .09 each. S/M: Yikes! Then I’ll have to fire all my US worker, 'cause I can’t pay them at those prices, and move my factory to China. WM: Sounds like a plan, get to it. Besides, those fired workers of yours are now gonna be so poor they have to shop at Wal-Mart! BWAAHAAHAAA! Haven’t heard the same story re: Target. ---
**Author:** ![Corii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Corii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corii)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322/27 "2005-04-21T19:04:41Z")
I prefer to support Target with my money because I approve of their charitable contributions to their surrounding communites. I also feel their business practices are less predatory; basically it seems to me that Target does more to foster a sense of community than Wal-Mart does. Maybe they just have better PR. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322/28 "2005-04-21T20:05:53Z")
Wal-Mart has closed stores when the workers there have unionized. Target hasn’t yet. That may just be lack of opportunity, but until they do, I’ve got to put Wal-Mart ahead in the union-busting category. ---
**Author:** ![FlippyFly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FlippyFly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlippyFly)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322/29 "2005-04-21T20:36:20Z")
I can definitely attest for that. I make All and Wisk laundry detergent, and last year I made Dove and Lever 2000 bar soap. We are routinely jumping through hoops for Walmart, and I have yet to come into work and hear “we need to do it this way for Target.” As the OP, this is probably my primary reason for disliking Walmart. I see how much they squeeze us and I see how the company is struggling to keep our two union plants open (Hammond IN, where I made the Dove and the Lever and Baltimore, MD where I am now) were we DO pay a living wage and not move all our operations to small rural areas like Raeford, NC where we pay much less in a non-union plant. I should point out that I am a salaried supervisor here, so I personally get paid the same amount regardless of where we make the product and how much we pay for the labor, so don’t think it is simply because I am biased. > [@Icarus](#): > > Part of the story about Wal-Mart that has not been mentioned yet is their successful (some say ruthless) practice of demanding price concessions from suppliers/manufacturers. It goes something like this: > > Wal-Mart: We want to sell your item. > Supplier/Manufacturer: OK, that’ll be 1 each. WM: Nope, we're gonna sell 100 billion of them so I want them for .09 each. > S/M: Yikes! Then I’ll have to fire all my US worker, 'cause I can’t pay them at those prices, and move my factory to China. > WM: Sounds like a plan, get to it. Besides, those fired workers of yours are now gonna be so poor they have to shop at Wal-Mart! BWAAHAAHAAA! > > Haven’t heard the same story re: Target. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322/30 "2005-04-21T20:42:54Z")
Target - no real sporting goods section. No hunting supplies, no ammo. Fewer of them, and they don’t seem to have the products that I want. Wal\*Mart - both of the above. Good selection of products, especially the Super WM. (I cook a lot, and like to try other food brands/products that I can’t get at any of the supermarket chains locally) Open when I want them. They carry the same selections at all/most stores, so if I’m out of town, I know I can get what I want. Local stores - I’ve found they generally don’t have very good selections. Lousy hours of operation. Finding the specialty store that I need when out of town is nearly impossible. Count me in as a WM Supporter. If folks don’t like them, don’t shop/work there. Free markets, free choice, the American way. (IMO) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322/31 "2005-04-21T20:54:05Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Part of the story about Wal-Mart that has not been mentioned yet is their successful (some say ruthless) practice of demanding price concessions from suppliers/manufacturers. It goes something like this: > > Wal-Mart: We want to sell your item. > Supplier/Manufacturer: OK, that’ll be 1 each. WM: Nope, we're gonna sell 100 billion of them so I want them for .09 each. > S/M: Yikes! Then I’ll have to fire all my US worker, 'cause I can’t pay them at those prices, and move my factory to China. > WM: Sounds like a plan, get to it. Besides, those fired workers of yours are now gonna be so poor they have to shop at Wal-Mart! BWAAHAAHAAA! > > Haven’t heard the same story re: Target. So- you apparently missed the part where the WM dude is pointing a loaded shotgun at the SM dude, or showing him a picture of his kids with little “gun scope” markings on their heads. :rolleyes: :dubious: Lets go back to Line 4. “No thanks”. Then what? Walmart aks for deep discounts. You don’t have to give in. They sell some stuff that they get with such deep discounts, but some stuff they really get no cheaper than Target does. They won’t “break your kneecaps” if you refuse to give in. And- Targte- and any othe rlarge retailer- also asks for- and to some extent expects and gets deep discounts for buying in large quanity. And why shouldn’t they? It’s cheaper for the Manufacturor. I mean- hell- when I ran a small retail business- I demanded and got discounts for buying by the case rather than by the 'each". Walmart is just going that several times more. ---
**Author:** ![Fringe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b5a626/32.png) [@Fringe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fringe)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322/32 "2005-04-22T20:04:49Z")
I prefer target, because I feel more relaxed there. Wal-mart makes me tense. ---
**Author:** ![Kearse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f04885/32.png) [@Kearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearse)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322/33 "2005-04-22T21:05:55Z")
> [@FlippyFly](#): > > I hate Walmart. I complain every time my girlfriend goes to Walmart. I tell her that she should go to Target instead. Her response is that Target is probably just as bad as Walmart, but they are a little smaller so they don’t get as much bad press. > > Does anyone have any arguments for or against this theory? Other than Target being a French owned company I have no comment. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322/34 "2005-04-22T21:15:51Z")
> [@Kearse](#): > > Other than Target being a French owned company I have no comment. But do you have _any_ comments that are factually correct? ---
**Author:** ![FlippyFly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FlippyFly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlippyFly)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322/35 "2005-04-25T14:13:13Z")
Hey, here is a CNN article debating this very argument: [http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/20/news/fortune500/target\_walmart/index.htm](http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/20/news/fortune500/target_walmart/index.htm) > [@](#): > > Just call it ‘Teflon’ Target > > With Wal-Mart constantly in the line of fire, some say it’s given Target a lucky break with critics. ---
**Author:** ![zenith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zenith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zenith)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322/36 "2005-04-25T15:02:12Z")
Walmart’s not always cheaper than Target. In my community, Target beats Walmart on cat food and paper goods such as toilet paper, paper towels, Kleenex. Target carries fewer automotive accessories and supplies than Walmart PRETENDS to carry. What little they do carry is well stocked. Wally’s has lots of stuff on backorder at any given time. Both carried more and varied auto supplies when Kmart was still in town. Target is cleaner and obviously better laid-out. Both stores have full parking lots at the same times of the day or week, but Target’s interior doesn’t feel claustrophobic like Wally’s does during these peak times. Target also does not have those annoying TV monitors tuned to store promotional videos played at earsplitting volume. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322/37 "2005-04-25T18:22:52Z")
FWIW, Costco is far and away better than either of the above. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322/38 "2005-04-25T19:18:07Z")
Sure, but the problem with Costco is that they only have stuff in stock at certain times. If you need a pair of jeans and Costco doesn’t have any, you’re SOL. But other than the “buy it now or lose it” factor, I agree that Costco is better. It may not be as shiny as Target, but their prices are good and they treat their employees well. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322/39 "2005-04-25T19:32:32Z")
> [@Captain Lance Murdoch](#): > > FWIW, Costco is far and away better than either of the above. I disagree. Their customer service is subpar. Rather, finding someone to speak to is a pain in the ass, as opposed to Target where employees are plentiful. Target’s stores, also, just looks better and is easier to navigate. Don’t get me wrong, I do like Costco too, but they’re far from perfect. Of course, that should be expected given the prices of their inventory. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322/40 "2005-04-25T19:56:31Z")
I’ve seen several mentions of Super Walmart with a grocery store. Do none of you have a Super Target in your town? Our walmart is just a regular walmart. Our Target has a grocery section (hugely overpriced, but convenient if all you need is a loaf of bread, etc). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-target-any-better-than-walmart/300322.md?page=3)