Opinion of Wal-Mart.

[Shodan]

I like Wally-World and shop there often. Same stuff as everywhere else, except cheaper.

I can spend $50 on a pair of sneakers and have them last for three years, or $10 at Wal-Mart and have them last for two years and get another pair. Do the math. My camouflage pants have lasted for years.

In my moderately upscale suburb, the local Wal-Mart is an anchor in a rather successful cluster of businesses, and everyone is making money. Sure, the unions don’t like it, but the hell with them.

Regards,
Shodan

[perfectparanoia]

I live up in Canada so YMMV.

For groceries, it is almost always cheaper to shop at the discount grocery stores (No Frills, Food Basics, etc.) and their produce is always better (but not as good as the good grocery stores). Also, they all allow price matching so if it’s on sale at WalMart, it’s on sale there, too.

However, my only options for things like reasonably price undies and cosmetics, etc are WalMart and Target. I tried going to Target but not only are they significantly more expensive (about a buck an item) but they just don’t have as much stuff.

I find myself at WalMart for something about once every two weeks or so. The experience isn’t so bad.

[Procrustus]

@TBG

My opinion, they’re a store. Same as Target, K-Mart, Meijers, whoever. Haters gonna hate, but most of the hate is drummed up unfairly by union supporters pissed off that Walmart won’t suck their dick.

I’m a union supporter. Around here Safeway and Fred Meyer have union workers. I’ll go there and Walmart can suck *my *dick. I’m blessed with not having to care if things cost a bit more. For people in tight financial situations, I make no judgment. But for those of us with options, avoiding Walmart seems like the right thing to do.

[Marion_Wormer]

Friends worked to convince me to go to the local Walmart supercenter, So I did:

1. No no-sodium added canned vegetables–not even tomatoes
2. The prices were slightly cheaper in staples but the sizes were too big. Even dry oatmeal will go rancid if you don’t eat it up quickly enough.
3. The lines were huge

I figure I saved about $3 and spent 25 minutes getting out of there. I could see how it would be attractive if I had a family or time to spare, but I don’t have either. I’d rather spend $3 and zip in and out and get a size of product appropriate for me.

On the other hand, a decade ago when the dog was alive, I used to buy dog food (highly rated by consumer reports) and US made rawhide chews at the local Walmart (before the Supercenter). That was a real specialty item for me, but I didn’t shop there otherwise.

[Inigo_Montoya]

@Procrustus

I’m a union supporter. Around here Safeway and Fred Meyer have union workers.

It was a weak argument. I loathe most unions (we can do that someplace else sometime) and I loathe WalMart. Part of it is how they treat their employees (plenty of nonunion companies treat their people very, very well), but most of it is their overall business model.

[gwendee]

@BigT

Based on what I always hear, I thought that maybe Walmart had declined as it had been so long since I’d been there. But when I went not to long ago, it was actually a little bit better. I think you guys who talk about the store itself being of low quality must have really bad Walmarts. If anything, it was in better shape than other stores I’d been in.

I think there’s a lot of variation. The Walmart closest to me is kind of dingy and always in disarray - and it was built well no more than 8 years ago. There’s a “SuperCenter” about 5 miles north of it that is cleaner, better lit, and seems to have more employees.

I’m not sure who’s driving those decisions, whether it’s individual store managers or regional or district managers.

I find the same is true of other chains, too.

[Musicat]

I do not want to be an apologist for Wal Mart, but after reading this (and similar) threads, I have come to the conclusion that many people are talking about a different Wal Mart.

My local Super Wal Mart, constructed a year ago to replace a non-super Wal Mart, is clean. Always. The employees are friendly – if one was ever surly to me, I would instantly file a complaint. Employees have gone out of their way to find what I was looking for and tell me when I can find seasonal items. Not overstaffed, to be sure, but I can always find a clerk somewhere.

The prices are competitive with nearby grocery markets, one of which shares a parking lot. Not all prices are lower at WM and the selection isn’t wider than some other stores, but they carry a wide variety of brands, including their in-house ones, which are lower cost than most. Their prices are often significantly lower than many local stores for the exact same brand and product.

The customers are my neighbors; not sloppily dressed or dragging snotty kids. It’s not uncommon for me to see people I know personally.

They employ the handicapped. I know of at least two employees that are obviously such – one has a severe limp and one uses a cane. Neither disability seems to have an adverse impact on their performance. I also know at least one employee who has a part time job, and is grateful that they continue to employ him because he can’t handle a full time one.

Checkout lines are reasonable. Many is the time a clerk has come over to me, standing in line, to say, “I’m open. Come on over.”

I know at least one employee personally who is a very hard worker and can handle any situation without a hitch. It’s hard to engage her in small-talk because she is too conscientious with her work. I have never seen a clerk chatting with another, oblivious to a customer.

Employees are glad to help you out to the car if you have something heavy or the weather is difficult. The parking lot is not cluttered with errant carts. In the winter, it is plowed on a timely basis.

Complaints? Yes, I have a few. The grocery shelves are not kept fully stocked, which makes them look haphazard. I once mentioned this to the manager, and she said they were perpetually short-handed. Produce is acceptable, but not spectacular. They also seem to be ignorant of regional needs – after a snowfall, they are out of salt. In the Spring, when the market for dehumidifiers is hot, they are sold out. And, for some strange reason, they never stock dry vermouth, only sweet, even after I pointed out they have a gin & vodka section, which is only half a martini, whether shaken or stirred. You should have such problems. :rolleyes:

So for those of you who are complaining about filthy stores or asshole employees, you must shopping at the wrong store. Not all Wal Marts are like that. Why don’t you come over to ours? We have a Subway!

[River_Hippie]

I despise Walmart. Haven’t spent a penny there in about 15 years. Except once, in a small town, no other grocery stores left.

[running_coach]

Just to balance Musicat’s experience ;), I’ll relate mine from a vendor’s viewpoint.
I used to drive for a beverage distributor ( mainly Snapple). The company had a special deal, order a pallet of Snapple (72 cases) for a reduced price and a stand-alone cooler is included.

I arrive at the Walmart, receiving is closed despite the stated hours. Ring bell, wait, ring bell, wait. Finally, a rather irate manager opens the door, rather pissed that I hadn’t called ahead(no note on paperwork) as he doesn’t have a receiving clerk.
I don’t drive a forklift so I unload by hand. He tells me to wait once I’m finished, he’ll be back to check in the load when he’s ready, I’m not to come looking for him.

40 min. later, I’m checked in and he show’s me where the cooler is located(delivered the day before) and where our shelf space is located.
First problem, the space allocated is three bottles wide, Snapple comes in four packs. So either there will be a gap (unacceptable) or I will need to intrude on someone else’s space(unacceptable). I’m told I have five minutes to come up with a solution, otherwise I lose the shelf space. Bye, bye shelf space.

I fill the cooler ( 3 cases) and take the rest into the backstock area. I’m shown the space set aside for backstock. 5 cases worth. That leaves 64 cases without a home. The manager tells me that he expects me to take the rest back to the company warehouse and store it for him, bring out cases as needed.

At this point I call the office, explaining all that has gone on. I get the boss on the line, hand him off to the manager, they wrangle awhile.

Manager finally tells me I can tuck the pallet in a corner, I finally leave.
Three days later, he calls the office, claims the driver(me) concealed damage at the time of delivery and he wants a credit on the whole pallet.

Supervisor drives down to discover that the damage was from a forklift being rammed into the pallet from two different directions. And the puddles were fresh. If this was actually from three days before, the spilled drinks would have dried to a gummy mess(middle of summer).

Upshoot: We removed all the undamaged product and the cooler and reduced the bill to cover just the smashed cases. And the boss swore to never deal with Walmart again.

[eschereal]

I have no opinion. Never been into one. Only learned of their existence in the late 90s (from my mother, who explained to me how the company was run by scum-sucking shit-fucks), never felt a particular need to enter one of their stores.

(As to having 3 of 30 lanes open, I can kind of understand that, it makes it much easier to manage the tills of 12 cashiers.)

[festiva76]

@chizzuk

I live 5 minutes away from a Target. Walmart is 20 minutes away and I didn’t even know it was there until last week, despite having lived in this area for almost 20 years. We have one Walmart in the entire county, which has a population of around a million, so it’s not a very convenient or popular shopping option here, thankfully. I don’t like how they treat their workers but I can’t really say that I actively boycott it because it just doesn’t cross my radar here and it’s extremely easily to avoid. Which I approve of.

Only one? I live in a metro area of around 1 million or so, and if my count is correct, there are seven within a 30 mile radius. That doesn’t include two more being constructed. Two Sam’s Clubs also. Of course, this is South Carolina.

[Katriona]

@NoClueBoy

I seem to remember, back in the 80s maybe, that I saw signs all over Walmart saying something like “We buy American, so you can too!” Was that Walmart?

That sounds right to me, too. But that would have been back when Sam was still in charge. It’s changed, and not for the better, since his hell spawn took over.

[AncientHumanoid]

@Katriona

That sounds right to me, too. But that would have been back when Sam was still in charge. It’s changed, and not for the better, since his hell spawn took over.

I did a web search, found a lot of people with similar memories, but I can’t find a single pic of such a sign as proof. Did no one ever take a pic in a Walmart in the 80s?

[running_coach]

@NoClueBoy

I did a web search, found a lot of people with similar memories, but I can’t find a single pic of such a sign as proof. Did no one ever take a pic in a Walmart in the 80s?

Here.

Almost 30 years ago, as the U.S. was bleeding jobs, Walmart launched a “Buy America” program and started hanging “Made in America” signs in its 750 stores. It was a marketing success, cementing the retailer’s popularity in the country’s struggling, blue-collar heartland. A few years later, NBC’s Dateline revealed the program to be a sham. Sure, Walmart was willing to buy U.S.-made goods – so long as they were as cheap as imports, which, of course, they weren’t. Dateline found that Walmart’s sourcing was in fact rapidly shifting to Asia.

Walmart is renewing it’s commitment to buying American made goods by pledging
to buy an extra1.5% American made goods.

Worse, very little of this small increase in spending on American-made goods will actually result in new U.S. production and jobs. Most of the projected increase will simply be a byproduct of Walmart’s continued takeover of the grocery industry. Most grocery products sold in the U.S. are produced here.

How fucking generous.

[AncientHumanoid]

Thanks! I KNEW I saw it!

[Odesio]

@harmonicamoon

And this was just for one store. Search: Walmart+bribes+Mexico and you will find out that this is common practice.

I’m thinking bribes are just the way you do business in Mexico no matter what the business happens to be.

[running_coach]

@Odesio

I’m thinking bribes are just the way you do business in Mexico no matter what the business happens to be.

Yes and no.

The Times’s examination reveals that Wal-Mart de Mexico was not the reluctant victim of a corrupt culture that insisted on bribes as the cost of doing business. Nor did it pay bribes merely to speed up routine approvals. Rather, Wal-Mart de Mexico was an aggressive and creative corrupter, offering large payoffs to get what the law otherwise prohibited.** It used bribes to subvert democratic governance — public votes, open debates, transparent procedures. It used bribes to circumvent regulatory safeguards that protect Mexican citizens from unsafe construction. It used bribes to outflank rivals.**

[handsomeharry]

Quote:
The Times’s examination reveals that Wal-Mart de Mexico was not the reluctant victim of a corrupt culture that insisted on bribes as the cost of doing business. Nor did it pay bribes merely to speed up routine approvals. Rather, Wal-Mart de Mexico was an aggressive and creative corrupter, offering large payoffs to get what the law otherwise prohibited. It used bribes to subvert democratic governance — public votes, open debates, transparent procedures. It used bribes to circumvent regulatory safeguards that protect Mexican citizens from unsafe construction. It used bribes to outflank rivals.

I think that anytime somebody says that X 'subverted democratic (anything)" that it is a hate campaign being stirred up. “Democratic governance???” Give me a break.
WalMart probably refused the extortionous rates for advertising that the Times charged, and the Times is punishing them. (No proof, just an IMHO.)

[Crafter_Man]

I don’t like Walmart. Having said that, I do find myself buying certain items there on a regular basis, simply because so they’re so much cheaper compared to other places. These include protein powder, cereal, and toiletry items.

[No_umlaut_for_U]

I have to be pretty desperate to shop WalMart, for example, out of more than 2 or 3 expensive staples (is laundry detergent a staple?) or wanting cheap fabric (do they still have dry goods?) in quantity. Their clothes make KMart’s look like haute couture, their aisle arrangements are insane, and every store I’ve been in since the late 80s is dirty.
I’m not wild about their labor practices, and I detest their habits of killing off small town merchants. Around here, we’ve lost most of our KMarts, and I don’t care for Target, either, for totally idiosyncratic reasons. Now I really have to plan my shopping out of town, which I suspect hurts everyone, as the taxes don’t help our city and I no longer make impulse buys.