Ultimate Walmart thread

[AMDZen]

Overall how do you feel about the company, and will you shop there.

If you won't shop there, or will but you still feel they are evil - please provide info and links if you can, on why they are evil citing things they've done in the past.

 

[Texashiker]

Walmart is about the only place around here to buy anything. The town has 2 grocery stores - super walmart and brookshire brothers.

To buy anything else, I either have to go online or drive about 100 miles.

 

[ahenkel]

I have a lot of options for shopping so they're rarely on the top of my list. I also have no altruistic expectations of them. They're here to make a profit and will find anyway they can to do it.

 

[Gibsons]

Most of the time no, I just refuse. But one opened just down the street here, and it seems smaller and nicer than most stores. Not as crowded etc. I don't mind going to that particular one. My wife occasionally goes to the 'big' one a few miles away, I loathe going there.

 

[SaDiZTiKStyLeZ]

If I'm attempting to buy several items that I'd otherwise have to visit different stores for, I'll go. The prices usually aren't any better/worse than other stores.

And where else do you expect me to find an abundance of hot black chicks with 7 kids running around her feet, that will be a guaranteed easy lay, at the end of the day?

 

[dank69]

Evil? Or just the way of the future?

 

[jme5343]

I don't think they're evil, but I prefer to shop at local stores. I've lived in a town where Wal-Mart came in and killed both grocery stores and numerous mom-and-pop shops. In the end, Wal-Mart became the only place to shop, which sucked.

Kudos to them for keeping the unions out, though. They get +1 from me on that.

 

[Saint Nick]

I don't think they're evil, but I prefer to shop at local stores. I've lived in a town where Wal-Mart came in and killed both grocery stores and numerous mom-and-pop shops. In the end, Wal-Mart became the only place to shop, which sucked.

Kudos to them for keeping the unions out, though. They get +1 from me on that.

I grew up in a town of about 7,500. Wal-Mart came in around 2005/2006 and pretty much everyone else closed up shop. Really sad.

 

[vi edit]

For groceries & basic houseware (toilet paper, cleaning supplies, hygene products, ect) I'll shop there anytime. They simply are one of the cheapest grocery stores around for the "staple" products.

The rest of the stuff...meh. They rarely have sales on the "name brand" things and the rest of it is just cheap junk. I'd rather spend more and get something more durable at a specialty store/other retailer.

Oh and as far as politics go...I couldn't care less. Walmart exists because the general consumer has voted with their wallet. They want cheap crap. So that's what they get.

 

[crashtestdummy]

I don't shop there, not so much because they're evil as I don't enjoy the shopping experience. If I need cheap crap, I'll go to target, which at least feels a little more like a store than a distribution center.

In general, though, I've been starting to move away from the discount department stores as much as I can. I find that I end up having to replace things often enough that it's worth paying 50% more for something that will last longer/feels nicer.

 

[Texashiker]

I grew up in a town of about 7,500. Wal-Mart came in around 2005/2006 and pretty much everyone else closed up shop. Really sad.

Same here, I live in a town with about 8,000 people. Wal-mart opened a regular store in the 1980s, closed that first store and opened a super wal-mart several years ago.

In the past few years several small family owned businesses have closed, including a pharmacy and a hardware store. I can not blame the hardware store on wal-mart, it was probably the lowes.

Our wal-mart is on the edge of town. The only neighborhood within walking distance is low income housing.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I don't generally shop there because it's inconvenient.

I think some of their practices are evil, (low wages, lots of part time jobs, not many full time jobs, poor benefits for employees, push too hard on manufacturers since they have pretty much "monopoly" status in some areas) but as a whole, I don't hate them too badly to go there.

They generally do not have enough cashiers working at the registers, so lines at Point of Sale tend to be long and slow moving. If anything needs to be returned, they have a great return policy, but lines at the customer service desk to do returns tend to be long. Shelves aren't always restocked very well from what I've seen as well.

Finally, there's closer options for me.
Ace Hardware, Jewel, Menards, Aldi's, and many others are half the drive or less.

Everywhere there's a Wal mart near me, there's a Target across the street, which usually has much shorter lines at Point of Sale and better stocked shelves. Sure, I may spend an extra 50 cents, but, I HATE waiting in line.

 

[waggy]

for stuff like toilet paper, pepsi, etc i shop at walmart. For meat, fresh fruit/veggies electronics i go to other stores.

 

[BudAshes]

I have never shopped at walmart and I never will.

 

[ahenkel]

I don't generally shop there because it's inconvenient.

I think some of their practices are evil, (low wages, lots of part time jobs, not many full time jobs, poor benefits for employees, push too hard on manufacturers since they have pretty much "monopoly" status in some areas) but as a whole, I don't hate them too badly to go there.

They generally do not have enough cashiers working at the registers, so lines at Point of Sale tend to be long and slow moving. If anything needs to be returned, they have a great return policy, but lines at the customer service desk to do returns tend to be long. Shelves aren't always restocked very well from what I've seen as well.

Finally, there's closer options for me.
Ace Hardware, Jewel, Menards, Aldi's, and many others are half the drive or less.

Everywhere there's a Wal mart near me, there's a Target across the street, which usually has much shorter lines at Point of Sale and better stocked shelves. Sure, I may spend an extra 50 cents, but, I HATE waiting in line.

Walmart is the worst for waiting in line even at 3am I'll end up waiting for 30 minutes just to clear checkout.

 

[SaDiZTiKStyLeZ]

I don't generally shop there because it's inconvenient.

I think some of their practices are evil, (low wages, lots of part time jobs, not many full time jobs, poor benefits for employees, push too hard on manufacturers since they have pretty much "monopoly" status in some areas) but as a whole, I don't hate them too badly to go there.

They generally do not have enough cashiers working at the registers, so lines at Point of Sale tend to be long and slow moving. If anything needs to be returned, they have a great return policy, but lines at the customer service desk to do returns tend to be long. Shelves aren't always restocked very well from what I've seen as well.

Finally, there's closer options for me.
Ace Hardware, Jewel, Menards, Aldi's, and many others are half the drive or less.

Everywhere there's a Wal mart near me, there's a Target across the street, which usually has much shorter lines at Point of Sale and better stocked shelves. Sure, I may spend an extra 50 cents, but, I HATE waiting in line.

Most of the grocery stores around here have self-checkout which is very convenient. Wal-Mart is well behind the times on that one.
Only time I skip self-checkout is to bullshit with one of my old school buddies working cashier.

 

[Saint Nick]

Some of the Wal-Marts around here had self-checkouts. They got rid of them a few years ago...I think people were stealing stuff, but people are still stealing stuff...so that can't be why.

They need way more of those than cashiers. I usually go to wally world for no more than three things.

 

[fatpat268]

I usually do my shopping at Walmart... mostly out of convenience since it's only a 5 minute car ride away.

But what does piss me off though, is that 5+ years ago, there were 4 different grocery stores in my city of 100k people (Albertsons, HEB, Winn Dixie, Walmart), now there's only two (HEB and Walmart). Due to lack of competition, prices rose like crazy, and it's nearly impossible to shop at the only true grocery store (HEB) on the weekends because otherwise you'll get ran over by somebody impatient.

So yea, I shop at walmart... I don't like it, but it's more convenient for me.

 

[Avalon]

I avoid Walmart as much as possible. They aren't really much cheaper than Publix, and the place is a shithole. The super Walmart in my area is the busiest, trashiest, dirtiest place in a 9,000 sq mile area, and the employees there are fucking retards.

It doesn't get much better in the neighborhood grocery place by me, either. The self checkout lines are always closed, and there are always only two lines open, with about 25-30 people in line at all times. The place is dirty and disgusting. The people that shop there are dirty and disgusting. It's just not worth it.

 

[vi edit]

But what does piss me off though, is that 5+ years ago, there were 4 different grocery stores in my city of 100k people (Albertsons, HEB, Winn Dixie, Walmart),

I live in a similar sized city and I've watched 3 new grocery stores go up since the Superwalmart went in. An Aldi's was put in almost in the parking lot of the Walmart. A very high end Kroger went in a couple minutes away, and a full service Hy Vee went in just a few months ago about 10 minutes from the Super Walmart.

The Kroger and Hyvee cater to a more affluent crowd with more selection, much better produce and meat counters, and generally just offering more upscale foods and products. And both of those places have incredibly busy parking lots/shopping lines.

 

[fatpat268]

I live in a similar sized city and I've watched 3 new grocery stores go up since the Superwalmart went in. An Aldi's was put in almost in the parking lot of the Walmart. A very high end Kroger went in a couple minutes away, and a full service Hy Vee went in just a few months ago about 10 minutes from the Super Walmart.

The Kroger and Hyvee cater to a more affluent crowd with more selection, much better produce and meat counters, and generally just offering more upscale foods and products. And both of those places have incredibly busy parking lots/shopping lines.

Yea, I'd love to have some new grocery stores here. The thing is though, and it's not really Walmart's fault, is that in Central and Southern Texas HEB has a stranglehold on grocery stores, and it's really the only option. If I head north towards dallas, I start seeing Kroger, Aldi, and some others.

 

[waggy]

I live in a similar sized city and I've watched 3 new grocery stores go up since the Superwalmart went in. An Aldi's was put in almost in the parking lot of the Walmart. A very high end Kroger went in a couple minutes away, and a full service Hy Vee went in just a few months ago about 10 minutes from the Super Walmart.

The Kroger and Hyvee cater to a more affluent crowd with more selection, much better produce and meat counters, and generally just offering more upscale foods and products. And both of those places have incredibly busy parking lots/shopping lines.

its been a mix here. we have lost a 2 eagles stores and a sulivians.

once walmart came in we gained: Aldi's, sulivians (they went out of business after 6 months) Hi vee (opens this summer) We also got a new Jewel store on the edge of town (now have 2!)

edit: forgot about shnucks (wich sulivians was near but couldn't compete with it) on the other side of town. I love the store!

 

[Zedtom]

I will shop there early on a Saturday or Sunday. It's uncrowded, clean and civilized. I made the mistake of going on a Friday night and was shocked at the dirty floors, clothing pulled off racks and thrown about and the crowds of stereotypical Walmart types. I will not buy produce or meat from them.

The Target near my house is a better choice. No music and mature adults shopping at their leisure.

 

[OCGuy]

Need an option for "No, I wont shop there, because I am not poor."

 

[BoomerD]

I absolutely despise Wal-Mart, and do my best NOT to shop there...however, on occasion, we still buy a few things there, solely because of the prices. Fortunately, their grocery prices are higher than the local "warehouse-type" of grocery stores where you bag your own groceries, (on most things) so they don't get much of our grocery budget. If their "Milk Bones" weren't so damned cheap, we'd probably not shop there at all...:biggrin: but my wife insists on buying that junk food for the little rat dogs...and Wally World is considerably cheaper for those than anywhere else...<shrug>
So...while we're there, she usually picks up a few other things, generally shampoo, deodorant, etc. from that department.