Walmart in your small town.....any opinions???

[twinprism]

I've been trying to stay out of this because I usually like to stay positive.

I just vote with my dollars. It is worth it to me if I have to pay a couple bucks more on a few things, and my budget is limited. I don't find Walmart more convenient by the time I deal with the horrible parking and crowds and walking all over the huge store. The only positive is the exercise I might get. The prices aren't universally lower, just on a few key things that people compare. The experience is usually so poor in my local Walmart that I feel insulted. My wife and I have a joke that you can't get in and out of Walmart in less than 20 minutes. Try it sometime, unless it is between 6-8am, something will backfire and it will take 20 minutes even for a couple items.

Contrary to some above, I like our local Winco. Good prices and friendly staff. It is not as nice or as good of a selection as shopping at Fred Meyer, but the prices are better.

[flatlander dave]

pokykid, "walmart is what's wrong with this state...." nobody is forced to work at wal mart. they are not slaves. wal mart fills a nitch. yes they are big business. yes they may have some business practices that don't favor employees but no one is forced to work there. people should be more concerned about the waste that federal, state, and local govt's have. i don't want to get off the topic but to many people slam wal mart but let school boards and other govt pick there pocket and say nothing. if there are things wrong with "this state" its the peopes fault,

[norcalmom101]

I bet the people who work at walmart are glad to have the opportunity to work there - even if it doesn't seem like the greatest job in the world. Just like the people who shop there are probably glad for the opportunity, I know when I go there it is intentional and not because I don't have options. It does fill a niche, and isn't where I go to support my local butcher/dairy/farmer etc.

[elamigo]

It is a simple matter of personal choice. Do not like Wall-Mart? You have the choice that we all have under a capitalist system, customers go where they feel they get what they want be either prices, comfort, distance, etc. Wall-Mart must provide something because many people are willing to put up with the inconveniences listed. Others do not want to put up with it and go somewhere else and that is just fine too.

The day people get tired of Wall-Mart or feel it does not serve their needs, they will stop going and Wall-Mart may go the way K-Mart went.

You have a great day.
El Amigo

[norcalmom101]

Here is an idea, if there is something one likes to buy regularly at walmart because it is available or cheaper or because the hours are more convenient, it doesn't hurt to inform local retailers of this. The first time I went to the Exxon in Shelley I was just visiting my then tenant-trashed home. They didn't have what I wanted. I didn't say a thing, but the next time I went in they remembered me and said hey, we ordered that item you had requested. Now I won't buy it anywhere else, no matter how convenient. I went away for several years and they stopped carrying it. Came back, et voila, it is now stocked regularly. Travelling outside the area? My loyalty is so strong because of their service that I stock up from them before I go.

[Chadro77]

Remember, Wal-Mart's profit margin is only around 3% overall. $13.4 Billion in profits out of $410 billion in sales for 2008 isn't exactly a huge profit margin. It seems like a lot but Wal-Mart is a GIANT company.

[SacTown11]

Originally Posted by Chadro77

Remember, Wal-Mart's profit margin is only around 3% overall. $13.4 Billion in profits out of $410 billion in sales for 2008 isn't exactly a huge profit margin. It seems like a lot but Wal-Mart is a GIANT company.

The reason for the low profit margin is mostly because of expansion and dividends. I've worked retail in the past, Staples, Inc. to be exact and as their Price Auditor and Inventory Specialist, I know how much they pay for most of the items they sell. Staples has the same exact business practices as Wal-Mart, but because they are based out of Massachusetts they are a "good" company. WRONG. They pay 15 cents for an item, but they mark it up to $9.99 retail. Very few items are sold at anything close to double the cost they paid. Staples pays its employees minimum wage, fires anyone who isn't able to up sell items like protection plans or extended warranties, and also forces its employees to accept crappy health plans.

That is why I get a little defensive of Wal-Mart, because they donate to Republican causes they get the brunt of bad publicity, when the rest of the companies are doing the exact same thing. With all of Wal-Mart's bad press in recent years, I wouldn't doubt if they actually treat their employees much better than, say, Staples. When I left that company, I had gotten a bunch of merit raises in the five years I worked there, but they changed their policy so the max raise I could earn regardless of merit was 25 cents. The only way I could get that 25 cents is to score a perfect 30 out of 30 on my yearly evaluation. I scored 27 out of 30, which brought my yearly raise down to 17 cents. With inflation as bad as it was, I needed to get out. I have computer skills, so I landed an entry level job at three dollars an hour more than what I was making at Staples...now I make about 9 dollars more an hour. Even though I am getting laid off in June. lol

In any case, I have not stepped on foot in any Staples store since I left that place in March of 2005. I will never step foot in one again in my entire life. Wal-Mart? I feel bad for their unfair treatment by the media, even though they were in the wrong, so was every other Box Retail Store. I try my best not to step foot in any box store, but it is unavoidable in today's big city culture.

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