Walmart = Hell; we don't need them in NJ (Woodbridge, Secaucus: coupons, credit card)

[BergenCountyJohnny]

Originally Posted by Ninjahedge

BCJ, I agree with you on most of what you said, except that last post there on Shop Rite. Every SR I have been to has scooters available, and so does teh Target and other stores near me. The red ones with the front baskets.

Aside from that, pretty much on. But I think the whole K-Mart thing may have more to do with the area than with the store itself.

The Shop Rite up in JC by BJ's over by Newport is so-so. Worse selection than others, but slightly more ethnic, and always crowded. The one in JC up by the mall on 495 was terrible. Not a bad crowd, but just dingy/run down feeling. And Dirty too! This probably had more to do with who shopped there, and, sadly, the same people that worked there....

I hate Wal Mart, but I think it has two things going for it. As mentioned before, the "all under one roof". Although I would not shop there unless I had to, I can see needing a half gallon of milk for whatever while passing by for motor oil. that is like stopping at the convenience store on the way home. Saves some time. Yes you can get it in 2 days when you do your weekly shopping, but cereal tastes crappy with water! . Personally, I hate megastores. It makes finding individual things hard. The large shop rite in Oakland is big enough to have things liek Lawn Chairs and Microwaves. Sorry, I really do not need that. I would RATHER have a genuine Asian section that offers more than La Choi and a Mexican section that gives more than Ortega!!! (Otherwise the store IS great, and clean... but still).

But the second thing is simple. COmmercials. TONS of commercials showing happy smiling families all ready to watch the big game or have their birthday parties. Women on screen telling you how you can save $10,000 a year if you just have breakfast at home instead of McD's. All the usual, uncheckable schmutz that advertising is good for.

Just listening to that friendly voice makes me want to hit something!!!


But it works, and MANY people will vow for it, regardless of any actual merrit.

Do yourself a favor and look at the ad company that does those ads. I think they could sell dog poo to a car salesman and call it an accessory.

Good post and good points, ninja. A couple things:

- I think the Shoprite discrepancies arise from the fact that Shoprites are owned by different entities. In my area there are "Inserra" and "Glass" Shoprites, and one nearby in Pearl River, NY which might even be a different ownership. There are differences between the Glass and Inserra SR's, so I can imagine that there are even more differences amongst the other SR's also.

- For milk, I keep some powdered milk on hand - beats cereal w/ watter

I despise the Walmart advertising, also. Seems they're getting away from the stupid though. That generic always enraged me - with all ttheir money they couldn't even afford a unique symbol for their company!

[stevemorse]

Originally Posted by njkate

Walmart...the reason most of the stuff you buy has MADE IN CHINA on it...Walmart the cheapening of the USA ugh....

Marilyn..what the hell is a Jazzie????

the jazzie is that motorized scooter. In Riverdale they are on jazzies the young ones due to weight issues.

[STrapani1105]

I've only been to Walmart, at most, twice in my life. The main reason why I never shopped there previously was because there weren't any around me within a convenient distance. I went to the one in Clinton with my Dad once when I was about 8 years old, I don't even remember what we bought. We just went to check it out. There's also another one in Mount Olive, but I never had the time to go up there. Apparently there was one in Hanover somewhere too.

Walmart doesn't seem like a bad place to shop, but the reason why i don't shop there nowadays is because of what they do to their employees. They don't have any labor unions, I can't imagine what that's like. If it wasn't for the labor union that I joined, I'd be making next to nothing. It's also too big of a corporation, I personally don't like the fact that it destroys smaller businesses. And when they open up a Walmart overseas, the people on the other side just absolutely hate these big American corporations. Not to mention they also hurt our economy.

I will tell you one thing though, whoever started these big supermarket chains are geniuses. I'm sure they were millionaires during their time, and their grandchildren don't have to work a day in their lives. Sam Walton opened the first one up as a small retail store in Rogers, Arkansas and look how far it came.

[GiantRutgersfan]

Walmart is not a food store. It's pretty much just trashy people who do weekly grocery shopping at Walmart (unless its a rural place where its your only option).

[mike0421]

Originally Posted by 86Sebring

anybody has a copy of that email titled " the people of Wal-Mart" ?

The email was based on a real live website that borders on criminal:
www.peopleofwalmart.com

Some of the funnier camera phone shots:


Why do people feel the need to be so mean to their shorts? Being a pair of gray sweatshorts is embarrassing enough, no need to humiliate them in public like that.
Ohio




Each article of clothing she has on is ridiculous on its own and combining them does not help. The best part is you know she was super pumped when she put these puzzle pieces together.

Georgia




Protecting our country, one Walmart at a time…

Unknown

[pcity]

Originally Posted by BergenCountyJohnny

The 2 things that were cheaper at Walmart were Entenmann's cookies which were $1.95 and a can of beans that was a few cents cheaper than Shoprite, although all the other cans of beans were cheaper at Shoprite, regardless of what kind of beans. Also, ShopRite has Goya beans for as low as the Shoprite brand, usually 3 cans for $2.

The pasta aisle led me to believe that only a completely ignorant shopper would ever buy pasta at Walmart. Barilla pasta was slightly less than ShopRite's regular price, but Shoprite is always putting Barilla on sale for 88 cents to $1.20 or so, and Walmart had it well over $1.20. Walmart's crappy-looking generic past was also over $1 a package. There was no pasta for under $1 a package, yet Shoprite and A&P routinely put pasta on sale for less than $1 a package, and often it's brand-name pasta. Still, I'd prefer Shoprite or A&P brand pasta over the generic crappy looking pasta in Walmart. 8 oz. of parmesan cheese, again a crappy generic brand, was $2.50 at Walmart; I got Colonna brand for $1.99 for 8oz. at Shoprite.

The "generic crappy looking" pasta and parmesan cheese is probably made at the same factory as your precious Barilla and Colonna. Suppliers for generic brands are often the same name brands that you're used to, and on most products, I can't tell the difference.

It seems like your point is that, if you wait for the sale, ShopRite is cheaper. I don't think too many people would disagree with you on this.

The problem is you have to wait for the sale. ShopRite is a typical high/low retailer. They lure you in with low sale prices and then make it up by having high regular prices. You can't do Walmart regular price vs. ShopRite sale price comparisons, because most people that go to ShopRite are going to buy regular-priced items as well.

There are some shoppers, of course, that go all over the place to get sale prices on everything. This takes up lots of time and many families, especially lower-class families where the main breadwinner works multiple jobs, can't do this.

On the typical basket of groceries, if you're limiting to one place, Walmart is the cheapest, period. It's not going to be the cheapest every single week, but averaged out over time, you will save money going to Walmart.

I also noticed that Walmart has little in the way of general baking needs like flour or sugar. Maybe one or two brands, again overpriced. The selection in general was horrible. I'll check out the Super Walmart in Harriman, NY next time I go to visit my friend up there; from what I remember, Super Walmarts have better selection but are still crappy, but I'll check it out next time I have a chance.

Meat and produce? Non-existent at regular Walmart.

Well, that's the difference between a SuperWalmart and a regular Walmart. Luckily, SuperWalmarts are expanding.

I looked through the rest of the store a bit - toiletries were no bargain, deodorant, shampoo, soap, etc. were all more expensive than Target, Harmon, or a sale at CVS. They did have some very cheap clothes, but they sure looked as cheap as they cost.

I have often comparison shopped between Walmart and Target for drugs and toiletries. Walmart is always cheaper or the same. CVS is always more expensive unless there's a sale going on (see above).

[MCPatrick1970]

I go to Wal-Mart at around 7am before the yokels and ghetto trash arrive.

[BergenCountyJohnny]

Originally Posted by pcity

The "generic crappy looking" pasta and parmesan cheese is probably made at the same factory as your precious Barilla and Colonna. Suppliers for generic brands are often the same name brands that you're used to, and on most products, I can't tell the difference.

Actually, they're not. Barilla is made in Italy and Colonna is a local supplier in Jersey. I can even accept your point that as pasta goes it's hard to tell the difference between generic and name brand pasta; still Barilla is easier to cook. Even so, given a choice between Barilla Pasta and Colonna grated cheese for LESS MONEY than generic, Walmart pasta and grated cheese, I'll opt for the former.

Originally Posted by pcity

It seems like your point is that, if you wait for the sale, ShopRite is cheaper. I don't think too many people would disagree with you on this.

The problem is you have to wait for the sale. ShopRite is a typical high/low retailer. They lure you in with low sale prices and then make it up by having high regular prices. You can't do Walmart regular price vs. ShopRite sale price comparisons, because most people that go to ShopRite are going to buy regular-priced items as well.

I'll step it up a bit... You don't always have to wait for a sale. Many items are just straight up cheaper at Shoprite. I gave the example of the canned beans. Walmart had one variety that was a couple cents cheaper than shoprite, all the other beans were a good 10-20 cents or more than Shoprite. On top of that, the walmart beans were some weird brand I've never heard of while Shoprite has both Shoprite and Goya brands for less.

When there is a sale at Shoprite, it's an even more stark price difference. And anyone with any brains at all will take advantage of a sale one week until the next sale, which is usually a week later. It's like a given - when I go shopping, I check the soda aisle and if Pepsi is on sale, I know that next week Coke will be on sale, so I wait. It's not like I have to wait months or weeks - it's a week.

Shoprite is a better value all around. It is not " a typical high/low retailer." It is a retail co-op. That's why their prices are generally lower than everyone else's, including Walmart.

Originally Posted by pcity

There are some shoppers, of course, that go all over the place to get sale prices on everything. This takes up lots of time and many families, especially lower-class families where the main breadwinner works multiple jobs, can't do this.

On the typical basket of groceries, if you're limiting to one place, Walmart is the cheapest, period. It's not going to be the cheapest every single week, but averaged out over time, you will save money going to Walmart.

It's not the cheapest. Factor in that Shoprites are all over the place and for most people they are easily on the way home from work or other places they need to go to and most people do not have to go "all over the place" to go to Shoprite. For anyone living in my area of Bergen County, there is a Shoprite within a few miles of their homes. I'd rather make a trip to Westwood, 5 miles away, and go to a couple different places to save money and get better quality while not dealing with masses of trashy people than to drive to a filthy, trashy Walmart just to spend more money on generic, cheap crap.

Originally Posted by pcity

Well, that's the difference between a SuperWalmart and a regular Walmart. Luckily, SuperWalmarts are expanding.

Even if there were a Super Walmart nearby I would never buy their crappy meat and produce. I don't know how people can put that in their mouths. I've seen spoiled meat and produce at many Super Walmarts but never at a Shoprite, Pathmark, A&P or other supermarket.

Originally Posted by pcity

I have often comparison shopped between Walmart and Target for drugs and toiletries. Walmart is always cheaper or the same. CVS is always more expensive unless there's a sale going on (see above).

I have yet to see Walmart being cheaper on any of those things. Harmon easily blows them away.

[doc1]

I've always said by closing down WM that just might be the incentive the laid-off workers will need to go to college and get the respectable jobs that are more befitting our fine, educated, affluent state.

You know, kinda like "tough love" for the under employed.

[jerseyj]

Someone is shopping at WalMart! Check out the growth from 1962-2004.
Blog: Wal-Mart Growth | Wal-Mart Watch | Fighting for Wal-Mart Workers | Employee Free Choice Act
Amazing!