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Walmart's groceries are middle-of-the-road. They offer a fine selection for the average person and it's certainly nothing a struggling person should complain about. I'm glad Walmart is providing an option for those on limited incomes. I'm glad Walmart is providing small-town and rural folks a good option when they otherwise may not have one. Walmart has penetrated poorer rural areas well, something most other retailers have failed to do. I do understand their large stores and large market shares sometimes hurt smaller businesses, but their stores are also often better quality than local retailers you'll find in poorer areas. I only wish that Walmart would penetrate poor urban areas like they have rural areas, areas that are often called "food deserts". Unfortunately, though, theft is a major deterrent. Further, I'm glad Walmart provides a humble, modest one-stop shop for folks who may feel uncomfortable, get snubbed, or otherwise not respected in some other places.
Agreed. Places like Detroit could use some Wal-Marts. About a year ago I had read there was NO grocery stores period within the city limits of Detroit. I saw in a documentary that it's easier to get crack cocaine than a tomato in inner-city Detroit. I am not sure if the situation has changed recently, but that is pretty frightening for the people who are living there.
I shop for groceries at Walmart all the time. It has tremendously helped out my grocery budget. Why spend an extra 25% at Kroger or 50% at Food Lion when I can get the same type of items with more variety at Walmart.
I never find good sales on groceries at walmart. Each item might be a few cents cheaper in general but I never seem to see really good sales on meat or other expensive items.
My local grocery store will have hamburger, boneless chicken breasts etc. for a really good price once a month, I'll stock up. Same with sales on 24packs of pepsi/coke..They're pretty much always the same price at walmart.
China and foreign countries will sell you non-stop stuff but when it comes to actually giving you a job, they can't help you. Just remember that when you talk to someone who is unemployed or underemployed. At least when you buy an american made product the factory can always hire you. The Chinese factory cannot.
oh and you think your bachelors degree or, "education" is going to protect your job? Think again. China and india have education systems that rival the western world. Westerns are just kept in denial about the true fact of the matter: China and India are going to compete on every single level with the west. That includes R&D, medicine, engineering, programming you name it.
WalMart started the trend of affordable prescription prices for most Rx drugs. Every other drug chain was forced very quickly then to offer drugs at a tiny fraction of what they had previously cost. WalMart, I believe, was also the first to cut the prices of injection needles. At that time, WalMart needles were literally the only manufactured product in America that one could by retail for a widely circulated coin (a quarter) and get change. The availability of cheap needles probably had an immediate impact on the spread of needle-related diseases and deaths.
Cheap products from China and they treat workers poorly. They easily enabled the consumer to choose the cheap junk that led to jobs being shipped away.
Supply chain and logistics are apparently impressive though.
The only positive I can say about Wal-Mart is that they offer generic Rxs for $4.
Wal-Mart purposefully keeps their workers at a poverty wage and gives them information on how to obtain assistance benefits, rather than paying them a livable wage so they don't have to rely on social programs. I don't have a problem with social programs for people truly in need, but a corporation like Wal-Mart can afford to pay their employees better and give them better benefits.
But you know, if you want to contribute to manufacturing jobs being shipped overseas as well as a ton of other problems they cause just to save a couple of bucks on 50 lbs of Ol Boy dogfood, go ahead.
Ridiculous propaganda.
WalMart hasn't changed my life in the slightest. I don't shop there. And not because we don't have a WalMart store in the city of St. Louis-- which we don't. (Note: There isn't a WalMart in NYC proper, either. Apparently, some cities have been strong enough to fend them off.) Hey, if I liked WalMart, I'd gladly drive to the suburbs. But that ain't happening.
The first reason I never shop at WalMart: I'd much rather support locally-owned businesses. Kind of the opposite that WalMart habitually does to small retail businesses across America.
Second reason: The Walton family is worth multi-billions, yet many of WalMart's front-line employees can't even get basic health insurance. And some employees are paid so low that they have to rely on Food Stamps to survive. That's nothing but criminal.
Three: WalMart has been known to advertise "American made" products to lure shoppers, when the majority of their merchandise is foreign-made. How patriotic!
Four: A WalMart store I visited awhile back was crowded, trashy, dirty, and made me feel claustrophobic. I couldn't wait to get out of there. I noticed that, recently, that same store was torn down. I bet the neighbors are breathing a collective sigh of relief.
Five: Have you ever seen the website www.peopleofwalmart.com ? 'Nuff said.
Yeah, how dare they charge a price above cost so that they could support their families!!!
Profit is fine, but when one runs a store in a less upscale town than where one lives, pays minimum wage w/o benefits, and charges many times cost for products, I applaud any big box who educates them via bankruptcy of the mom and pop.
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