Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think the dislike of Wal Mart started back when they changed from buying American goods to buying everything overseas.
Also, they tend to put the local merchants out of business because the local merchants can't compete with the low cost of overseas' workers. So, it is almost as if they take advantage of poor people that work for them, by paying them a lower wage.
Hubby is in the cotton business and he won't even walk into a wal mart.
They did it right the year after someone got killed? Good job.
Wal-Mart hating or loving aside, think about that for a moment. Someone got killed by SHOPPING. What that says about our society, I don't know, but it certainly says something.
I still can't get over how many people hate Wal-Mart. I think they provide a wonderful service to the less fortunate by providing not only (low skilled) jobs for them, but also selling at a discount to most other places nearby.
Unless you happen to live in a rural area where they've driven out the competition and are literally the only game in town. In which case, it's SOP to regularly pay a lot more for anything there in that small town than you would in a city or suburb where they actually have to compete.
When we lived in Tennessee, we shopped at the allegedly 'Always low prices' Super Walmart the next town over for groceries for a while until we discovered that we saved 15-20% on our cart by driving 45 miles one way to Jackson's Kroeger. And then when we moved to Florida, we shopped at Albertson's, which was the allegedly super-expensive grocery store in town, and which was still about 15% cheaper for a cart of goods than the Union City, TN Walmart was.
Unless you happen to live in a rural area where they've driven out the competition and are literally the only game in town. In which case, it's SOP to regularly pay a lot more for anything there in that small town than you would in a city or suburb where they actually have to compete.
When we lived in Tennessee, we shopped at the allegedly 'Always low prices' Super Walmart the next town over for groceries for a while until we discovered that we saved 15-20% on our cart by driving 45 miles one way to Jackson's Kroeger. And then when we moved to Florida, we shopped at Albertson's, which was the allegedly super-expensive grocery store in town, and which was still about 15% cheaper for a cart of goods than the Union City, TN Walmart was.
Hmmm, curious.
I lived in a small town about 50 miles north of Sacramento, CA when I used to frequent Wal-Mart. I found the prices there to be quite a bit lower than even Food4Less, the inexpensive grocery store in that area.
As for driving the "little" guy out of business, eh. Such is capitalism. I understand the sentimentality of having a "mom and pop" shop in your town and frequently choose to eat at local, non-national chains when possible (i.e. I'll go to Char-Grill before Burger King or McDonalds, or 5-Guys even). But the fact still remains that Wal-Mart can employ more people than the local shops and can provide lower prices (due to the economies of scale) than these mom and pops.
Shopping at mom and pops is something I enjoy doing. I will gladly pay the "surcharge" for the quality of service that I want. That being said, I can afford to do it now. For the majority of Americans, those in the lower-middle class, this might not be an option.
BTW, I'm always amazed at how people hate Wal-Mart (an American company) yet love Target (a foreign company). And yet they have similar business models and provide their employees with roughly the same pay and benefits. Go figure.
I know that there are strong feelings both ways about Walmart.
However, when I see someone, or in this case a corporation doing something well I believe it is worth mentioning.
On Black Friday at the crack of dawn the Cary 24 hour Walmart, like many others, offered inducements to shoppers. They had merchandise and personnel staged throughout the store. The merchandise was totally concealed in black plastic. Each palletized display had a large letter that identified that location.
When the hour arrived for the "Door Buster" sales, folks got a letter for the item they wanted, walked to that display and an associate presented them with the merchandise at the discounted price.
There was no pushing and shoving, screaming, or tension at all. It seems like Walmart has got this figured out after some bad press and unfortunate incidents in the past. Perhaps other retailers can avoid customer incidents by adopting a similar policy during sales.
Actually one Walmart did have to close for 2 hours. I don't have the link but I think I read it was in Upland. Sorry I don't know what state either...my brain is feeling fried today! The customers were trying to get into the merchandise that was concealed in plastic. The cops were called and every one had to vacate the store. It happened at 2am and the merchandise was not supposed to be distributed until 5am. You can probably google it. I apologize for not having a link.
BTW, I'm always amazed at how people hate Wal-Mart (an American company) yet love Target (a foreign company). And yet they have similar business models and provide their employees with roughly the same pay and benefits. Go figure.
Huh! I always thought Target was owned by some European Megacorp.
The rest of my points still stand, tho.
Yep. They also buy their goods from basically the same sweatshops - it's all relative. I think the French ownership reference goes to the nickname everyone jokes about: "Tarshay"
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
