I went to WalMart today

I was with a friend and we were out shopping. I try not to go there often and it had been at least a year since I had gone to a WalMart. A couple things struck me.

The prices! Just yesterday I went shopping for a new cooler. I try to buy local so I went to a local hardware store and looked at their selections. They had three that I liked. One was $60, one was $75 and one was $100. Today at WalMart the same cooler that cost $60 at my local hardware store was only $25. Exact same cooler.

I also noticed a lot of grocery items that were much less expensive. The big can of coffee I buy was $1.50 less than at my grocery store. Cat litter was half what I pay. Half. Same brand.

Blew me away. I knew prices were lower but this was unreal.

When my friend checked out the clerk commented that she appreciated the fact that WalMart did not put the things on clothes that prevented theft and had to be removed at the register. I asked her why not and she said "Oh, they have cameras everywhere in this store. There is even a camera watching me check you out."

I definitely understand why it is easier to shop at WalMart if you have to watch your budget carefully. And I have stated here that I thought you could go to other stores and get the same savings. But after my trip there today I am not sure.

But what a price you pay! Cameras watching everything you do! :scared:

If you only want to shop at places that don't have cameras, well, good luck with that.

My mom used to work at a Wal-Mart, so for a while I did a TON of shopping there.

For some reason any electronical things I bought didn't work. I bought a new keyboard that didn't work, and a new USB card that didn't work. I even bought a box sex of DVDs that had the 5th disc missing.

'sex' DVD's. Shame on you. :rofl: ;)

I feel part of the group now.

And of course I ment to say "Set"

I just couldn't resist. :hug:

And every single pair was about twice as big as the package said they were.

:spank:

at every store you shop at.

you bought the cooler. :P

:)

I'm sure you're aware of what they do to their suppliers, and their own employees.

I'm reading a book called "Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture." I'll get a link to it. You should read it. It's most illuminating about the choices we make when we shop, and the consequences of those choices...

On edit: It's by Ellen Ruppel Shell.

About a decade ago now, i was involved in a mall business, locally manufacturing jewelry.. a number of smaller suppliers were approached by walmart (apparently wally world was trying to push back).. wally world insisted, that the smaller suppliers not only be responsible for any shrinkage, but generously agreed to pay net 180... thats right on top of it all they used the small guys money for 6 months..

:party: :bounce: :party: :bounce: :party:

Granted I'm a mere student but I don't think that textbooks use such terms when discussing A/R. Walmart is literally taking these people's product and keeping the money for 6 months (where they no doubt keep it in an account that earns interest) before paying. Usually, people would start hounding or consider writing off a balance that's not been paid that long.

The more I hear about Walmart the more I hate them.

..... if you approach checkout with a pair of sunglasses on your head and someone thinks you stole them, they can go back to the footage of you coming in the building to prove that you didn't.... Yeah, they do have quite a bit of video security in the stores. The self-checkouts are some of the most highly videotaped. I wouldn't be surprised if the person monitoring the four registers is monitoring four video cameras on that little screen, but I am not certain if that's true or not.

One thing about their lower priced goods insofar as kitchen appliances, etc... many companies make a special line of products that they sell at WM that are actually cheaper to make than some of the ones that you see in hardware stores, etc, that look almost exactly like the standard product. Learned that when I was wanting to get a KitchenAid mixer and saw that the ones they stocked that looked so cheap weren't the same ones I'd been pricing online.

and I think Sears/lowes. They make a 'special' cheap version for them that is identical to a better more expensive version you can get in other stores, if they exist or online vs those big chains.

They just had a massive recall...

... so far the little espresso machine I bought six years ago is still working ... but now I'm a bit afraid to make my favorite cup o' joe....

I'm trying to hold out before buying another one until I can afford a Bunn. I know someone with a little one that has been working for over 10 years without a hitch, and she drinks coffee like it's going out of style...

Made with cheaper materials and to less exacting standards.

Definitely a buyer beware situation.

It is usually NOT the same product that you get at Target or wherever.

But if you go to Target, K-Mart or just about any other retailer, you'll find that the stuff they sell is made in China, too!

Best Buy, or wherever, take a closer look at the model number. It'll be slightly different. Somehow the manufacturer has to make cuts to meet WalMarts demand for lower prices.

Either they use older/outdated components, or cheaper wire or solder, or chips or cheaply made steel, nuts, bolts,or whathaveyou you may purchase, it just might not be the quality you'd expect as a consumer.

But the manufacturer will have a different part number for the Walmart stuff.

items made to their own specifications. Check the model numbers carefully. They'll use slower processors and less memory to lower costs in electronics, for example. Most of the differences are in things you can't see.

I refuse to set foot in a Walmart, but hubby thinks he is saving money. Usually, he's right! Groceries are much cheaper for the same brand, size, etc. Plus I don't think they have much of a selection. Their produce section is terrible.

:shrug:

It is kind of hit or miss. One week they will have tons of blueberries, then the next week they "didn't get their shipment yet." Salad selection is very limited.

They do try to offer some local produce, I'll give them that. I find a much better selection at Giant Eagle, although their prices are higher.

they have mangoes and other tropical fruit which are really out of place here

I'm in West Virginia and not one of the larger towns

we have an IGA in town and I swear it looks like the produce there has been there for years

I went to look for a green pepper the other day and was just not happy with what I bought

I *hate* the place and refuse to go to the one near us, but there is a new one which just opened up and so far has been pleasant to go to. It used to be that Target was the best alternative but now they behave as badly as Walmart towards their employees, so they really are no different. We do buy clothes there for the kids (teens, too) and they like them just as much as the mall stuff (of course the youngest son at 12 really doesn't care where they come from).

For grocery shopping dh has shown me the bills several times that I know by now that it's indeed a LOT cheaper than any of our local grocery stores, except for produce. We tend to go to a local farmer's market for that. Our food bill is pretty significant so even saving 10-15% off the total is a BFD.

because they hurt local economies.

If I need something, I'd rather pay a few dollars more than go there.

It's a choice I make. Others can make the choice that they will.

It depresses me to set foot in the place and makes me mad as hell to give them money knowing how they treat employees.

But I do have friends who live in small towns and have no choice but to shop there. So I try to understand.

and drove out small businesses.

so, I try to understand that, as well.

They tore down a shopping mall and were planning on replacing it with a Super WalMart. We fought it and the city refused to let WalMart in. They decided to put in an aquarium. It was going to be really neat. Then the economy tanked and that lot is still standing there empty. WalMart is back offering to build again.

An older downtown strip of stores is right next door. Every single one of them will go under if WalMart builds there. So we will fight it again.

WalMart built 50 Super Centers in Iowa and 500 locally owned retail stores went out of business. 500.

as long as I am able. If there comes a point where I cannot afford to do this, I may have to go to WalMart. But at this time in my life, right now, I am so opposed to the strong-arming that WalMart does to suppliers, the way employees are treated, the strong non-union stance that they take. But since I am not much of a consumer, and have very few needs, I doubt that I am hurting them much. But just the same...

I get my groceries from the farmer's market and a local co-op or the store down the street.

WalMart is way out of the way for me to go to - they moved their store just outside the city limits after they'd gotten tax abatements to build initially and establish themselves here then moved so they didn't have to pay taxes.

so, fuck them.

I will never shop there.

Don't want to know. But I have to admit, if what I am hearing about the difference in prices, I would have to go to WalMart if I was in dire straits. Just glad I can afford the little that I require at the higher prices.

An evil empire situated in an already traffic choked area. Just getting to the parking lot is a profoundly unpleasant experience, let alone navigating the usual big-box layout.

Well they "strip mined" the place because now they pulled out of there in search of cheaper land to plunder.

next 26 month. :P

i really hate that place - come sell your soul for low low prices! :puke:

the places I normally shop-especially higher than Costco. And what model of cooler were you looking at??? Seriously; show us the same model that you got at Walmart (should be on their website, or Amazon's) and I'll find the same thing for the same price elsewhere. Can't imagine a cooler costing $60.00 anywhere.

$47 at Amazon

in exchange for a $25 cooler. The cooler's wholesale price is probably close to what the local store was selling, but Wal Mart can take a loss-leader on that to get you into the store. The Ace down the street can't. And Wal Mart will do it to drive the Ace out of business completely. As they have and continue to do.

Not to even mention that Wal Mart controls the bidding on any product it buys. It buys in such volume that if a sport shirt manufacturer cannot create a shirt for $3.75, they'll be out of business. So, to keep afloat, they contract with some sweatshop in the Marianas where they can get people to work for . . . well, free, pretty much. Wal Mart doesn't care - they get to post a sweet smiley face on their $8 sport shirt.

Wal Mart is evil.

I was just blown away by the price differential.

I just have a visceral reaction to Wal Mart.

But I feel for people who have no choice but to shop there.

Just ask Vlasic, the pickle company, who lost their shirts doing business with Walmart. You can read about it here: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html?page=0%2C1

BTW, only some of their prices are low. Most stuff, is on par with, or more than elsewhere.

WalMart really screwed them.

It's been a while since we posted "The Man who Said No to Walmart" here; I will correct that...

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/102/open_snapper.html

Executive Summary: Snapper was selling lawn mowers to Walmart and getting screwed in the deal. WHY Snapper was selling anything to Walmart in the first place I have no idea--when you buy a Snapper mower from a Snapper dealer, the trained salesman figures out what machine you need, they take it out of the box and start it to make sure it will, show you how all the controls work, help you load it into your car and if it needs any kind of work at all, they're right there for you. When you buy a lawn mower from Walmart, you give them money for a sealed box and maybe someone will help you put it into your car. If it doesn't start, or if it needs an adjustment, I hope you know how to fix a lawn mower because the only thing they can do for you is take a return IF you've never cut grass with it. It's two totally different cultures; the problem is, Walmart was undercutting (no pun intended) the normal Snapper dealer network, and Snapper knew it.

I was pricing TVs and I went to Target, Wal-Mart, Costco and Best Buy and the TVs were all the exact same price. DVDs are about the same prices at these places too, they will have different stuff on sale from time to time, but in the end, they are all the same.

to do.

which also buys in large quantities?

But it is different than your local store can do. That was my point.

there are no local corner groceries which have survived except the ethnic ones (like the asian and middle-eastern markets). The most local thing I can think of is the farmer's markets which where we get much of our produce (or from our garden).

I could not compete with the big boxes. I had to sell the original product. The big boxes sold a down scale model of plastic parts that broke more often than not.

I tried to explain this to some customers, but they only saw the savings. They thought I was getting rich off them.

It is amazing. My customers are very upscale. They won't buy at the box stores. They get it.

I could certainly use the savings, but.... I'll stick with Target and Costco or online for certain things.

per 11 ounce bag than Shaws or any supermarkets. The cost of my addiction means I just gotta go to Wally World when I need my chocolate fix.

2 Targets, and we will be getting a Costco.

They treat their employees well, too.

I would bet you that only half of those black globes have cameras in them.

The price thing is reality. I food-shop there because it's the cheapest option around and I'm on a tight budget.

I drive my in-laws to Wal-Mart regularly, so I'm well familiar with their stock.

Although SOME items seem to be the same at Wal-Mart as the other stores at a much better price, many come in smaller packages or are lower quality or are about to expire. Examples are:

Sugardale bacon is sold at the Giant Eagle in a 1-pound package of nice slices but shows up in Wal-Mart as a 12-ounce package of weird-shaped bits.

Frozen chicken breasts my in-laws bought had lots of weird little chunks of meat in them along with the breasts.

Giant Eagle has Smuckers raspberry jam, Wal-mart has Smuckers raspberry spread.

The Wal-Mart bakery department is just gross, delivering mushy, overprocessed "bread" and fake pastry-like products. Blech.

The best deals seem to be in junk food--can't beat them for ice cream, chips, and cookies. "Real" food is often priced higher at Wal-Mart--I can do much better buying steel-cut oats at Giant Eagle and much, MUCH better buying them at our local Mennonite bulk store. The overall best source for bargain food is Aldi's.

Proud2B, you'll remember the incident in your area where a young woman was abducted from a Target and murdered. And the reason they so quickly caught the perpetrator was that Target turned over the video of the parking lot, showing the abduction.

I've been told that WalMart has cameras in their lots, but don't actually tape anything. The person who told me that was familiar with similar incidents/abductions in WalMart lots and WalMart could not supply video footage, because there wasn't any video footage. Cameras were just for show. Cameras in the parking lots, that is.

:rofl:

Walk down any street in any city over twenty thousand people and your picture is taken multiple times. Traffic cams are the least of your worries, corporations employ them to monitor the inside and outside of their buildings, small businesses do the same. In elevators, in offices, both obvious and unobtrusive, cameras are everywhere, except perhaps the restroom, and even that's not a guarantee.

Meanwhile private citizens are filming their own property, and perhaps yours as well. Modern homes come complete with security systems that feature cameras, and after market add-ons are cheap and readily available. The potential for unethical filming in residential areas is actually quite high.

All these records of your activities, all in private hands. Welcome to the end of privacy.

But I've never seen such low prices on three armed shirts, one legged pants, nonfunctional electronics, and cadmium tainted jewelry. ;)

Cadmium tainted indeed. I wonder what the hell is in some of this stuff.

Their price on milk, bread, and pop is no better than the local Price Chopper. They sell pringles for $1.50 per can and they are $1.39 at PC. PC often has specials on cereal and other items which make them comparable to wal-mart prices. However, I stopped at the local Homeland, and their prices were very high on the items I was looking for. So you might be shopping at an expensive grocery store.

Not only do they treat their employees better, they beat MalWart at their own game to boot.

A relative, a RW-er who is ferociously anti-labor actually likes ( liked ) Costco and knows it's the better store, but is bothered by their policy toward labor. Calls it a "left wing store" now. Seriously.

You get what you pay for.. You want Republican Control, support their money supply..

The price we pay when we shop at Wal-Mart goes far deeper than some surveillance cameras.

Shopping at Walmart contributes to slave labor
Encourages low wages here at home
Generally advances the downward spiral that is well on its way to becoming unsustainable


That's a pretty heft price to save a few bucks.

One of the ways that big box retailers like Walmart, Home Depot, etc. can offer products for so much less is that they've contracted for a similar model specific to their chain. The listed features and look are so similar that only a very careful consumer would notice the model number difference. In the case of the cooler, Walmart's price is less than half of the retail price of the other one you saw -- that smells funny to me. I can believe that Walmart could knock $10-15 off of the suggested price, but $35?

Smaller, repeat purchase items like coffee and cat litter may in fact be the same product sold for a lot less and as long as that's all you buy, you will come out ahead. The store is counting on you buying other stuff that may be no bargain once you've become convinced that you're getting good deals. It's one of the oldest tricks in retail.

But realizing they're the devil I usually shop at the employee owned Winco Foods which is a three minute bike ride away.

Only when Winco doesn't have something that I want do I take a bus to one of the Walmarts in the area and that's only if I can't get online and buy whatever it is I'm looking for.

Q3JR4.

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There is a Kroger 20 miles away in the same town as the wallyworld. However, Kroger doesn't sell Carnation Malted Milk. And some other things.

Another grocery store loves to scare off customers -- Brookshire Brothers. It was 8 pm, it was summertime, it was still light outside, and the manager was standing outside the front door with his arms folded and an angry look on his face, making sure that NOBODY would come in and shop at 8 pm on a summer evening!!

I decided that stupid bastard did NOT need my business, even if they had some items I couldn't find at Kroger or Wallyworld.

:wtf:

:grr: :banghead: