The Glade 4.0

I'm getting tired of the local merchants non-competitive attitude toward the elephant in the community.

Yeah, we can charge whatever we want, more than twice what they do, because, well, you don't want WalMart to win, right.

Yes, I understand WalMart has the economy of scale and ruthless bastards advantages. Yes, WalMart is horrible in a lot of ways, and I would rather not shop there. Yes, they treat their employees horribly, strong-arm their suppliers, and drive local businesses under, all that. Damnit, they are cheap on the things I do want that they carry. Is it wrong of me to go there at the end of the money, shortly before payday when I need to stretch my purchasing power a little to make it through?

Looking at the prices on the local supermarket shelves, I really find it hard to believe they want my business. When WalMart first opened around here, the other stores made an effort to provide better service, be somewhat competitive even if they couldn't match and to keep their stores spotless. All that has slipped.

Yes local businesses I would rather support local, but damn it, try to earn it. There is a reason WalMart has full parking lots and I have the run of your store whenever I go in. If you can't give me low prices, don't give me attitude.

I rarely go to WalMart, but sometimes cost is a factor I can't ignore, especially when I'm low on cash and food. I have a decent job, and I imagine those that don't have one feel that crunch way more than I do.

So local grocery stores, do something to convince me I should continue to shop at your place for the things your competition and you both sell. I don't want the greater variety you offer, the higher quality perishables, etc. to go away. However, the price difference is steep, not just a few pennies here and there. Lately I feel like I'm one of your last customers, and I have grown tired of poor service and sloppy behavior being okay because I don't want WalMart to win and alll of you to go away.

Earn my business. Don't act like its my duty to shop at your store. It isn't.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

I don't agree with the language, but I still feel this explains how I feel about Walmart


For groceries, I rotate between about 4 stores of which Walmart is one (but the other 3 are regional/national brands) based on what I'm out of or where I am. Walmart gets the baby share because of location, selection and personal preference over the other store that sells national brands, not because of irrational fear/hatred. However I like some of Walmart's selection and they have certain brands (Mission, Pioneer) that I feel in love with in the South and the other northern stores don't carry them.

Also I do buy my slacks at Walmart because they seem more inclined to carry my size than other places.

Mike I do feel that Ray's (still a chain, but a fairly local one. we haven't had a real ma and pa grocers in this town in my lifetime) has let themselves go since pre-walmart childhood. Maybe that's just childhood nostalgia talking, but I know its not something my mom would have put up with if she was still there.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

I almost never buy food products from Chinamart. About all I buy from there is electronic or chemical type products, and that is not often. All of them stay packed here, though. I use Sam's for bulk items like paper products, and I do buy certain food products like spices and such.

For groceries, I use the dedicated food stores. Most of the time it's Winn Dixie, which is very competitive in price and has most of what I need. There is another local store that we use for gluten-free products for my wife, which is not cheap.

This summer I plan to get back to growing some of my own produce at home. If you any inclination, I suggest trying also. Hydroponics is looking really good for certain items, and raised beds and/or potted plants for others. I *may* plant a little in dirt, if I can get some yard work done.

Right, so....

WalMart is convenient, cheap, has a wide variety of poor quality, inexpensive items.

Whenever I want convenience or inexpensive lesser quality items, I go to WalMart or Target. I sleep fine at night. It's great for kid's clothes, diapers, general household items, toys, etc.

I don't understand the anti-WalMart attitude. Same way I don't understand why I should have to pay a shit-ton of money for expensive-ass vegetables from my local farmer simply to "support local farms". Come up with a viable business model.

It all has to do with their business practices. How they treat their employees, how they treat their vendors and how they behaved when they were taking over small town USA.

I've shopped there when there has been no other choice, but if I have any ability I avoid them like the plague on principle alone.

I buy 90% of my groceries at Costco. Nobody in my area of Maryland even comes close to their prices and most of the time Costco's produce is better, anyways...

I've always been annoyed by the entitled attitude smaller business have had toward consumers in the wake of Walmarts. I'm sorry, but as Michael said: give me a compelling reason to shop at your store.

That said, I hate, hate, hate **** hate Walmart. I will not step foot in there unless I absolutely have to do so. They're one of the few stores that stay open 24 hours a day, so occasional emergencies do require it. But Jesus Christ, denizens of Walmart...what the hell.

Every single **** time I enter a Walmart, I'm reminded of exactly why I **** hate Walmart. Like the gigantic wad of chewing tobacco clogging up the sink in the restroom. Or the shit-smeared toilet seat. Or the hideous, offensively tacky choice in merchandise (like the "Jesus is my BFF!" shirt). Or the child sticking her fingers up her nose and then smearing snot on the fresh produce while her slack-jawed mother paid no attention. Or the half-eaten apple thrown haphazardly on top of tea jugs.

I buy most of my stuff at Amazon. I do my grocery shopping at Publix, because they're a pleasure to visit and have an excellent selection of high-quality, healthy, organic foods. I buy any electronics in person at Best Buy, because I have a rewards membership there. I buy any typical department store stuff at Target because, like Publix, it's much more pleasant to shop there. I also have a Costco membership, though that's a little less useful now that we're not eating boxed stuff, and it's across the state line into Georgia (fine for stopping by after work, a little inconvenient for making a grocery run from our house). But the reason I don't mind shopping at these places, and do mind shopping at Walmart, is because all of the places I've listed but Walmart seem to be mostly populated by people who know how to act like people, not shaved boars.

I'm sure that not every Walmart is infested with the same class (or lack thereof) of people, and that it's obviously not the store's fault. However, this is the market to which they play, and will continue to do so. It's worked out very, very well for them. And I appreciate the buffer they provide; so long as the animalistic hoards congregate at the lowest common denominator, it leaves the other stores far more pleasant to visit. Are those other stores more expensive? Yeah...by a fraction of a percent, most of the time (if even that). And even though money's a helluva lot tighter now that it was last year, it's a price I'm more than willing to pay.

I have no qualms about buying my every-day items at Wal-Mart. I'll get anything except groceries there.

50% of my total shopping is done through my Amazon Prime membership. All of my food shopping is done at farmers markets, Fresh 'N' Easy or Trader Joe's. Anything that I absolutely need today? Wal-Mart is solving that problem.

'skee:
I'm willing to bet those Jesus shirts are demographically placed. I haven't seen anything like that here... Which isn't to say our Wal-Marts don't carry them, but they're certainly not in the open like that.

What, you mean like these people?

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I miss Trader Joe's so much. One of the many benefits of Nashville.

Like I said, I'm not ideologically opposed to Walmart, as many are. I don't mind them or their stores. I hate their typical patrons. I wonder if other parts of the country have similar patrons, or if it's just the South.

I'm ideologically opposed to Wal-Mart, because I've seen it kill small towns.

It's slow, but it happens. They don't hire enough full time employees, or provide enough benefits for employees, to support an area- and certainly not to replace the employees of the stores who can't compete. And most of the time, they can't compete because they can't (a) strong arm national brands into selling their products to the store just above cost, and (b) they actually hire full-time employees, and provide benefits and healthcare.

As to prices- what I've generally found has been that while the average, non-sale prices at Wal-Mart are better, if you shop the sales at local stores, they always beat out Wal-Mart. They can't provide the lower prices all around due to leverage at the bargaining table, but they can provide really good weekly sale incentives to shop there.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

I'll shop at WalMart if it's nearby when I need something that I haven't already purchased at CostCo or on Amazon, with no reservations.



I think it's just the folks you live among 'Sky.
The town I live in is pretty homogeneous, archetypal middle-upper middle class (91% white. 70% married and $90k median household income). The WalMart patrons here are just like the patrons of any other store. The patrons of Sprouts (kind of like Trader Joe's, but even more granola), on the other hand, give me the creeps. They are much more likely to be slovenly, unwashed, ill-mannered and act as if they are deserving of special treatment.

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"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko

My Wal-Marts are full of mexicans.

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Holy shitsnacks!

I hope it's just the South. But I will say it's been every Walmart I've had the misfortune of visiting in the South (Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee; multiple locations in each state).

I distaste the business practices of Wal-Mart from a consumer perspective (though, much like Apple, as a business they are very shrewd). I also have distaste for their quality of goods. I find them to not be the cheapest option for most food.

Finally, I have distaste for their target market. Call it elitism if you'd like (I won't care), but they've chosen to target households of a certain income. For whatever reason, the people in that market don't know how to "act like people," in the words of Farsky.

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“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

Just come out with it and say you dislike poor people. It's okay, man. Poor people don't even like other poor people.

I tend to dislike ignorance and willful stupidity. WalMart is full of both of those.

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Holy shitsnacks!

Welcome to Walmart, our target demo is: "Folk who don't know no better!"

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Yeah, it's poor people. And yes, often, poor people are poor for a reason, and not knowing how to act in public can contribute.

Aizle:

I'm unaware of them mistreating their employees. I haven't seen any reports of them forcing their employees to do anything outside of their agreement or not living up to their end. A lot of folks complain they don't give their employees more, but they give them what they agreed to.

I've been absolutely dirt poor. I grew up that way, and it wasn't until I went off to college that I was able to change that. But I still knew how to behave like a member of a civilized society.

Being worthless is no excuse for acting worthless.

For lack of a better generalization, sure. But I've known and been friends with poor people through many stages of my life, although few of my current social circle are "poor." Instead of calling them "poor," lets call them "Group A."

I mainly* just hate dumb, lazy people. Let's call them "Group B."

For whatever reason, in America, Group A and B would be a Venn diagram with a TON of overlap.

Wal-Mart targets Group A, but due to the huge overlap with Group B, I hate shopping there.


*It should be noted that at various times of the day, DFK! probably hates literally everyone.

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“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

Man FarSky, you're single-handedly ruining my idealized image of "the South".


Growing up, we were pretty damn poor too (although I didn't know it), but you are absolutely right; there's no excuse. Manners and social skills don't cost a cent.


I, long ago, came to the realization that I hate the majority of people in every demographic; it has nothing to do with money, clothes or skin color. It has everything to do with common decency.

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"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko

That, and most people are **** boring as hell, and annoying

Speaking of unwashed masses here in the south, that love them some Chinamart! Me and the wife went to the largest store a while back, and ended up walking behind this younger woman who was wearing nothing but a sheer nighty type sleeping shirt. For reals! You could see boobs and I think she had panties on, but I wasn't trying to look very hard. The only reason I saw what I did, was because it was right in front of me. It was not attractive.

Vindy, you want the good of the South, talk to me. Some folks still like it around here.

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"It is true that democracy undermines freedom when voters believe they can live off of others' productivity, when they modify the commandment: 'Thou shalt not steal, except by majority vote.' The politics of plunder is no doubt destructive of both morality and the division of labor."

As far as I'm aware, they don't contractually mistreat their employees. That said, depending on the store, there can be a large "pressure" for employees who are contractually obligated to work 39 hours (not full time, so no healthcare and benefits) to put in full time weeks "to help out the store" and stay employed.

But the bigger issue is that they hire very few people as actual full time employees, to avoid paying benefits and healthcare costs, and even unemployment/disability.

While it cuts costs to the consumer, as they take up more and more "full time" jobs, you have a growing working poor that can't really support themselves or a family due to said practices. And long term, that's not sustainable. And then, while I may be saving costs on material goods, I end up paying back more in taxes to go to medicare, food stamps, and other governmental support programs for those same people.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.