Customers Flee Wal-Mart Empty Shelves for Target, Costco

[marmar]

(Bloomberg) Margaret Hancock has long considered the local Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) superstore her one- stop shopping destination. No longer.

During recent visits, the retired accountant from Newark, Delaware, says she failed to find more than a dozen basic items, including certain types of face cream, cold medicine, bandages, mouthwash, hangers, lamps and fabrics.

The cosmetics section “looked like someone raided it,” said Hancock, 63.

......(snip)......

Disorganized Stores

A thinly spread workforce has other consequences: Longer check-out lines, less help with electronics and jewelry and more disorganized stores, according to Hancock, other shoppers and store workers. Last month, Wal-Mart placed last among department and discount stores in the American Customer Satisfaction Index, the sixth year in a row the company had either tied or taken the last spot. The dwindling level of customer service comes as Wal- Mart (WMT) has touted its in-store experience to lure shoppers and counter rival Amazon.com Inc. ......................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-26/customers-flee-wal-mart-empty-shelves-for-target-costco.html

[xchrom]

1. du rec. nt

[samplegirl]

2. I never shop Wal-mart

so I would not know if the shelves were empty. It ruined so many Mom and Pop shops in my area that I just can't even think about going there.

Maybe people will wake up one day.

[Victor_c3]

16. Every time I think of walmart I think of the Killdozer song "Enemy of the People"

It is a song about Walmart and how it destroyed small-town America. It's kind of tongue-in-cheek like the rest of their songs, but true nonetheless.

The next song on the album is a song about Earl Scheib, someone that Killdozer claims is the only good capitalist (Earl Scheib used to own and operate a chain of autobody paint stores and they marketed a $900 paint job that undercut most competition). Funny stuff in my opinion.

The music of the band is mediocre at best, but it is strangely appealing to me. I'd have to call Killdozer one of my favorite bands of all time.

[Quantess]

23. "Earl Scheib, friend of many, friend of mine."

That takes me back.

Just the other day I was thinking of "a little man made of meat". I can't remember anything else about it, just that one line in that gravelly voice.

[Dollface]

59. Walmart makes me think of Tennesse Ernie Ford singing, "I owe my soul to the Company Store".

Cheesus I'm old.

[Fawke Em]

60. Or you've just watched "I Love Lucy" reruns on TV Land.

[thelordofhell]

61. Sixteen Tons...........

[ChazInAz]

69. That was hilarious!

I'll never be able to listen to this song again without hearing it with a Russian accent.

[a la izquierda]

78. What in hell...

That was just weird. And one of my favorite songs, too.

[thelordofhell]

79. It was a huge, HUGE hit in Russia............

In Russia, the Moscow concert venue Sixteen Tons is named after the song, which is played before each concert held in the club. The song has been famous in Russia since the Soviet era, but in the Platters' version. It was so influential that in the USSR several cover versions were made in Russian, as well as innumerable parodies in which "sixteen tons" referred to the weight of a bomb carried by some pilots to be dropped on a target country. There were versions with Americans about to bomb USSR, Russians about to bomb America, and also Russians about to bomb China. Lyrics tended to vary by performer.-----Wikipedia on "Sixteen Tons"

Tennessee Ernie Ford toured Russia and always brought the house down with the song........

[Dollface]

109. Those are most excellent fun facts. I had no idea.

[tpsbmam]

116. Intriguing. Beautiful rendition in his Russian accent.....listened to it twice! Thanks for posting

w/ the additional info.

[Dollface]

108. Thank you so much for sharing! That was splendid.

[awoke_in_2003]

113. Ah, those crazy Russians...

[BumRushDaShow]

114. OMG WTF?

The guy does have an excellent bass voice. He even did a little Louis Armstrong gravely vibrato for a verse...

[senseandsensibility]

115. Very strange and funny.

Shared with the hubby. Thanks!

[catchnrelease]

121. That was flat out surreal

But I love it!

[Doremus]

122. The cameo of Fat Tony Scalia at approx. 2:00 was priceless. ;-) nt

[Mojorabbit]

133. Love it! nt

[louis-t]

62. You are showing your young age...

Earl Scheib's original marketing was....."I'll paint any car for $19.95" Yikes! By the time I was driving, it was up to about $39.95 I think. Not the greatest paint job, but fast and adequate.

[Victor_c3]

72. Thanks for that

I was starting to feel old

I'm 33, by the way.

I've seen people do a decent job with Krylon on a Corvette before for under $100 (they did the labor themselves). Surprisingly, it didn't look half bad. I actually used Krylon semi-gloss black extensively when I did a frame-off restoration of my Corvette. I top-coated my frame, wheel wells, and the engine compartment with it and it came out looking pretty decent. For an area that you know is going to get beat up, it is an easy paint to touch up and to match years down the road.

I'd imagine a $20 or a $40 paint job wouldn't look much better than a krylon job, regardless of what year it was done.

[louis-t]

82. Mask job was always marginal. I saw them paint over lettering on a Caddy and

they painted over a mud splatter on my '68 Satellite after I noticed it and asked them to clean it before they sprayed.

[Dollface]

110. Back-in the olden days, Earl Scheib was how we tracked inflation.

I can still hear him say, "niney-nine niney-faeve".

[Hassin Bin Sober]

130. I remember 59.95

No ups no extras

[Dr Hobbitstein]

89. I LOVE this album!

My old boss turned me onto Killdozer about 10 years ago. Kept telling me about the song "Hamburger Martyr". Finally I tracked down a copy. So awesome

[zorro1]

96. Earl Scheib did it for 29.99 and Cal Worthington would stand on his head!

This post takes me way back, I was born and raised in Calexico, Ca and we received the Los Angles market TV channels. Earl Scheib would paint any car any color for $29.99 no ups no extras. By the time I went off to the military it was 99.99 still a heck of a deal. And the greatest TV marketer was Cal Worthington. He would bring on circus animals, lions and tigers and elephants had one sit on a car once, he would buy every unsold commercial all the stations inventory of TV commercials he was on every channel all the time. His thing was I'll stand upon my head till my ears are turning red come Cal come see Cal come see Cal. Haven't shopped Wal-Mart in 12 yrs and counting!

[Raine]

129. Cal is still doing commericials, he doesn't stand on his head or bring in animals

but he still does the commericials. Cal must be way up in age but still looks pretty good.

[Le Taz Hot]

136. Cal Worthington is still alive????

OMG! He was in his 40's when I was a teen. I'm 57 now so he's GOT to be in his 80's or 90's. "Go see Cal, go see Cal, go see Cal . . . . "

[Raine]

138. Yup, he's in his 90s was born in 1920 and just last year

got divorced from his 4th wife!

Car mogul Cal Worthington's bitter divorce trial: Closing arguments heard -- Eyewitness News exclusive | abc7.com
Address:http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:xdU5nM09u8gJ:http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story%3Fsection%3Dnews/local/los_angeles&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&prmd=ivns&strip=1

[Riftaxe]

131. I do, prescriptions are as inexpensive as other places

and those floaters in the pharmacy do a hell of a lot more then count pills for people like me.

Now, short of gun point, I would never go to a Target again, but either location is a journey for me. I also refuse to pay 450+% markups for the local hardware store too in order to buy the same product.

Sam's club for gas, and best prices at best locations otherwise. More then that is an exercises in a pointless privilege.

[brewens]

3. I was dumb enough to try their Site to Store scam one day. I needed

a new cheap dvd player. My old one quit on me. The easiest quickest solution was to go online, find one, pay for it and go pick it up, right? Nyet so fast! The "Site to Store desk" is really their customer service/return counter. Nice! I find myself in a long line of people returning toys and stuff and only one employee running it. I could probably easily went to electronics, found the dvd player and been out of their in half the time.

[bike man]

6. Their website will often tell you if that item is stocked in whatever store you choose, and there is

also the option of having it delivered to your home. On many items (small ones, not appliances) the delivery charge is less than the cost of the gas to drive to the store.

[brewens]

12. I needed it that night or I would have ordered one from somewhere

else entirely. I had company and it was movie night.

[LiberalFighter]

28. Can't trust the website telling you that it is there.

So 15.2 cents ($3.80 gallon) a mile is more expensive than going to the store and back? I could go 6 miles round trip for less than a dollar. And if I do other shopping on the same trip it costs even less. Unless that particular shopping was 3 miles or more further.

[bike man]

86. I recently ordered/rec'd two pr jeans, and two pr jeans shorts. Shipping was under $1.

Delivered to my door. Using your gas cost example, it would have cost me just under $3 for the round trip. Saved $2 and didn't need to put on shoes.

[LiberalFighter]

103. Each person is different on distance

Where I am I can get most of what I need within a 3 mile radius. If I can't and it is within about 10 miles I will schedule it when I have something else in the area. If all that fails, I have it shipped. And there are times I just don't want the hassle of going to the store. I paid $8 shipping for 2 items from JCP that is about 5 miles from me. Just don't care for hassle at that mall.

[sadbear]

4. Can't wait for it all to collapse, kind of.

Yeah, we need Wal-Mart to go away forever, but they always leave behind huge empty buildings that no one bothers to raze.

[RockaFowler]

5. Has anyone seen the "Local" WalMart commercials??

Right now in Florida they are running commercials touting the lower prices at WalMart compared to Publix. They make no mention of the fact that Publix takes all coupons. Or that Publix has far better service. Or that Publix looks and smells better. Or that the items purchased could have been Publix brands which are so much cheaper (and taste just as good).

We have 3 WalMarts within 10 miles of us and I hate it. They almost ruined our city. Winn Dixies are practically gone. Albertson's are gone. Now they want to try and kill Publix?? No thanks WalMart. Can't stand your stores or lousy service.

And yes I will walk into a Target first - much cleaner, neater and nicer employees!

[atreides1]

13. They're doing the same here in Virginia

Running commercials about the lower prices compared to GIANT. But they fail to talk about GIANT's gas points...also that they take coupons even on sale items. All of the GIANT stores that we've shopped in are clean have a great selection of items and the customer service is much better then WalMart.

We also go to Target over WalMart...and the Target store closest to us is part of a mall that is undergoing renovations.

[Freddie]

134. I love Giant!

I think we're talking about the same Giant (PA/MD). Clean, always have what I need, good prices, easy checkout and gas points. Our local Walmart just became a Super Walmart with groceries. Now it takes twice as long to get out of there as you're now in line with people buying big carts of food. The only part of Walmart I ever patronize is the photo center (order online & pick up).

[djean111]

22. They cannot kill Publix.

Publix has the best bakery, the best deli, the best store brands - and better prices overall.
The employees are helpful. I don't blame WalMart employees for being surly, though.
Winn-Dixie? More expensive than Publix, which makes no sense.
I am living on very little money, though, and sometimes the attitude that I should do without basics rather than buy them at Walmart if they are cheaper, is a bit squicky. Anyway, nowadays every trip I make takes gas mileage into consideration, and Publix is closest to my house, so I am lucky there.
In my area, Publix ran the two-years-older Albertson's across the street out; no comparison with quality and prices. A WalMart food store replaced the Albertson's, but I would be surprised if Publix doesn't win that battle, too.
Target? For me, too expensive.

[Alcibiades]

40. They are also appealing to a different customer base

Publix is upscale, Wal-Mart is distinctly downmarket.

[dixiegrrrrl]

35. Wal-Mart will match any other coupon or sale price

but does not advertise it widely.

Winn Dixie, turns out, was sold to another chain last year.The stores keep their name, but I have noticed a change in meats.
sadly, we have 2 choices in this teeny town. Winn Dixie and Wal-Mart.

[RockaFowler]

48. I found the opposite at the WalMart by me

I brought in a Target coupon and they refused to take it. I brought the same coupon to Publix and they did take it. They will match the same price in an advertised flyer, but not coupons per say!

[csziggy]

52. They don't take internet coupons, apparently

Woman Pulls Gun After Walmart Refuses $1 Coupon
By: Julie Montanaro

Crawfordville, Fla. - A Crawfordville woman is accused of pulling a gun outside the local Wal Mart in a confrontation over a one dollar coupon.

Deputies ultimately had to tase her to arrest her, and now the woman is facing five felonies.

It happened at the Crawfordville Wal Mart on Friday afternoon.

Deputies say Mary Frances Alday tried to use a one dollar internet coupon and became enraged when an assistant manager told her the store would not accept it.

http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/Woman-Pulls-Gun-After-Walmart-Refuses-1-Coupon-195705471.html

[Myrina]

75. Yep, they're doing it to Kroger in Indy ...

Kroger is a union shop and carries alot of locally made products, and also has the gas points program.

Fuck Wal Mart.

[Eleanors38]

128. Publix is Macey's next to Walmart.

[fitman]

7. I went to my local WM

several weeks back.it was right across the restauarant we ate out at. ..the grocery section was awful.. dirty looking and my wife said most of the prices were not any lower than the Kroger we usually go to.

Not impressed.

[fredamae]

8. Stopped shopping "for" the "greedy SOB's"

years ago....

[BeyondGeography]

9. Half of the country is poor or low-income

The half that was truly loyal to Wal-Mart; they have been hammered. It's not a surprise that those with a little more to spend are choosing nicer stores while those with less are trying to keep the lights on.

[sadbear]

15. And they're being scammed, too.

Prices are not necessarily cheaper at Wal-Mart. They built that reputation in the past, but have done little to maintain it. I can grocery shop cheaper at H.E.B. (in Texas) than at Wal-Mart.

[mountain grammy]

26. Shopped at the H.E.B. in Midland while marooned in Texas last year.

What a great store, best produce department I've see outside a farmer's market. Makes you want to eat healthy!... lots of organic products too.

[randome]

31. I would never buy groceries at a Wal-Mart.

But when I need a hammer or light bulbs or something like that, their prices usually are cheaper.

At least in my neck of the woods.

[LeftInTX]

32. H.E.B. for me too

I buy my clothes at Wal-Mart, but rarely groceries. H.E.B. has better quality and prices.

Also, Wal-Mart doesn't have carry out!!! I've got a bad back and there is no way I can lift all those heavy bags. I also feel safer having some escort me to my car. H.E.B. staff is always helpful.

[Sherman A1]

10. I went to a Wal Mart with my Sister in New Orleans last year

and frankly the place looked gutted. I have never seen a store look that bad, just empty shelves, looked like the place was closing and the floor would have to have improved by several levels to reach filthy.

Understaffed, dirty and empty shelves do not enhance a customer's desire to return.

[frogmarch]

11. WM in Chadron, NE has lots of

empty grocery shelves. When Safeway didn't have grapefruits yesterday, I checked at WalMart, and they didn't have any either. I also noticed WM didn't have any potatoes. Potatoes! I was flabbergasted. As I headed toward the door, I saw lots of empty or mostly empty shelves, including bread shelves. Wow.

[Ikonoklast]

14. One certainly doesn't go to Walmart for customer service.

Hring an elderly person to sit by the door and say "Welcome to Walmart" is no substitute for being able to find a clerk that can actually help you find an item.

[brewens]

17. Once they own the road, they can now cut back everywhere possible.

A few years back during the Bush gas price spike, they cut back on their freight. I was running a cafe at the time with my girlfriend and we relied on several of their items, especially in their bulk foods section. We actually had to make sure and find out when their trucks were coming in and make sure and get there before some stuff would be sold out.

I've also heard people complaining about less variety now. Possibly trying to force people to buy their in store brand. What is that called? Best Value or something like that? I go there as little as possible.

[Roland99]

18. There's a nicer, newer one near me but....

with all those checkout lanes (like 40 or so plus several you-scan-it type lanes), there's usually only 3-4 staffed and, later at night, sometimes only a couple of them! Not worth the hassle.

We shop Super Target, BJ's (who takes coupons, btw!), Sam's Club and Publix (for quick-grab items or buy 1 get 1 sale items) and make extensive use of coupons.

[leveymg]

19. Now that they've destroyed their opposition, they can cut their costs and service further

with a nice boost to their bottom-line.

That's the end result of capitalism - something like the old Soviet Union.

[Alcibiades]

51. I grew up in West Berlin

Back in the day, members of the occupying US forces and their familes could visit East Berlin, and the Soviets would come and shop at our PX. If they had money, which most of them did not, all under the four powers agreement. Since we had access to cheap east German "Ostmarks" on the black market, we could buy black market Ostmarks for a tenth of their official value, go over to the east, exchange some small amount of money and add a couple of zeroes to the receipt. Suffice it to say, for us the east was a consumer paradise, precisely because we could afford many things we never could have afforded otherwise.

Although the low quality of Soviet era merchandise has become legendary, this is only partly true. The quality of the wollen goods, for example, was high, as well as the stuff made of leather or pigskin. Though most families could only afford these every now and then, they were made to last for years. Many products actually benefitted from having been produced by old industrial or handcraft techniques. Selection was limited, but the stores were usually quite clean, even if the city itself was dingy, gray and reeking of lignite. And, because it was a full-employment economy, service was never lacking. Every counter had a checker and a person whose job it was to wrap the packages in printed tissue paper, whether the item in question was a gift or not, and to wrap the various paperboard boxes in string for carrying.

At any rate, Wal Mart does remind me of the eastern bloc. Even the most poorly stocked Wal-Mart has a better selection of wares on offer than they did in the Soviet-era east, but the homogenization and scale seems the same.

[dotymed]

56. I read a DU post the other day

that hit the nail on the head "capitalism killed communism and now it has killed democracy."

[bhikkhu]

20. Exactly - low wages and not enough help means the store is an unpleasant mess

before the superstore opened in my town there was a big k-mart we used to shop at. Until it just seemed to hit bottom after a long slide - the shelves were all a mess, you couldn't find prices on things, you couldn't find anyone to ask, and the cashiers were listless and unconcerned if you thought something was supposed to be on sale and it rang up at the wrong price, and you just walked out in frustration.

[sufrommich]

21. My parents live in the upper peninsula of Michigan,

Their closest Wal-Mart is over 40 miles away in Sault Ste Marie and where they usually shop for groceries and the usual items for their home,they've been complaining for a year that Wal-Mart shelves are sparsely stocked and have started online shopping for everything but groceries,they thought it was just their Wal-Mart,I'll have to email this article to them.

[Junkdrawer]

24. You can screw your workers and feed them Happy Talk PR for only so long.

Cutting off their noses to spite thier faces - as my mother would say.

[MynameisBlarney]

25. Fuck Wally World.

A truly anti-American corporation if there ever was one.

[raging moderate]

27. Please don't mention anyWalmart employee sitting down.

Please, I know these people. They will use that one sitting down as an excuse to further scapegoat the workers and institute even more draconian rules, demerits, and fines to punish any worker who doesn't happen to be feeling well that day. It is ridiculous, but this is how their little minds operate.

[randome]

29. I've noticed this, too. Their much-vaunted inventory system seems to be having hiccups.

It hasn't been anything essential for me but enough items have turned up out-of-stock to make me notice.

[mountain grammy]

30. When I need "stuff," I go to Goodwill or any of the dozens of thrift stores in the area.

Amazing the quality of used things I find.. lot's of "made in America." It's not just for kids anymore.

[LeftInTX]

33. The check out lines at Wal-Mart are horrific!!!

Just awful!!

[randome]

37. One in my area has a self-checkout area.

I hate the idea of jobs possibly being lost because of it but it does make checkout faster.

The checkout lanes, however, as you said, are always a pain in the butt. Less than half of them are in use at any one time.

[bullwinkle428]

44. Wal-Mart eliminated the self-checkout lanes in a couple of

stores in my area. Totally with you on the mixed feelings of not having an employee check me out vs. waiting in a long line of customers to pay for the one or two items I'm picking up.

[L0oniX]

34. Shit out of stock for weeks. Takes longer to check out than it takes to collect the items.

Then there are the more than a few complete assholes who shop there who have no consideration for anyone else. Isle blocking ...cart ramming ...wreckless drivers in the parking lot.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

57. Boy, has that ever been my experience

In the times I've been to Walmart, I couldn't get over how rudely the people behaved to each other. And there were vast sections of the store where you couldn't find anyone who worked there to ask a question. While I haven't found the lack of products on the shelf to be a problem at Home Depot, I've found the same phenomenon (if not worse) regarding the lack of sales support. At my local Home Depot there have been times when you could walk half the giant store and find no one working there.

[CoffeeCat]

36. I am a rabid bargain hunter/couponer/frugal chick...

...and I can tell you that Walmart prices are definitely NOT the lowest. Believe me, I study the ads--make charts and lists and go to three to four stores--getting the best deals at all of them.

Through trial and error--I suddenly phased out Walmart on my list of stores. They don't advertise their prices or print a circular like the local grocery stores do. Anyone else notice how that works? They don't have PROOF of low prices--they just say that they have low prices, always. If their prices really were low--wouldn't they be advertising that?

Their prices are not the lowest. And furthermore, who in the hell wants to shop in a gigantic warehouse full of employees who do not want to help you, and most of the time do not understand what you are saying. Their meats are disgusting. The store is uninviting.

Furthermore, everyone knows how they treat their employees. People get that they are destroying small-town America. The problem is that some people buy their media campaign. Low prices. It's not even true.

They treat you like a criminal if you use coupons. The hassle is outrageous.

Our local grocery stores have real sales with really good prices. Plus, the employees are friendly and the meat counter at Fareway and at Hy-Vee is wonderful. You just have to shop smart, buy the items that are on sale (combine with coupons if you can) and stock up when prices are low.

I've noticed that Walmart's new ads are about how they prices match any store's prices. Ok, but who wants to go through the check-out lane with several competitor ads--holding up the checkout line while they check the ad for EVERY item you want price checked???? It's a hassle. And their produce sucks.

I used to shop at Walmart weekly. I've been in there maybe twice the past year. I think Walmart is trending downward.

[bullwinkle428]

46. Fareway & Hy-Vee blow Wally-World away when it comes to

meat in particular and groceries in general.

[xtraxritical]

53. I'm the same way, I shop three nearby groceries and two more about ten miles away.

All the stores here have weekly fliers for easy comparisons. WinCo is usually the best price but not on everything, dairy and meat seem to be their make profit items.

[AlbertCat]

38. Who writes these headlines?

Customers "fleeing"? Like they're running screaming from Walmart to Target....

I don't think so.

[Maw Kettle]

39. So that's what's going on!

I don't shop at Wal-Mart often, but due to my son practicing for his traveling baseball team near the Wal-Mart in the next town over, I've been running in there to buy a couple of items I need while he's practicing. I've noticed lately that there are many empty shelves in the grocery department, especially the fresh produce. I figured they were having problems with their supply lines. My local grocery stores don't seem to be having any problem at all.

[Javaman]

41. Personally, I thing china-mart had reached it's "zenith" about 8 years ago...

and has been running only via momentum due to it's leviathan-like size up till now.

[queenjane]

42. So it's not just my local Mal-Wort!

For several months, I've found less and less of what I actually need. (I know it's a s**thole, but it's the only game in my small town, and my elderly Mom gets her prescriptions there, so we go.) The employees don't even bother to stock the shelves, on the rare occasions when they actually have stock; they just toss it around, and you have to dig through piles of unrelated stuff. Nothing is priced, and the very few price scanners left are hidden away in far corners.

Another thing I've noticed is that all but one of the checkout lanes they open on Saturday morning (Saturday!), are the 20-items-or-less. Even they know they have no stock.

The grocery section is disgusting. Pet Supplies are iffy. Thank goodness there's a Costco near my office in another town. Oh, and if you're lucky enough to have a Tractor Supply in your area, they have great clumping cat litter in 20 lb bags, cheap, and have sales on bird seed; heck, I've even purchased winter boots there.

Methinks it won't be long before Walmart becomes an ugly footnote to history. Maybe then my town can finally get a Target!

[laundry_queen]

105. I was thinking the same thing!

I also shop at Walmart occasionally since there's nothing else close by other than smaller stores (I buy from them too, but sometimes have limited time and need a one-stop-shop). I used to stop more at Zellers (the Canadian version of Target) but they've since closed up since selling to Target. Once Target opens up here (supposed to be soon, the store looks pretty ready) Walmart won't see me very often anymore.

I've noticed the empty shelves at Walmart. Over the last year it's gotten so bad. The light bulbs I need have been out of stock for 8 months. The cosmetics area is a fucking joke. They haven't replenished it since LAST Christmas (2011). My mom says wal-mart brand bras are the only ones that fit her properly, and they haven't had the one she wants for over a year now (even though it still has a space on the shelf). I know they haven't replenished the underwear area for at least that long as well. I won't even get into the grocery area. It's absolutely, truly pathetic. I really thought it was just our local store because it's so insanely busy (as I said, no other department-type stores in the area, Walmart is IT). I didn't know it was company-wide. That doesn't bode well for Walmart if they are having such serious supply chain issues.

[valerief]

43. Well, Wal-Mart is struggling to survive, after all.

Bwahahahahahahahaha!!!!!

[Smilo]

45. Those that bash Walmart and praise Amazon and Target - don't be so smug

need to know a couple of things - while I abhor the way Walmart treats its' employees - Amazon is worse - but Amazon goes through agencies for most of its employees and so looks clean. Talking about the warehouses here - the work at both is extremely hard and demanding, but speaking with men who have worked at both say Walmart actually treats its people better.


As for Target - it is almost as bad as Walmart:

Both have fought off employee unionization efforts, so far with 100 percent success in the United States. Target employees are shown an anti-union video as part of their orientation.
Neither store pays a living wage. A 2005 newspaper article quotes the United Food and Commercial Workers, which had tried to organize some Target workers, saying that wages and health plans at the two stores are similar, but Target's plan is more restrictive. "We feel they are worse than Wal-Mart because they are masquerading as this benign employer," said Bernie Hesse, a UFCW leader, in a Fortune piece published this month.
Both Target and Walmart use factories with poor human rights records.
Both stores present obvious environmental problems with all the packaging used, etc. Both have initiatives to improve their record in this area; Wal-Mart's promises go farther, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
With their low prices, both stores have the effect of putting smaller, more specialized and often locally owned retailers out of business.

[DebJ]

67. I must say though that the employees at my local Target

are constantly happy, chipper, and helpful. I have been in the store several
times a week over the past month for bread (2.99 a loaf instead of 4.49) or
milk or lettuce, or the items I regularly buy there for price reasons. The people
that work there seem happy to be there. I find it quite amazing. The only other
place I have ever shopped like that is our local Lowes, which has been just like
this consistently for 6.5 years now. It feels GOOD to be in a place where people
are happy while at work and happy to help you. It feels, well...like a HUMAN
place to be.


I never shop at WalMart. I do take my son to one a few times a year; he is
on public assistance in Maryland and the local grocery stores in his area
are hideously expensive (I live in Pa). But I won't BUY anything in there.

The produce in his local WalMart and mine looks like it came right out of a
garbage can, and I am NOT exxagerating. No way I'd put it in my mouth.

I did shop at WalMart briefly about 10 years ago, but not for my major grocery
shopping, just to comparison shop. I stopped after a year because they didn't
have lower prices overall, just two or three items here and there and inconsistently
whereas the local Giant has sales where things are 1/3 off or buy one get one free,
so by shopping their sales I cut my entire grocery bill by 1/3 (More lik 20% on a
good trip these days though). My grocery trips are bizarre; people stare; sometimes
I have nothing but one hundred canned goods, or for example only 4 different items
but enough for three months (meats).

My husband goes to WalMart, but anytime I go into one of their stores with my son,
my face is flaming red with embarrassment to be seen there, because of their
Chinese slave labor job exporting treating employees like 'capital' to be used abused
and tossed policies. I don't even want to go inside their door.

[Smilo]

87. May be, just may be the employees feel

that not only are they being abused by their employer, but the customer so often treats them badly and even while shopping there will berate them/the store/walmart.

It is not the employees fault.

Target's employees are often younger part-time college students - who are often more chipper by their very nature.

As for Lowes - our local Lowes leaves a lot to be desired.

It very much depends on local areas and attitudes - but it goes both ways.

Oh and take a closer look at the labels on things you buy outside of Walmart - while Walmart is vilified for buying Chinese - other stores do just the same, but somehow manage to fly under the radar of being "pro-Chinese slave labor".

I am not being pro-Walmart - I am trying to be realistic.

The sad thing is that for many the only place to work is Walmart and if they go down the only people that will be really hurt are the employees.

[limpyhobbler]

107. I've been trying to shop at Meijer. Those are pretty good.

I think all the Meijers around here are UFCW.

And they don't seem any more expensive than a Wal-Mart.

[Smilo]

124. If only they were nationwide

that would be wonderful.

[Aerows]

47. Don't get attached to anything

you like and find in Wal-Mart if it isn't a basic item, because as soon as you start liking a brand or a particular product, the next time you go to buy it they won't have it anymore.

[fasttense]

80. I agree

There was this very inexpensive stain remover that really worked well, I found at Wal-Mart for about 2 months then it was gone, never to return. There was this great floor wax for my wood floors that disappeared after a year. Then there are the items you think about, go back to get and they are gone never to return.

What ever happened to all the fabric they use to carry? I never see it in stores here anymore.

I use to shop there until I found out everything I liked was disappearing and no longer carried.

[Broken_Hero]

84. Walmart took away the

fabric/sewing departments a while ago, but are slowly bringing them back in(for the past few years) because of demand.

[Tree-Hugger]

92. fabric

WalMart destroyed local fabric stores. They couldn't handle the competition. Then wal-Mart phased out their fabric sections. Some of the stores are expanding them again.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

144. They sell lightweight cottons and polyesters.

Fine if you're making quilts with several layers but not good if you want to make something out of silk, linen, thicker cotton, and stuff like that.

I go here in Houston:

www.highfashionfabrics.com

[AllyCat]

49. Target is not much better, but the icon of Wally World as the start of much of this madness

makes it the most despised on my list.

[mettamega]

50. WALMART EATING ITSELF :-)

just what we all know - treat workers badly, understaff, underpay and the business will end up EATING ITSELF -

[csziggy]

54. Reminds me of JM Fields just before they folded

And Kmart the last time I was in one.

JM Fields was a Wal-Mart style store chain that folded in 1978, for those too young to remember it.

The local Kmart was like that for thirty years before they folded. I'd see things in their ads, go to the store and not be able to find them. No one to help, and even if you did find something to buy, no one to check you out. Aisles would be blocked by pallets of unpacked stock, just big stacks of boxes sitting around. One time, the thing I was looking for was in one of those stacks of boxes but after forty minutes of trying to get someone to get the product out for me I gave up and left the store empty handed.

[nadinbrzezinski]

55. I simply avoid them on principle.

[firenewt]

63. Ditto

[secondvariety]

101. Same here.

There's nothing at Wal-Mart that I can't get elsewhere.

[primavera]

137. And here

I always feel sorry for people who live in communities whose competing businesses have been driven out of business by MalWart, so they now have no choice any longer.

[Paul E Ester]

58. Great article.

Cannibalistic Capitalism eats itself.

I'm sure they are praying the drone workforce is coming along quickly enough. A system like Kiva Robots has to be in the works.

[tabbycat31]

64. I was in Wally World a few weeks ago

We were looking for something specific (they did not have it, ended up finding it at K-Mart) and the store was an absolute mess. And if you have 40 registers, why do you only have 3 cashiers on a busy Saturday?

[rurallib]

65. since Costco came in our Wally world shopping

is almost nil. @ $15 a month for certain products Costco does not carry.

I feel so good about that.

[2naSalit]

66. Recently a neighbor and I ventured

to the nearest city, 100 miles one way, to go shopping. She doesn't have a vehicle currently and doesn't drive in winter anyway so we shared the cost of gas and spent the day getting things on our (for both of us) once in six-months shopping adventure.

She wanted to go to Walmart, I had no desire to go there and avoid it on purpose. I bought two items there but what I noticed while I was there was interesting and haunting. As many above have mentioned, they appeared to be understaffed, the place was in disarray, lots of empty shelf space and most of the household items were products of numerous Koch Industries from paper products to soap and all the other stuff they produce, mostly riddled with petroleum products and poisons... which is why I don't shop there to begin with. There were few things that were less costly than the employee owned lace on the way back home, which is where I got my groceries, and the employee owned place also has a large variety of organic foods and ethically produced items.

Walmart may have sold the desperately poor on their low cost items but even the desperately poor are waking up to how little is to be saved by shopping there as well as the low quality of the China-made stuff.

It's finally happening, Walmart is going down and I hope they land with a crash that is like a 9M earthquake.

[KrazyinKS]

68. The shelves in my local Walmart are also empty

I have been wondering fo a while what was going on. I have noticed for a while that even the brand name products it carries are lacking, more water content and so on. Same band and everything as the local owned store. I think the manufacturers have been talked down so much by Walmart that they have to cut corners just to produce it for Walmart. I know this for a fact bcause we have a Coleman plant here in town and a worker told me the picnic coolers are made cheaper for Walmart. Their off brands are lacking, I find better off brands at my local store, I buy my food from the local store, at Walmart the hamburger was so watered down I found myself boiling hamburgers-that was a first!!!

[colsohlibgal]

70. I Refuse To Go There

The others like Target (other than Costco) are hardly innocent actors, but Walmart is the worst on a lot of counts.

The Costco owner/execs are wealthy even while paying their employees a decent wage. The difference is that their CEO may have a fortune half or less of the Walmart heirs, still a ton of money while not treating employees like dirt.

[olddots]

71. Its just a matter of time before the Waltons close shop

Why should big pigs care anymore they have raped the country ,made their money and want to go to the next place to destroy .

the SUPER markets around where I live look like they're trying to fail too .

[ProfessionalLeftist]

73. My mom goes to one of their "superstores" ...

...because she's had both hips replaced and going to one big store is easier for her than going to 2-3 smaller ones.

However, last time she went, she said they had stuff in boxes just stacked up ie: boxes with the top cut off and I guess stacked sideways. And these boxes and their contents appeared to have been "raided" as well and were collapsing into a disorganized heap. She was quite shocked by it. Said it was a mess.

I never shop there. I understand why she does and she has good reason (fixed income, not very mobile to go to several different stores). But, I think she's getting really turned off with Wally World. I noticed she goes less and less often now.

[pangaia]

74. What's Wal-Mart?

Is that a store or something?

[Apophis]

76. Good. I hope Walmart dies.

[SunSeeker]

77. I remember when Walmart started out, they touted service & carrying only "Made in America" products.

I believe Sam Walton was still alive at the time. That got them into a lot of communities and built up their head of steam. But then the old man died and his evil children took over. Once they got their market share and cash flow, they dropped the "Made in America" promise and really put the screws on their workers. Now they are a huge mega horror show. They are their own worst enemies.

[KrazyinKS]

81. There is something about their explanation that just doesn't jive

So they have the product in the back room, or at the warehouse-right? Do they not have the money to hire staff to stock the shelves, or hire drivers to deliver the product? If you have already bought it why not put it on the shelves? Actually the way I understand it Walmart does not pay their suppliers up front, the suppliers have to front the product and then wait for their payment. Have they not been paid, so they are no longer going to front any more stuf? Their explanation isn't making sense to me.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

83. So I'm supposed to drive 70 miles one way to Target??

There is a Kroger in the next larger town (20 miles away) but it's small and they often don't have things I need.
The HEB is small and often doesn't have things I need.
It's discouraging.

I don't like wallyworld either but they have destroyed small town America.

In the large suburb I grew up in (60K people in the 1960s) There was a Frank W. Woolworth and an S.S. Kresge and an A&P grocery store. Real five and ten cent stores.

The town I live in now has 1400 people. When I was a kid in the sixties, and I came to visit my grandparents, it had a dry goods store and two grocery stores and a dry cleaners. And a dentist.

[sadbear]

90. You gotta do what you gotta do.

I hope you live somewhere that's otherwise pretty cool. I think a lot of the small towns in South Texas, East Texas, and the Hill Country are very nice. Do you live in those areas?

[Manifestor_of_Light]

93. Depends on your definition of "nice".

[sadbear]

94. Yep.

I spent spring break in Goliad. They don't have a lot there, but IMO, it was nice.

I live in Bryan, which has a lot, and it's ok, but I wouldn't say it's that nice.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

95. I'm not close to any universities or culture.

Or creative people.

I have 2 acres to roam around on, room for my gardening and my mostly outdoor cats. And a very cool old Gothic Bungalow. It's not quiet since it's on the main street where people zip by. We have a fence enclosing our property b/c we don't want people bothering us looking at my junk cars or wanting to rip us off for money.

It's a long way to Sam Houston State U or Stephen F. Austin State U.

[sadbear]

97. That gives me a pretty good idea.

I bet your garden grows very well.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

100. It varies.

I can buy two identical plants in pots. One dies, one thrives.
And I have no idea why.

I love to grow flowers.

[tabbycat31]

104. shop online?

[Manifestor_of_Light]

139. For food and staples?

[tabbycat31]

142. You probably can't get fresh food online

But for the non-perishables and things like shampoo, TP, etc you can.

Amazon now has a grocery section.

[britaphilter]

85. Walmart does not treat its workers with dignity

I'm happy they are suffering financially.

[penndragon69]

88. My town

has 4 wallmarts and NO COSTCOS...
What's wrong with this picture???

[Zen Democrat]

91. These Walmarts vary.

I was in one in a small dusty town in West Texas where my aunt lives and it was AWFUL! Small, cramped, merchandise strewn everywhere, bad smell, people stepping on people, you name it. However, one just opened on the freeway near me and it is another story - hardwood floors throughout, wide aisles, nice fixtures, new carts, very clean and orderly, and an upscale customer base. I think it depends on the area.

I go to Walmart only for items that I can't find in my local supermarkets or hardware stores; but for my main grocery shopping it's HEB and Randall's.

[Go Vols]

99. All are like that when new

prices are cheaper too.

Then after they wipe out all local competition the prices go up and the store goes to shit.

[chknltl]

98. So why is Wal Mart building brand new store in Tacoma Wa.?

Let me preface this by saying it warms my heart to hear Wal Mart is struggling. I rarely shop there unless i have no choice preferring my money be spent in local shops or Safeway
.
Contrary to reports in this thread the local Wal Marts (Yelm and Spanaway Wa.) appear clean, shelves well stocked and employees chipper. I have seen none of the signs discussed in this thread that they are indeed struggling.

I have no doubts that observations posted by fellow DUers in this thread are accurate so i have to ask why conditions in my neck of the woods are so different. More importantly why is Wal Mart expanding business by adding a mega-store in Tacoma less than half a block from a shopping complex anchored with a Target and a Top Foods grocery store?

[AmyDeLune]

111. I'm guessing more competition in the NW

We've got Fred Meyer, Costco, & Target, to name a few.

WalMart has been running an ad touting that their prices are better than Fred Meyer, with the buyer saving all of 12% or so off a bill of a little over $100. A savings of roughly $12.00. They have a running price/product comparison at the bottom of the screen and with the exceptions of a few items, the WalMart's price was only a few cents lower or even more that the Freddy's price. The $12.00 looks to have been saved from only a few items total (probably the ones the seller is showing in the commercial).

I wonder if they're targeting Fred Meyer because it is a union shop.

[tularetom]

102. Actually customers are fleeing Walmart for the dollar stores

The Walmart demographic has been wiped out over the past decade and can no longer afford Walmart prices as low as some think those prices might be.

We occasionally patronize one of the dollar stores for cleaning products and I've recently noticed a tremendous increase in the customers in the store.

And a trend toward newer cars in the parking lot.

[JCMach1]

119. Yep... best place for cleaning supplies and some basic food items.

[LiberalEsto]

120. I agree with you

I haven't set foot in WalMart for years, but I do go to Target now and then, and they seem to be selling shoddier merchandise every year. Especially women's clothes - most things are so thin and flimsy they will not make it through a single washing.

I see few people shopping at Target any more, but the Dollar Tree stores are mobbed with shoppers.

[Faryn Balyncd]

106. Sam's heirs are leeches.

[muntrv]

112. Another reminder why I shop at Costco over wally world.

[Brigid]

117. Wal-Mart go bye-bye.

I have been shopping at Target since I moved back to Indy in 2011. I was very happy to find that they had opened one in a fairly large shopping center easily accessible by bus, which I knew from when I had lived here before. They have even expanded the grocery department.The nearest Wal-Mart is a long and very unpleasant bus ride away anyway, so I don't miss it. Glad to hear they're struggling.

[JCMach1]

118. I have noticed since returning to the states, they are actually more expensive

on many grocery items than some of the traditional grocery chains in Florida such as Publix.

Only sale items offer any real savings from them.

[DeSwiss]

123. K&R

[Left Coast2020]

125. This must be the "over 50" thread if you're talking about....

Earl Schibe and Cal Worthington Jezzzz..

"Here's Cal Worthington and his dog spot"! Spot sometimes consisted of a Bengal Tiger or an elephant--which he rode on.

Yes, I lived in L.A. (Hawthorne/El Segundo area).

[alfredo]

126. What goes around comes around.

[ErikJ]

127. And that explains why Dems are better businessmen than Repubs.

Among other things

[Heathen57]

132. Just put the article on faqcebook.

I remember when the corporate mantra was "Keep fewer employees and make those left do the work of those fired". This was the guaranteed way to up the profit margin.

Looks like this idea had hit Critical Mass, and is starting to backfire. We have recently been doing more shopping at Target, and Costco is out 'go-to' store for all of our non-perishables. The lack of many needed items were was the final straw. I think that their greed as a company is now biting them in the arse, and it would be a good thing if many other retailers would heed the lesson from Walmart's downward swing.

[quaker bill]

135. Home Depot locally fixed this

For a while, you could not find anyone to help you with anything. I gave up on them and went to Lowes where you could find the same stuff and some better stuff, and always someone to assist when needed. Further, it never took a half hour to check out and pay.

I have been going back to HD recently, there are now so many folks wanting to help you find stuff that it is almost irritating, and checkout is a breeze. They are very much better staffed and based on the banner over the door, still hiring. I still go to Lowes for certain better products they stock, but no longer make the longer drive for simple stuff that I can get in either store, because I can count of finding it at HD and getting in and out of there efficienly.

Wal Mart could fix this, but they would need to hire more folks and somewhat pay better.

[Lex]

140. Walmart collapsing (their stores are filthy) and other stores doing well.

They should've sunk some of their massive wealth into their employees and into keeping their stores stocked and clean. Oh well, unfettered greed will be their undoing.

[Duer 157099]

141. May WalMart finally find the gate to hell in Turkey

and take a leap in

[Orsino]

143. Wal-Mart kills.

Don't shop there if there are viable alternatives.