Wal-Mart

[DCJenn]

I agree. I think they have the perception of being cheaper but you're right, at least here, they're not.

Kmart used to have the same perception for household goods and my mom and I noticed that they weren't much cheaper than Target but the quality was definitely lacking.

Jennifer

[HouseofWool]

As much as I dislike WM, I shop there. With a baby in winter, one stop is important to me. The prices are significantly better than the next closest grocery store and adding another 15 minutes each way is a PIA that I am not normally willing to take on.

The Super WM just "upgraded". Most of the non-food departments are much nicer and they are carrying some nicer lines of items. However, one of the big things with this remodel was to increase the width of the aisles which means that there is less shelf space. Which equals fewer items. It really shows in the grocery area and it bugs me.

[Flynn]

Unfortunately I also have to shop at Wal-Mart and Sam's right now. Wal-Mart because in the dead of winter I only want to make one stop and it really is the cheapest. Sam's because we don't have a Costco.

I know they suck and someday I won't have to shop there but for now it is what it is.

Me too.

Our Walmart is cheaper than Target but I hate shopping there. I heart Target.

I always feel like I'm in Bizarro world when I go to Walmart. It's like night and day compared to Target in the vibe of the store, displays, merchandise, and honestly in my town the people who shop there are quite different.

I shop at WM at Christmas and for school supplies. That's about all I can handle.

I hate Sams compared to Costco but that's all we have here.

[scarlett09]

I loathe Wal-Mart. Their female employees make less than the male employees for doing the EXACT same job. Their current commercials that are spewing what they believe to be "family values" make me want to throw up. No one should go there alone after dark, as assaults, robberies and kidnappings are common in their parking lots. I could really go on and on here. I wrote a paper for my senior seminar about the anti-Walmart movement. It is a really a grassroots movement, being created anew in each town like Rapunzel's that they try to build in - the NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) effect. My hometown had one just over the border in the next town, but yet Wal-Mart proposed to build a Super Wal-Mart just blocks from our downtown, which has been struggling to revive itself for years. The town fought off Wal-Mart for a few years, but eventually caved and the Super Wal-Mart opened early last year. Ugh.

There are a few books and several websites out there about the anti-Wal-Mart movement. One of the books I bought was "Slam-Dunking Wal-Mart! How You Can Stop Superstore Sprawl in Your Hometown". The author, Al Norman, is really against big box stores, but most of his book is about Wal-Mart. His website and information about the book: http://www.sprawl-busters.com/. Just a quick Google search shows that there are a lot more websites about the anti-Wal-Mart movement than there were 5 years ago when I wrote this paper. One of them that looks really good is http://walmartwatch.com/. Oh, and apparently there was a Wal-Mart movie? Interesting... http://www.walmartmovie.com/.

I will shop there only when I cannot find a Target. Unfortunately in our new location, the nearest Target is 20 minute drive, whereas the Wal-Mart is 10 minutes away. So, I've been at the Wal-Mart about four times since we moved here, versus two trips to the Target. We get all of our groceries at Shop-Rite, which I feel would be comparable to Wal-Mart's groceries (not that I've ever compared). We are fortunate to have a Costco 5 minutes away, so some of our household goods come from there.

This may be a dumb question, but why is Target less objectionable than WalMart? I know WalMart treats its employees especially poorly, but in terms of the big box store effect on communities, land use, mom and pop stores and the supply chain, I don't understand why WalMart is so vilified while the other big one-stop shops are not. Am I missing something?

This may be a dumb question, but why is Target less objectionable than WalMart? I know WalMart treats its employees especially poorly, but in terms of the big box store effect on communities, land use, mom and pop stores and the supply chain, I don't understand why WalMart is so vilified while the other big one-stop shops are not. Am I missing something?

I've wondered this myself. From my perspective, it is largely about the employee mistreatment / inequity in pay, and I know that Target has a consistent "give back" program where a % of sales are given to local schools. If their employees are paid properly and offered benefits, then those folks are less of a burden on the surrounding area.

The aesthetic issues are no small thing either. I have shopped at Wal Mart from time to time (but will only go to the new "fancy" one) and more often than not I end up feeling like I need a bath when I leave.

My bigger question has always been how can Target create a substantially more pleasant shopping environment with similar prices and still make the profits they do? It's not as though Target is out there as a non-profit or something!

[PrincessFiona]

Re: Wal-Mart

They make their profits by taking away income and benefits from employees. Sadly, Target is no better than Wal-Mart. It is just packaged to look more upscale. The complaints we have about walmart and their treatment of employees apply to target too. :/


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[scrub-jay]

This may be a dumb question, but why is Target less objectionable than WalMart? I know WalMart treats its employees especially poorly, but in terms of the big box store effect on communities, land use, mom and pop stores and the supply chain, I don't understand why WalMart is so vilified while the other big one-stop shops are not. Am I missing something?

From a business perspective, Wal-Mart is far far bigger than Target. This plays a large role in the negative feeling surrounding W-M.

[DCJenn]

Target has an entirely different marketing plan and community focus. Most of the time, they don't go where there are struggling downtown areas like Wal-mart. Wal-mart is predatory in that way. My experience w/ Target is that they go in when there are already planned new buildings or existing buildings where they can fit in with their particular footprint.

Add in the community give-back (which Wal-mart also claims but I personally haven't seen it as obvious a part of their marketing) and the inequalities in pay and benefits, and their crappy stuff, and they're definitely on the losing end of that public relations battle.

My cousin used to work for a law firm whose specific goals were to help small towns fight off Wal-mart or other big boxes (Home Depot and Lowes have also put a whole lot of mom and pop hardware stores out of business, too). Off all of the big box stores, Wal-mart was the most likely to fight back when a community told them no. They had plans to put a Wal-mart immediately adjacent to a Civil War Battlefield in northern Virginia a few years back. (Disney wanted to build there, too and that was successfully defeated. Disney wanted to build a history oriented theme park to which the response was 'history is all over this part of the country, why do you need a theme park to do it?")

Anyway, my cousin was the one researching the land deeds and often it was land that was involved in some sort of dispute so Wally World would go in and offer the warring parties a ridiculous amount of money. She said it was truly alarming.

Jenn

[v-girl]

I won't step foot in the Wal-Mart closest to my house. I will go to a newer, somewhat nicer one, but not with my kids. There is a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market (just groceries) near my house. Great for quick trips to the store, but things like diapers are cheaper at Target and Costco.

[ladymoreta]

I would love to shop based on my principles, but at this point I usually just go where is cheapest/closest. Thankfully, right now, that is a locally-owned grocery store chain, but in college it was Wal-Mart, and in medical school it was Kroger. I still go to Wal-Mart as my second option when the other store doesn't have what I need.

It's an interesting dilemma... I grew up on a small town that had the only Wal-Mart in the county. People came there to shop, but it helped small business owners in the service industry like my mom (barber) and dad (TV repair) because people would come to their shops while they were in town. But I'm sure it put a lot of other shop out of business when it first opened.

I also had an internship with them one summer, and one of the intern's wives got a summer job in their billing department. She said it was common for them to not pay their smaller suppliers, and she saw invoices that were over a year past due. That is completely wrong, as WM often pushes suppliers to increase their capacity before they will sell their products, so these business owners are facing increased demands, increased operating costs, and no payment from their primary customer.

Also, minor in comparison, I hate when WM leaves an area and their ugly building stays. It's too big for many useful purposes, so you'll often see them rotting in small towns.

[Chrisada]

I shop at Wal-Mart sometimes when I am in Nashville, where I am from. But the Wal-Mart close to our house is a mess. Clothes thrown everywhere, attitude if you ask for help. Loud cussing people. Long lines. I go in there like once a year and always remember why it is once a year as I leave. The Wal-Mart about 12 miles away is much nicer and completely different. But I am a Target fanatic. I'd rather pay a little more there just for the peace of mind. But given our financial situation, if we move to an area with a nice Wal-Mart, damnit I'll be shopping there.

[GrayMatterWife]

We're talking sushi station, pastry bar, and a wine selection that beats most liquor stores.

Definitely not the Wal-Marts here!! Sounds like a gourmet version. I've heard they are upscaling some of their key locations, to compete with Target and other stores.

[SoonerTexan]

http://www.screweduptexan.com/2009/1...e-walmart.html

It truly is a miracle--the greeters actually greet, and I've never once had to wait in a line to check out. Definitely makes it harder to shop at more "ethical" choices.

[bokelley]

I grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas. So yea i am Wal-mart shopper. Growing up at the front doors of it all, you kinda just do. My grandparents were early investors in Wal-Mart, so I always get to go to the shareholders meeting. They usually have good concerts and all kinds of things. Tons of our friends and family work for them. So I look at it this way "shopping there helps my families stocks". But don't get me wrong it think it is kinda gross but hey every penny counts!!