Do you like Wal-Mart? - Don't laugh I'm serious.

[pamlet]

Ok I wanna know where this Disney-esque Wal-Mart near SA is. The one I"m closest too (281/1604) is NASTY. I'd consider that an upper middle class area too. On the rare occasion I go there (maybe once a year) I feel dirty when I leave. I've never had an issue with lines at the SuperTarget (1604/Blanco) but I don't really like the one at the Forum.

All and all I carry a pretty strong dislike for WalMart. I don't find the prices to be that much better and for what I buy their quality is marginal. Their produce is the worst which isn't saying much because Target's can be iffy and so can the local grocery chain. I find myself heading to speciality retailers like Whole Food and Central Market just to get decent produce.

FWIW - I've never seen a clean or orderly WalMart (and I've lived in 7 states). I don't think they are worth the hassle.

I have different stores for different stuff I guess - for cute gift or home stuff .. I do prefer Target - but for everyday stuff - Walmart. It really is less expensive.

As for produce... eeyuck... Whole Foods is all the way to the Quarry - which is a pain in the neck for me - I HATE driving much beyond 1604.. laugh... Central Market's even worse... and SO much more expensive. This time of year I try to hit farm stands up this way... Bulverde has a farmer's market on Saturday afternoons - and there's a guy in Kendalia who has a stand on the weekends... Thu/Fri/Sat/Sun... http://www.kendaliafarms.com/index.html
They don't have a ton of stuff - but what they have is good and I think pretty good prices. It's not far from me and the ride is beautiful!!

 

[Pigeon]

I wouldn't shop there if they gave the stuff away for free.

 

[budbeerlady]

I avoid Walmart like the plague! Our local Walmart is dirty, and I hate going there. I know customer service is lacking in the country, and Walmart is a leader in lacking customer service for our area. The prices are not lower on the food items. They were the first year the store opened but they have steadily risen and are now above the local non-national chain stores. (For me its Meijer and Family Fares) The bathrooms are so bad, I have hurried through the store and used the near by gas station bathroom instead of the store.

My biggest gripe with Walmart is thier push to try to cut out the individual wholesalers (us poor working people who keep them supplied with goods) and go straight to the company. So they want to buy the large items like pop, beer, chips, etc. straight from the company and this would cost our country lots of jobs. Because it wouldnt end with Walmart, then Target, Meijer, walgreens, riteaid, etc. It would be a mess and even though only partly true (as I am sure other stores would want it) I would hold Walmart responsible. They have done nothing good for our community and most of us wish they had never moved in.

 

[DisneyGirl4188]

I shop there a lot, but it always gives me a headache.

We usually have to park WAY, WAY too far from the entrance (don't mind walking, but it can suck in the rain, snow, or 90+ degree heat).

The lines are too long.

However, I can find things there for less than other places. Normally, DH just does the shopping there (he's a salesman and is in several Walmarts each day). That way I don't have to deal with it.

 

[milkabum]

Wow, that's a really big poll amount. The votes are pretty close. By the way Honu, I like your name on the DIS- I like turtles myself

 

[disneyfan67]

There is 5 Walmarts all within a 25 mile radius of my home. The orginal one in my area that opened in 1991, (Gurnee Il) I find to be dirty and I avoid it. A new Walmart Super center opened in the other town next to me and it's incredible. The place is huge and clean! I have never seen a store that big and the prices are great. We did our grocery shopping there and the food selection was unreal. In Waukegan IL (the town that borders Gurnee) a new Walmart Super center is opening up with a gas station, movie theater next door, bank, and fast food eateries inside it, etc,etc.

I live behind a Jewel food store and a Target that's built right next to it. I can walk to these stores in 5 minutes. The Jewel is way over priced when it comes to it's food and while the Target is cleaner, the Walmart is cheaper. I laugh when people slam Walmart for various reasons. The Target next to me hires people on low wages as well and they carry some of the same stuff Walmart does. It's a little different but it's all made in China. I was offered a part time job at Target when it first opened in my neighborhood and trust me, their pay sucked as well. It's just not Walmart that pays low wages and has stuff imported from China. Both stores do and both of them do a good job of killing the small businesses that were in the town before them.

 

[LisaB]

But it wasn't Target that gloated about their things being made in America

 

[jennobrn01]

I am spoiled by our Wal*Mart. The employees are friendly, the floors are immaculate and shiny. Unless they are stocking; there is never boxes in the aisles. There are several people in certain sections that without fail ask if I need assistance. The employees are long term and recognize me and my children.

When I became more widely traveled I was shocked at the condition of most Wally World's.

 

[disneymouse]

a friend of mine wanted to get something at Walmart ( i normally shop at the super target less then a mile away) and this walmart had the most employess i ever seen in one place with poor attitudes in general. sloppy uniforms, indifference toward customers, one older lady employess actually barked at me b/c my toddler pulled some items off a shelf to look at as i was looking at something..she barked in this shrill voice 'you can't let her do that!" now, i wasn't just letting my child make a huge mess. her reaction was SO out of wack to what my DD did (she pulled a circle thingy used for sewing off a hook) OMG!
the whole store just had a dirty feel to it. target is such a polar opposite in the customer relations and cleanliness.

 

['Countingmom]

Can't stand WalMart for all of the same reasons. It's cluttered, messy, dirty and crowded with people who will run you down with a basket. Every couple of months late at night I will need something and run to WalMart. The aisles are always crowded with pallets of product and you can't get around as they start stocking about 9pm. The worst is on Friday and Saturday's and all the really weird people come out. I always walk out asking myself, "Where did those peopel come from?"

 

[LisaB]

Actually I went in there today. I wanted to check out their scrapbooking section. It was pretty clean

 

[Jules76126]

I have to say that I hate going into Walmart. I agree that they have some great buys and I do go in when I need some things. I just hate the whole store. I am not sure what it is because it is always clean but I think it has to do with the crowds of people. And also I think it has to do with the one near my house, I have been in some that are a whole lot nicer down in the south