What is really wrong with Wal-Mart?

[LisaR]

Let me start by saying: I hate Wal-Mart! I rarely shop there. I don't like it because I think the store is dirtier then Target. I think the quality and styles offered at Target are nicer then Wal-Mart. I like the feel of Target better then Wal-Mart.

That said, I do not avoid Wal-Mart because they don't pay their employees enough money or because they discriminate against women. I have read the articles but I just don't see that in the real world. I know people that work at Wal-Mart (all females) and they feel they make good money, considering the type of job they are doing. They feel they are treated fairly.

I also do not avoid Wal-Mart because they put "mom & pop" stores out of business, which is the number one argument I hear. First of all, unless you live in a VERY small town, it is unlikely you have any mom & pop stores left. Wal-Mart didn't put them out of business. Kmart was around certain areas long before Wal-Mart but nobody protested when a new Kmart was opening.

When I was a kid, we had real hardware and plumbing stores. Home Depot and Lowes have put those places out of business, yet nobody protests when a new one of those are opening.

So I ask, is Wal-Mart really that bad? Or are they just an easy scapegoat?

Lately, I have run into a lot of people really on the "boycott Wal-Mart" bandwagon. That is what prompted me to ask this question on The Dis.

Lisa

 

[sunkissed212]

I happen to love Wal Mart. There is one near me that is not in the greatest area and is really dirty and there's always stuff all over the floor but there's another one about 15 miles in the other direction that is always clean, tidy, and the employees are very friendly. I love shopping there for good deals. I always seem to find things there for cheaper than anywhere else.

I love Target too and I buy a lot of my clothing from there but I have bought some things from walmart too. They aren't as good of quality but they're also not as expensive. A few years ago I bought 3 sundresses there for the summer for $5 each. I figured if I wore them 2 times each, I'd have gotten my money's worth out of them. Well, I still have them (they don't fit right now but if they did, I'd wear them)...so I think that's a great bargain!

I hear a lot of bad stuff about walmart in the news too and honestly i don't listen to it. If it doesn't directly affect me, then I'm not interested!

 

[mudnuri]

The funny thing about the "mom and pop" claim is...

DH owns a "mom and pop" store...that everyone said Home Depot would put out of business...HA they coudlnt be so wrong!

DH has more business now that home depot is in town than he did before it. 95% of their staff has no clue what they're selling, customer service is non-existent etc..

I LOVE walmart, and will shop there forever...we happen to have a excellent super walmart 2 towns over, that is ALWAYS clean, ALWAYS fully stocked, and ALWAYS has nice staff....

Personally I dont really care about their business practice, I dont own their stock LOL

Brandy

 

[JimB.]

I don't like Wal-mart because..............

1. Too Big. If I want a quart of oil & a gallon of milk, I have to walk 1/2 mile.
2. I HATE those crappy little plastic bags they use. I avoid grocery shopping there as much as possible just so I can go to a more edxpensive grocery that still has paper bags.
3. They are developing an annoying tendency to attempt to use imminent domain to get land they want.
4. It's too freakin' crowded.

I like them because................

1. They are probably the cheapest place in town for a significant portion of stuff used day-to-day.
2. Very large inventory. ALMOST anything I want, I can find there. MUCH better (& cheaper ) than Target.
3. They employ a lot of people, & those that I have come across that work there seem to like it.

All in all, if I can get what I want somewhere lese cheaper, I will. But most of the time I cannot, unless I drive to Jacksonville (ugh, ugh & double ugh).

 

[pumba]

I love Walmart ....I love our super walmart and it is one of the cleanest stores I have been in. If for some reason you are not happy because a store is dirty (and no store should be dirty) bring it to the attention of the store manager. I happen to know this for a fact ...my neices husband is the co manager of a walmart not to far from our town. He was assistant manager of our super walmart here in our town at first.....

 

[ugadog99]

I HATE Wal-Mart. It is too big and crowded. It takes forever to get in and out and it just makes a lousy shopping experience. That being said, however, I HAVE to shop there once a month. I am a teacher and in Georgia we only receive a paycheck once monthly. In order to get what we need and to get the lowest prices possible, I have to shop at Wally World. People can boycott and complain all they want, but until I find a place with lower prices across the board than Wal-Mart, I will keep going.

 

[Dan Murphy]

...........So I ask, is Wal-Mart really that bad? Or are they just an easy scapegoat?...

Whoever is number one, the king of the hill, is always subject to scrutiny and pot shots. Success speaks louder IMO.

 

[disneyworld!]

my parents live near the super Wal-mart in Epping! that place is awesome! I never bought anything there.......it being sooo big fanicates me!

 

[Beth76]

I don't boycott Walmart, but I don't shop there either. I used to when I was in college because we had a couple of nice ones in town. But, here even the one that's 5 years old is just gross now. It's right down the street from the new Greatland Target which is sooooo much nicer. So I shop there. If there's something that I need that I can't get at Target, I would go to Walmart, but that's rare. I bought my patio furniture at Walmart a couple of years ago. But, again, that's something very specific.

 

[bsnyder]

I'll preface this by saying I almost never shop at Wal-Mart - I much prefer Target. But I admire the Wal-Mart brand!

I think they have been targeted almostly exclusively because they are so sucessful at what they do. I've been very happy to see their management team go on the offensive lately, to try to counteract all the negative publicity their detractors have generated.

The Wall Street Journal had an in-depth article about Walmart's response to their "Black Friday" sales and how they were able to target certain products for price cuts to salvage their Christmas selling season. It's amazing that a company that large can micro-manage the process as well as they do. I've always followed Wal-Mart as a financial entity (buying and selling their stock) and my confidence in their current management team is very high right now.

 

[Philadisney]

when i lived in florida i did shop at walmart becos 1) i was on a not-so-great income 2) i didn't have a car and there were very few places i could get to with the bus system. however now i live in philadelphia, where there ARE lots of independently owned shops still left, and i try to patronize those. i haven't been to a wal-mart in years, partially because there isn't a local one i could get to if i wanted.

 

[eeyore kelly]

Wal-mart is not my favorite store, but there is something to be said for the conveince and prices. I like that I can pick up my weekly groceries, a birthday gift, supplies for a school project, cross stitching floss, and get my glasses adjusted in one stop. I walk out feeling like I haven't dropped a ton of money.

However, customer service is non-existant, and the employees don't have a clue when you do find one to ask for help. I hate the layout and all the displays scream discount store. The girls clothes especially look cheap and they are ugly, IMHO.

But...I still make my weekly Walmart stop.

 

[georgina]

There was a book out a while ago about how Wal-Mart was trying to drive other large retailers, like Toys R Us, out of business with their strategies of price undercutting and demanding exclusive toys from toy manufacturers. I didn't read it, but I have Wal-Mart hating friends. I don't shop there much, but they are great about letting us have Girl Scout cookie sales there, when many stores in the area won't!

 

[RobinMarie]

I do not like WALMART. I do not like that they do not offer great paying jobs yet seem to take so much away from a community.

I do not like that WALMART may be setting the retail trends and practices, forcing competition to outsource EVERYTHING to China.

There is plenty of information out there about WALMARTs practices - I just don't happen to think those practices are good for this country in the long run. I fear by the time the American people figure that out there will be no more American-made products or quality left to speak of.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I think they are an easy scapegoat.

If they were that bad, then there would be NO small stores left and this is simply not true. Also, the advent of online shopping has hurt specialty shops as much or more than Wal Mart. Large grocery store chains put small grocery stores out of business as well.

However, a good friend of mine works at a small specialty meat shop. His company is thriving. They simply offer things that the big guys do not.

Case in point - Salem, MA. There are Wal Marts in the area, but I'm certainly not going to find the same items at Wal Mart as I am at Crystal Moon or the Magic Shop. Hence I shop at both. I could, however, find most of the same items from Crystal Moon online (if I felt like looking).

Now granted, Salem is a tourist area. But there are also small gifty type shops in other areas (not tourist areas) I have lived which also offer things not sold in huge retail chains. Salem, NH and Hanover, MA are two more examples.

I have never seen Wal Mart as competing with small stores. I see Wal Mart competing with other large stores that sell the same stuff. Target, K-Mart etc.

As for the stores themselves, I have seen good Wal Marts and bad Wal Marts. Some of them just reek of filth and some are pristine. I think it depends on the managers and employees (and yes, to a point the shoppers) in that particular store. There is a Wal Mart near me I won't go into because of the extremly unsavory nature of many of the shoppers.

I also known at least 4 women who have worked there and not a single one of them has ever understood the problems mentioned in the news either because they all enjoyed their time there and felt they were treated fairly. So perhaps that has to do with bad managers in those locations as well.

So, yes. I think they are just an easy scapegoat.

 

[crazelion]

Wal-mart is the scapegoat biggest and the badest company around right now. Before Wal-Mart came into our nieghborhood the only chooses we had shop was K-mart and a couple grocery stores. K-Mart never has a product on sell. The gocery stores is expensive to shop at. The Mall close down and move futher away. I have drive 10 miles just get anything cheap that I can afford. Our Wal-Mart is a high volume Wal-Mart that get alot business.

If won't talk a company with bad business practices any heard of the TJ Maxx InC they own Marshell's, A.J. Wrights, HomeGoods, and TJ Maxx. They treat there employees like dirt pay them minium wage for the amount work they have to do. The stores is always dirty here. They never have anyone clean up on the sales floor because they so cheap. Wal-Mart pays there employees more money than TJ Maxx does and there stores is clean here.

I work for HomeGoods and I can't stand my job. But before I came to work at HomeGoods. I never did like TJ Maxx because it was always dirty.

 

[Pin Wizard]

It all depends on the store. In my last town, Wal-Mart was filthy and so run down. I only went there if I couldn't find what I needed ANYWHERE else. Target was much nicer, and that's where I shopped.

Here I have a Super Wal-Mart practically around the corner. It's gorgeous! It puts our Greatland Target to shame. So here I'm pretty much a Wal-Mart shopper. Only go to Target if DS wants to go.

 

[Alexander]

There was a book out a while ago about how Wal-Mart was trying to drive other large retailers, like Toys R Us, out of business with their strategies of price undercutting and demanding exclusive toys from toy manufacturers.

It's happened here. We are losing our Toys R Us because of the lower prices Walmart has. Although I blame Toys R Us for their own demise.
Walmart is too crowded, you cannot move down the aisles, and it has nothing to do with people. The stores are layed out all hodge-podge, and I HATE waiting in long lines (yes, I do go to WDW, but that's different, my milk won't spoil waiting to get on Space Mountain).
Definately not a Walmart fan here. We drive 50 minutes to Target.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

I don't like the Wal-mart in my area. It's also dirty and the isles are very narrow. It always looks like a bomb hit it.
I like Target. It's clean & organized.

 

[DVC-Don]

My sister owned and operated a one hour photo shop in a tourist area of New Hampshire. Wal-Mart opened up nearby and poof! No more customers were coming in. She lasted about six months and had to go out of business. She is now working in a kitchen of a nursing home.