What is really wrong with Wal-Mart?

[liferiley]

i totally hate wal-mart because i work for them in the uk.before them idiots(wal-mart) came along we had good enough living,we had good stores and people liked shopping at our stores but ever since we got wal-mart things have gone down hill.we no longer have the quality food,the cheapest will do,our food is horrible compared to 4-5 years ago.we(emoloyees) are no longer considered to be any more than just a number(b4 w*-lmart if we had ideas people listened)even christmas eve they made us work until nearly christmas day to boost profits.i hate wal-mart,my family hate wal-mart and our country hate wal-mart.now take your cheap tacky supermarkets back and leave us be.

rant over

 

[Papa Deuce]

i totally hate wal-mart because i work for them in the uk.before them idiots(wal-mart) came along we had good enough living,we had good stores and people liked shopping at our stores but ever since we got wal-mart things have gone down hill.we no longer have the quality food,the cheapest will do,our food is horrible compared to 4-5 years ago.we(emoloyees) are no longer considered to be any more than just a number(b4 w*-lmart if we had ideas people listened)even christmas eve they made us work until nearly christmas day to boost profits.i hate wal-mart,my family hate wal-mart and our country hate wal-mart.now take your cheap tacky supermarkets back and leave us be.

rant over

Tell us how you really feel. Don't hold back.

 

[totalia]

What a lot of folks do not realize is that Wal-Mart put American business out of business or forces them to go to other countries to stay in business.

For instance: Levi Strauss was told by Wal-Mart that they must hit a price point that Wal-Mart set or they wouldn't be carried in their store.... Levi Strauss moves their company out of the US to make this happen.

Another problem:

Vlassic Pickles were sold in ONE GALLON jugs for only a few cents more at Walmart than a "normal" sized jar. Tons and Tons of people were buying the gallon jar. When Vlassic complained that the sale of these one gallon jars was killing them in the grocery stores, Walmart said basically "tough toenails, you don't like it we won't carry any of your products in any of our stores"......

Whatever. Sorry I don't believe it for a minute. Though I have to say, I'm glad some of our mom and pop stores closed down. Walmart carries better stuff at better prices.

 

[totalia]

I do go to Wal-Mart on occasion for craft supplies or quick things. I just think they are misleading the customer base by saying that EVERYTHING is a better deal at Wal-Mart when I have not found that to be the case and have consistently found at the very least better clothing deals elsewhere.

And saying they are cheaper in everything than any other store makes them any different from anyone else? They all say that. So what?

 

[Papa Deuce]

Whatever. Sorry I don't believe it for a minute. Though I have to say, I'm glad some of our mom and pop stores closed down. Walmart carries better stuff at better prices.

You don't believe the theory, or you don't believe my post, which one? Because the facts are the facts.

And it is so nice to see you have some compassion for honest folks making a living. I mean who needs any Americana, right?

 

[liferiley]

Tell us how you really feel. Don't hold back.

lol,i tell it how it is,dont go often now go to my local wal-(crap)mart,i go to my local butchers and greengrocers.food is,nt pre-packed so i get what i want,its worth the extra $.just the way i am.wal-mart has put many small shops out of buisness over here,the small shops that give a damn(pardon my french ).like i said i work for wal-mart and i understand that people like to save a few$,but i see the other side when local farmers are ignored by the"stack it high sell it cheap" ethic,we often get get protestors at my place of work.for the record i buy all my "luxeries"on the www,so i am kind of contradicting myself,but for my basics local shops rule!

 

[katerkat]

I don't like WalMart because it gives me a headache to go there. It's crowded and dirty and the layout sucks. I prefer Target if I have to go to a "superstore" - but really, I do my grocery shopping at Safeway (where the associates are so very friendly!), get my entertainment at the store I work at, and get home products (tax-free!) at the base store. The only time I will go to WalMart in the near future is to buy the Mickey Pack'n'Play, because WalMart is the only store that carries it. And I'll pick up some baby essentials while there because I received a gift card at a shower. After that, I'm back to boycotting it!

 

[Disney-Kim]

I hate WalMart too. I much prefer Target. But only for the reason that most the WalMarts closest to me are gross. They are always dirty and just so busy !! The parking lots are so dirty and crowded. This seems to be a common trend among WalMarts...according to all these posts. The stress and hassle of shopping there is not worth the little savings I get.

 

[Shugardrawers]

I hate Walmart, but given no other choice I will shop there. Sometimes, they are the only place around to find a product I love. I have been a Walmart hater for years. A friend of mine who worked at Walmart told me this story: When you are scheduled to work closing at Walmart, and they close at say, 11pm, (not all are 24 hours) you clock out at 11pm. BUT you may not leave the store until EVERYONE is finished with their areas. That means, you either sit around until midnight waiting (off the clock) or you pitch in and help (off the clock) so you can get out sooner. One night, my friend had had enough. She went to leave and found the doors locked. Security refused to open the door without managements approval and management refused until everyone was ready to go. She threatened to call the police and tell them there was a hostage situation unless they opened the door immediately. They finally did and the manager told her not to come back the next day. She didn't plan on it anyway. As she left the other employees waiting burst in to applause. I wasn't sure whether she was embellishing this story until a few years later another friend mentioned she'd worked at Walmart. I told her the story and she said "Yeah, I was there that night. That was Jan". She also quit shortly thereafter when they wouldn't let her leave when her DD was taken to the ER for stitches.

 

[MICKEY88]

What about the employees of the vendors that have to close their factories and move overseas in order to keep up with walmarts demands for lower prices?

--h

what about the companies that close their factories and move overseas, because American workers continue to demand and strike for higher wages even in an ailing economy

 

[JulieWent]

I haven't read all the replies here, so excuse me if I'm repeating. But in our somewhat small area, there are now three huge empty former Walmarts with empty parking lots and huge empty spaces where there used to be trees. Each time, Walmart has moved to a new bigger space -- a Super Walmart or a Super Duper Walmart. I am tired of the empty building syndrome. If Walmart wants to build a bigger, better building, let the corporation pay to revitalize the area it left behind (or the three areas it left behind). That's what's wrong with Walmart for me.

Julie

 

[Crankyshank]

Walmart is the local freak show since Ames closed. It's dirty, nasty, things are thrown all over the place, you can't find an employee and if you do they're too busy flirting with their co-workers or talking about their night out to even bother with a customer. Furthermore, their prices really aren't that good. Certainly not worth driving 15+ min to one when I have Target 2 miles away.

 

[momof2inPA]

what about the companies that close their factories and move overseas, because American workers continue to demand and strike for higher wages even in an ailing economy

Living wages are slipping away daily. I admire anyone willing to take a stand. They're hard to come by in this day and age. When you see companies hurting for money, it's generally poor long term financial planning that has put them there. I don't know any hourly workers who have gotten significant wage increases in the last ten to fifteen years. Wages have generally been frozen or decreased, and health care costs have become the major bone of contention between employees and employers. Employees don't want to settle for sub-standard health care, and they don't want to pay huge increases when their wages aren't increasing. I don't see where that makes the employees unreasonable in any way shape or form.

What was the topic? Oh yeah, Walmart and the billionaire Waltons who don't have to worry about silly things like health care and local economies.

 

[browneyes]

A coworker and I had a similiar conversation about this recently. It was more of a "Walmart vs Target" type of discussion. We don't understand why people go to Target. The ones near us are nasty and just overall yucky. She also pointed out the prices at Target are a lot more for the items she gets at Walmart. She and I both go to the same Walmart and agree that management strives to keep that store a nice store. There's another Walmart near us and it's about on par with the Targets in our area.

 

[Molly Meow]

I'd have to say that I can't hate the entire company. Each store has it's own management team, and they all do things differently, and they all interpret the "company policies" differently.

My DH and my best friend both work for Wal-Mart, but in different stores, about 20 miles apart. They're both full-time. She's a cashier, he's on maintenance. She's worked there 2 years, him 4. She has a set schedule. My DH has been told that it's against company policy to set a schedule. She gets paid 2 dollars more an hour than he does, even though he's been there twice as long. She's gotten a merit raise, he's been told those don't exist. When my DH's mom passed away, they gave him 3 unpaid days off (the minimum required by law), when her dad passed away, they gave her 2 weeks off with pay.

The reason I typed all of this is for those that say "Wal-Mart doesn't treat their employees fairly" and get the response of "I feel they do" from someone else. Each store is different. It depends on whether your manager is good at their job and really cares about their employees. My best friend's managers do. My DH's managers really don't.

That being said, I hate the Wal-Mart my DH works at, and love the one my friend works for.

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

I agree with Papa Deuce. One reason Walmart gets picked on is because they changed the way retail does business. This is not bias, this is fact and Walmart themselves brag about it. It used to be that manufacturers innovated a product, set a price point, and retailers could choose or not whether to resale that product. Walmart reversed this process so that THEY tell manufacturers what to sell, and how much they may charge for it. In order to meet Walmarts price points many companies are forced to fire American employees and go oversees, just to stay in business. I'd have to look up the numbers but something like 1 out of every 3 products sold in the United States is sold by Walmart. Having Walmart threaten to stop carrying your companies products is a VERY real threat to American companies(EsmereldaX, the threat in the case of not meeting price points is different then content, in regards to content they will only not carry that particular movie or book, in regards to price point they will drop your brand and all sister or sub-brands entirely. Imagine such a threat to Kraft and all their thousands of sub-brands, or Black and Decker which was REALLY hurt by this). Take that as you want, as a good thing that Walmart is ensuring low prices, and providing what it hears that people want, or that Walmart is costing American jobs... either way Walmart is changing the way America does business and that is why it gets the attention it does.

 

[gymmom]

I agree with Papa Deuce. One reason Walmart gets picked on is because they changed the way retail does business. This is not bias, this is fact and Walmart themselves brag about it. It used to be that manufacturers innovated a product, set a price point, and retailers could choose or not whether to resale that product. Walmart reversed this process so that THEY tell manufacturers what to sell, and how much they may charge for it. In order to meet Walmarts price points many companies are forced to fire American employees and go oversees, just to stay in business.

I know I'm gonna get flamed--or ignored--but I have to jump in here as well. I'm sorry people either don't get this point, or don't care, but Walmart really doew virtually control retail salse in this country and we're helping tem do this. In the process we're putting working and middle class Americans out of work. Meanwhile, 5 of the 10 richest people IN THE WORLD are Waltons http://www.forbes.com/billionaires/. I realize there are many of you who will say, "Good for them!" I happen to feel that getting rich off the jobs and welfare of others is despicable!

Lisa

 

[LisaR]

I agree with Papa Deuce. One reason Walmart gets picked on is because they changed the way retail does business. This is not bias, this is fact and Walmart themselves brag about it. It used to be that manufacturers innovated a product, set a price point, and retailers could choose or not whether to resale that product. Walmart reversed this process so that THEY tell manufacturers what to sell, and how much they may charge for it. In order to meet Walmarts price points many companies are forced to fire American employees and go oversees, just to stay in business. I'd have to look up the numbers but something like 1 out of every 3 products sold in the United States is sold by Walmart. Having Walmart threaten to stop carrying your companies products is a VERY real threat to American companies(EsmereldaX, the threat in the case of not meeting price points is different then content, in regards to content they will only not carry that particular movie or book, in regards to price point they will drop your brand and all sister or sub-brands entirely. Imagine such a threat to Kraft and all their thousands of sub-brands, or Black and Decker which was REALLY hurt by this). Take that as you want, as a good thing that Walmart is ensuring low prices, and providing what it hears that people want, or that Walmart is costing American jobs... either way Walmart is changing the way America does business and that is why it gets the attention it does.

But whose fault is this? Why didn't Levi or Black and Decker have to go overseas BEFORE Walmart entered the market. Don't you think the discount stores back then (K-mart, Target, Five and Dime stores, Cunningham, etc) all tried to negotiate with the manufacturers? Don't you think they said "We won't put your product in our store unless you give us a better deal." Apparently, those manufacturers walked away years ago and still managed to be successful. But then Walmart came on the scene. They made the manufacturers some offers. If they would have all said NO then Walmart wouldn't be what they are today. But GREED took over. Walmart promised to buy tons of their product for a cheaper price and the only way to do that was to go overseas. Why didn't they all say NO. Don't tell me K-Mart never approached a manufacturer and tried to make a deal. There have been people that have posted on this thread that their companies product are not sold at Walmart and they are doing just fine. It is possible. But everyone blames Walmart because the manufacturers jumped at their promises. Why did they jump? Walmart started from the bottom just like every other retailer. Again, I hate Walmart and I avoid shopping there. But, NOBODY has supplied any evidence that proves to me that Wal-Mart is solely to blame for all of this. I think the blame falls on a lot of others who use Walmart as their scapegoat for going overseas.

Consider this: A retail business CAN'T be successful if it doesn't have many products to sell and if it doesn't have any customers to buy what little merchandise they offer. Walmart has both. WHY?? Whose fault is that??

Lisa

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

Don't you think the discount stores back then (K-mart, Target, Five and Dime stores, Cunningham, etc) all tried to negotiate with the manufacturers? Don't you think they said "We won't put your product in our store unless you give us a better deal."

No I don't. Why? Because this was not the way business was done. Walmart (somewhat ironically) built itself on its "Made in America" rep and then AFTER it was the biggest retail store in America it began dealing this way. The other stores you mentioned simply never had that power. Target today still doesn't wield the kind of power Walmart does. Look, if you read my post I never said it was a bad thing. Afterall, there have been some big financial guys who have said Walmart is one of the biggest reasons inflation in America is as low as it is. It is what it is both good and bad. But Walmart was the first store to do business this way, on that scale and that gets it the attention it has. It has changed America for sure. What I don't get is that you are arguing a point that Walmart themselves doesn't even deny. Read some of their press. They happyily admit to being the first to do business this way and to their hand in the role of what is available in the American marketplace.

 

[Caleb's Mom]

My DH calls Walmart "The Evil Empire."

A few years ago our Walmart closed their old location only to rebuild another superstore location on different site in town. Years have now passed and still their old site sits vacant and unused, they've made no effort to backfill the space and now it's just an ugly reminder of what used to be there.

In our former times as Walmart shoppers we literally enountered an open diaper package in the baby dept. with a discarded poopy diaper on the shelf beside the opened package -- We've never encountered that type of activity in a ShopKo or Target.

Last year DH also cancelled our Sam's Club membership. The only regular item we ever purchased @ Sam's anyway was bottled water and now we've found a locally owned distributer who will actually deliver it to our door for the exact same price as Sam's (and during sale months even less). I'm much happier supporting my local neighbor in his/her business efforts than making some some Walmart/Sams owner multi billionare even richer.

Everyone is entitled to her or her own opinion but personally you won't find me or my family in a Walmart anytime soon.