OK, first for the Walmart lovers, I know there's some that worship the place. I usually get frustrated there and yesterday was no exception although lowering expectations limited the frustration. I haven't been to a WM for probably 3 years. Yesterday I was out and about and wanted to look for a few things and thought maybe with it being a larger store they might have more options.
I went to four stores yesterday. Walgreens, Target, Cub Foods, and decided to take a stab at Walmart again. First off I will give them kudos for one thing: virtually every Walmart I've been in has had a good number of the electric shopping carts, and they keep them charged, and on top of it the batteries last for a long journey which seems a given when going to a Walmart in my experience. So good going on that. Other stores need improvement in that area. As a side note it seems interesting to me that some stores ignore the value of the electric cart. OK, cripples likely don't buy as much as the non-crips, but when you think about it, you have more of a captive customer there. Someone who can't walk well (it seems to me at least) would probably be far less likely to shop (alleged) "loss leaders" at a number of different stores. I'd think they're more likely to think since I'm here, I'll get this - forget the cost. The stores could be shooting themselves in the foot.
What was so noticeable though was the difference in peoples' attitudes in the stores. At none of the other three stores were people as rude and inconsiderate as Walmart. It was really that noticeable. Same day so that didn't have anything to do with it. Granted it was different times but afternoon isn't exactly an overly stressed time of the day. Seems like the "norm" of the typical Walmart shopper that day is to park the cart 1/3 the way across the aisle then stand at the 2/3 mark to block the aisle for people. And there were several working two carts so they could alternate and plug the aisle up completely. The term "excuse me" must have been in a foreign language to them since most didn't seem to understand what it meant. Apparently I'm far more multi-lingual than I realized because I could easily understand what they were saying to each other. Or maybe I unconsciously spoke in a different language. I don't know.
Then there's the ones who come down the aisle not looking where they're going and will ram into you if you don't move. Where' my stun gun when I need it?
I've been in retail long enough to know that the more "tightwad", "cheap" or whatever phrase you want to use, and I mean it in the derogatory sense rather than usually complimentary, but the group to whom I refer generally expect to spend less (at least getting the perception of spending less), get something they're not entitled to, credit expired coupons and expect the store and employees to do special things for them at no charge, etc. "The customer is always right" (a laughably foolish phrase) is often bantered around by this type. And to be clear just because someone is frugal, cheap or a tightwad doesn't automatically make them a give-an-inch-take-a-mile type jerk. And it's not based on income either. But that's a topic for another thread.
And what's interesting is I used to find that Walmart was slightly cheaper on many things than the competition. That's less and less. Last couple years some local media has been doing price checks and finding WM is not the "low price" store it perhaps once was. I price checked probably about 25-30 different items that I've purchased recently and/or purchase regularly. Compared to the other three stores there were maybe 5 items that were enough cheaper to be noticeable and a larger number of items were significantly higher priced than other stores. I don't consider a penny or two to be significant. One thing they had was Great Value decaf coffee for $2.88. Most other places are about $5 or more for the small size can. Tea bags (store brand) were also a little cheaper. And I got a decent deal on a flannel shirt, OK, but not spectacular price on underwear. I usually have good luck getting clothes there. However, paper products were higher there than Target, surprisingly. A couple pies I looked at were about 40% higher than Target. Shampoo and other personal care articles were quite a bit higher than Walgreens and even Cub. (20%-40%) Some frozen foods were 20% cheaper at Target. Things like paper products are also much cheaper at Aldi. Cub used to be a store with lower prices than most of the competition but they too have gone up. Frankly I'm more and more impressed with Target, Aldi and even Walgreens.
I noticed a lack of people working the store at Walmart. Not surprising since a friend of mine works at another Walmart and he said they're cutting hours for people because business is down so much.
So I made my trip to the Malwart, er Walmart. It was interesting after comparing prices when I got home. As interesting as when I price checked Sam's Club a while back. My trusty digital recorder was loaded with prices from all the stores. I don't write Walmart off though. They'll probably will see me back there in another 3-4 years.
I think if people actually did some comparison shopping on prices, rather than going with advertisements and perceptions, they'd be surprised at the actual value of stores like Walmart, Costco and Sam's Club. Too many just assume that they *must* be cheaper and never check. Or they find one bargain and use that as justification. That's probably why people run from the local businesses when a big box opens. If people knew what they were paying, they might not ignore the mom & pop shops as much. But that's a reminiscence of the past and not what happens today.
Next project, price check Kmart again. Haven't been there in a long time. They usually do fairly well for a number of things but there's no Kmart (or Walmart for that matter) that's convenient to me.
Which reminds me, need to change batteries in the digital recorder.
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pkramer60
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