Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests whats the deal with hating walmart?

We friggin HATE Wal-Mart. Last time I was in one was just before x-mas. We wanted to get some cheap lights for outside the house. Found nothing under $5 for a set of 100 lights. In the mean time watched a crazed woman beat her kid in the aisle and throw him in a carriage. All the while dodging screaming kids, center aisle displays that were falling all over the floor, and open food containers.

Wal-Mart is no better than Big Lots, as far as I am concerned.

We immediately drove to Target, found everything we wanted in a clean, cheaper, safe, child-abuse-free environment.

I can't even believe stock and bond analysts compare the 2 companies. They are night and day.

I've been to a few Wal*Marts in my time, and they've been the same- dirty, dusty, and just plain nasty.

They've got some real crappy business practices, and do whatever they can to drum up support playing the "poor me" card, as was pointed out earlier.

I'd rather visit my butcher around the corner, or at least hit the Shaw's/Star Market next to us for groceries, then the Target a mile away than even THINK about going to the nearest Wal*Mart.

Hell, if I lived next to one, I wouldn't shop there by choice.

F Wal*Mart, Sam's Mart, and all that crap. F them in the A.

Long live Target and Costco.

WalMart had the opposite effect on the city I came from, which had a population of about 12700 people. All the large shopping centers had died as the city was in decline in population, and financially. Wal Mart took over one of the soon to be abandoned big boxes (woolco) and gave shoppers a place to finally be able to buy things again. The store actually caused the population to rise again, and created a hundred permanent new jobs, not including construction, roadwork, etc...

It had no real effect on the small businesses and mom and pop stores. You want a car stereo, nobody buys them at WalMArt, they buy them from the Car Audio store because they have better product. Same goes for TVs, furniture, etc... It all boils down to the consumer. Idiots will buy everything they can at Wal-Mart and it will be for the most part, junk. People will buy thier pop, chips, candy, soup, DVDs, etc... The only small businesses that failed would have in any case (open a specialty store selling Neon and blacklight crap in a small farming community, you will fail..)

I've worked for WalMart for 7 years now and for the most part, the employment there is great, decent pay (especially for the little work they expect of most staff) and the benefits are there. I have issues with the corporate pay structure, and advancement has been tough for me as my managers have always tried to keep me handy because of my high productivity numbers. I get at least twice as much done as required, so it's really my own fault. It's basically the reason I'll leave, I should be in upper management by now but I'm still not.

beachboy, actually the person i was thinking about when i made that comment was my brother. he even went so far as to call them the antichrist. jokingly i'm sure. it was not my intention to demean any fellow ceg'ers.

I don't hate 'em. Where else can you go at 11pm and get groceries, a Motorcraft FL820S Filter, 6 quarts of Mobil 1, and fill up your gas tank. Not only that, but almost everything you buy is cheaper than anyplace else.

I've found the Wal*Mart brands to be comparable to national brands.

Why should I pay $2.59 for a gallon of name brand milk when I can get Great Value (The Wal*Mart Brand) for $1.78 for that same gallon of milk?

Wal*Mart gas paid for with the Wal*Mart card is $0.03 to $0.05/gallon less than most other places. I won't make a special trip there to buy gas, but if my tank is 1/2 full, I'll top up there. I throw $20 on the card in the checkout and then pay for the gas at the pump with the shopping card.

Most of the things I buy at Wal*Mart are the same things I'd buy at another store.

You can avoid much of the Child Beating Crowd by going after 10pm

TB

But where else can we get a glass at 11pm?

I have shopped at Wal-Mart and I like it cause of their auto section and electronics section and it is a nice store. But, I'm sure some of you live in a small town, and when a big corporation comes in, the little buisnesses get the boot. one came to a town across the border which is just across the river from here and its only a matter of time. these small buisnesses work hard for a living and what happens when they are forced out? they leave for a big city for work and this town has been going down rapidly because of this reason. If Wal-Mart is really a family oriented, good store that is here for the people, why do they go to small towns? they know that they will force small buisnesses out cause theyre not dumb, I just see it as a big corporation out for money, but theyre better than target and kmart(not saying much) and who are the top 5 richest people? Bill is one, but so are the Wal-Mart owners. If they stuch to bog cities then they are good in my book, but I'm seing too many good prople beng forced out by big buisness not just Wal-Mart, many others too but they are one. Just my opinion on it.

I hate Walmart because it destroyed the sense of community in thousands of towns and cities across America.

Think of all those mom-and-pop stores that closed because of Walmart. The people who ran those stores probably knew your name (if you were a regular customer or a local resident), and asked how you were doing when you came in. They may have sponsored your kid's soccer team. They ran small, friendly stores where you might actually see someone you know, and have a good conversation. Historically, shopkeepers have been part of the fabric of society: they passed along the local news, they kept an eye on the local kids, they cared about the service they provided. When small stores are crushed by Walmart, the fabric of our society is frayed. We all become a little bit less connected to each other, and we are all poorer for it.

And here's the other thing: these small mom-and-pop stores were usually owned by a middle class family in your community. Each small store usually supported at least one family at middle class standards. By contrast, Walmart mostly pays $8/hour or even less. That is WAY below what you need to live a decent life. In other words, Walmart destroyed thousands of middle class jobs (the small shopkeepers of America), and replaced them with very low wage "McJobs".