Big Bad Walmart? Or Not?

I like Walmart..

Some people are jealous over success..

Sam Walton lived out the American Dream...

 

We go to Wal Mart - often! Almost daily.

 

After reading the article and working for Wal-Mart, I can say that Wal-Mart isn't as bad as people say, but they are not good either.

I started there as a Department Manager, and worked my way up for a Assistant Manager. I was a "Rising Star" and was six month out from becoming a Co-Manager. I quit and left that job with nothing to back me up but a hope of something better.

Wal-Mart is, in my opinion like the military. It's got it's good points and bad points and each person needs to weigh them out and decide.

If you're a teenager, a drop out and have no future, then Wal-Mart can be it. If you're retired and looking for some place to go stay busy because you can't stay at home all day, then Wal-Mart might be that place.

But, if you're plan on a future, have a decent life and are looking to better yourself, in my opinion and with my knowledge of Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart isn't the place to be.

We joked when we got a 8 hour day that we had a day off.. As Managers, we worked 6 days a week a lot of times, 12-15 hours a day and it was never really good enough. While there I got every award they offered ( I still have them packed away) and I was a good manager. But I never really had a life. Church, Social funcitions, and such where out of the question. More Managers are divorced and one can see why.

All and all, they are not the EVIL EMPIRE people tend to making them out to be, but they are not the Goody Too-SHOES company people think they are...

I left in 2001 and have only shopped there maybe 5-8 times since, one can live without Wal-Mart. They products are not the same, the clothes don't last, their bikes are a substandard product. Just like any other store, there are things that you shouldn't buy there, and there are things yuo can get a great deal on. Their Supermarket is a great place to shop, but the rest of the store (the division 1 side of the store) isn't.

Example from this Christmas... Flat screen TV's Wal-Mart's prices were about $400 dollars les then Best Buy, but if you read the product information on the boxes, what appeared to be the exact same TV turned out to be a generation two years behind the one sold at Best Buy. A co-worker was showing me this this past season. How he almost bought it at Wal-Mart but did some research to find the real differences. On first glance, it looked like he would save $400 dollars, but he would have gotten a cheaper, older technology instead..

When Sam was alive things were honestly different. Things have changed for the worse since his death. He believed in Made in the USA and believed in his assoicates and their families. When he died the company changed for the worst.

Again, it's a matter of each person deiciding. I chose not to shop there and shop at local stores more often then not.

 

You don't shop anywhere?!

 

True, I was just giving an example of where we were and how we looked at it. Also, when you become a member of management they tell you to expect 48-50 hour weeks, but they don't tell you that they will want more.

One night, after Inventory, I finished up and left the store at 3am my next shift was for 6am the next morning. You would think if they cared about their people, they would monitor or watch such things. As managers, you just get to be part of the machine and either you accept it with no life, or you don't. I didn't, I moved one and know I made the right decision. For the people that stayed, I don't knocked them, that their choice.

As far as the time in ministry... I look forward to finishing my school and getting into those type of hours... Working for the Lord is different than Wal-Mart.

Not, now that Sam is dead. Before Same died there were many many people that worked there for 20-30 years. Those type of people are harder to find these days.

I understand your point, but when you advertised it in a certain way to make the customer think they are getting the same item for less, it's wrong. It's taking advantage of the customer in my opinion.

If I didn't work there myself I wouldn't know a lot of the things I know now. It's not something they would readily admit to.

Yes, but I go further. I shop for PRODUCTS made in the USA, then I get the same benefits you just mentioned, but I also help Americans who made my products. I don't knock the people that buy things from China and other countries, but for me, I do more to buy American made products. That is one thing Sam did and Wal-Mart steered away from little by little after he died. Remember the Slogan Wal-Mart had Made in USA? We had a whole campaign and advertisement and products built around that, they would be hard pressed to say that now.

I understood why you posted it, and I agree with you that Wal-Mart gets the EVIL name tagged to it all too often. I just wanted to give my opinion and it's one from the inside, that they are not Evil but they are not the save-all, be-all some believe them to be either.

 

I don't know why everyone gives Wal-Mart such hard time over being successful. The reason they are successful is because of their competetive prices. In fact, the other grocery stores are always comparing their prices with other grocery chains & not Wal-Mart stores. The other two chains around here (Winn-Dixie & Food World) used to do well until they started requiring people to use cards to obtain discounts. I don't know how many time they have been at each other's throat. They ought to consider an alliance & give Wal-Mart a run for their money. At least that way prices would steadily go down.

If you ask me, I think that its evil that you have to use a card to save a little bit of money. If Wal-Mart ever gets to that point, I may just do all of my shopping at the Family Dollar, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, or Target.

I will say the one thing I don't like about Wal-Mart is having to wait through some long lines to get one or two items. That might be laziness on my part though.

 

LOL.Mystery solved.I was gonna' say -- I've heard of frugal but ...

 

Because they can sell things 25 to 30% cheaper than small mom and pop stores. Much like Sam's, Costco, Home Depot, etc. Small businesses cannot compete so the philosophy is that everyone should have to pay higher prices so we can keep the small businesses in business.

 

It's the unions. They see a healthy host.

 

They sell cheaper then other large departnment stores too. Saturday I was at target, first time I've ever been there. I was shocked at the prices. And they CAN afford not to over charge.
I've shopped at JC Penny, and Sears and found the samething, and tracked a few other large stores online and still, people who CAN afford not to over price do ti anyway. So whats the propbelm with wal mart? None. it's a large department store, who actually has the items you need, and sell them for much less then other large departnamt stores. If mom and pop stores want to compete they need to get some merchandise people need, not junk no one wants.
As for mom and pop stores, I've been in a few locals, not only do they have nothing I need, but they are extremely high, a 500% mark up hurts business. They're the one pricing themselves out of business.

 

Bolding mine. Sorry, I have to disagree. I was assistant manager of a Christian bookstore in college. We had fair prices, lower than most. We were self-contained, not a chain like LifeWay or Family. But we were across the highway from not only a Walmart, but a Sam's as well. One day we had to close our doors permanently because of people who would come in our store, scoff at our Bible cover for $12.99 and turn to one of us and say, "I can get this same Bible cover at Sam's for $9.99." I would often explain, "that's because while they buy 300 of one item, we buy 3." And alot of times they would tell me that our prices were outrageous and go to Sam's and buy the cover there.

Now I'm not one that believes Walmart is the harbinger of death for small business. But it sure was for our store. And it wasn't Walmart's fault, it was cheapskates that couldn't spend a few dollars more for better service. I'll say this: I ran the music section of our store. If someone came in looking for an old CD that couldn't be found anywhere else, do you think Walmart would order it for them? Not likely. We would have, and had it in a week for them.

 

I disagree with you also, you do not know our local stores. Unless you do, you can not comment on them or their business practices.
Why pay $50. for an item I can buy for $5? Isn't that bad money management, bad stewardship?
I think so.
Not to mention, I actually have to run a home with very little money, I can not afford to pay extra high local prices if I intend on paying bills, rent, and buying groceries, all in the same month.
For people who have money to throw away, let them, I don't care, but we do not.

I have yet to see a christian store that wasn't outrageously prices, simply because it is specialized products you have to go there to buy most of them.
I bought my bible cover at a christians store, leather, and $35, after an accident which damaged my bible I thought ti was worth it. Till a month later when the zipper tore up, and never worked again. Finally a few years later I decided I needed to replace it, but again wanted a good covert o protect my bible. I bought the exact same cover, same company, same quality, same color, same compartments as the $3. one, for $6. on ebay, new with tags still attached, and this one was still in the original plastic, the first one was not. How much mark up was that you think in the christian store?
I would call that significant.

 

Hey Joshua,

Don't bring in facts to this thread, I have tried and it was shot down...

I say let everyone shop where they want too, I have said that from the beginning, but BUT.... don't think you're getting the same item, or services from Wal-Mart. I know for a fact they sale sub-standard items. They force the manufacturers to make the product fit into their price point, and they don't care about quality.

Mis-Money management can be said about buying stuff that isn't worth the cheap price one pays for it too.. I have some Dockers (pants) I bought when I worked as a manger at Wal-Mart. They are over 10 years old, and yet look very good still. I paid 40-45 dollars for them per pair. Do you even think for one moment that you could buy a pair of pants from Wal-Mart and have them last for that long and be in as good of shape? We all know the answer to that. So if you spend 12.96-15.00 on a pair of pants at Wal-Mart they better last at least 3 years of continuall use for them to be worth it and money wise...

Some people don't want to hear about Wal-mart, it's like they are addicted to it.. I have said from the beginning of this thread that I don't think they are evil, but they aren't what everyone thinks they are either...

With some people you will never change their minds or break that addiction... so why try?

 

Interesting. I just made these comments about WM on another thread:

 

Another view of Walmart:
http://distributism.blogspot.com/2008/12/sometimes-low-pricessometimes.html

 

You're right donnA, I have no idea where you shop, where you live, or for that matter, what store you bought the bible cover from. Sounds like you got a bum rap on the cover you bought.

Oh, and don't comment on our bookstore, since as far as I know, you were never in it or shopped there. You do not know how fairly priced our store was, and cannot comment on our business practices. And I say was, because our store had to close. Guess that was fair because of our evil signifcant mark up that wasn't there. And stop acting like you're the only one on a budget, with tight resources, because you're not.