My Walmart experience

[MikeERWNC]

Yeah...

About the candy canes.

This was my first year and we only had peppermint and cherry candy canes.

The cherry candy canes left the bucket four to one over the peppermint.

For 2014 we have some peppermint, but made sure we have plenty of other flavors to please all pallets.

Luckily we were able to score Lifesaver candy canes. Delicious! Now if I can just keep the wife out of the closet.

 

 

Greg,

Wal-Mart is the only store for twenty five miles.

Then you get to another Wal-Mart. It is sad what Wal-Mart did to the little places.

Here in Western North Carolina, there isn't much and poverty is very high.

Wal-Mart thrives when consumers don't know any better.

[Greg Young]

Mike, it was the same when K-Mart first hit the scene, and also for some of the other big retailers. Those were years back, so the publicity as t ohow their employees were treated was no where near what it is now. I can remember an after Christmas sales in a big chain called 2 Guys, where folks were throwing items to other shoppers. It was a madhouse, one I vowed I would never deal with again, and I never did. No black Friday deals for me.

On the food side of things with the mega Tops stores, and Wegmans (up our way), they have similarly impacted the smaller stores who can't compete with their prices.

It won't be very long until internet shopping impacts all of the retail outlets, including the big ones just mentioned..

Greg

[MikeERWNC]

I buy lots and lots of stuff on the internet.

Things I want will never be available here and sometimes it is difficult to get to Atlanta just to go shopping.

[Orville]

@Greg Young, yes I did, but when corporate gets involved, when they review the stores transactions, I have little choice but to terminate an employee that violated company policy, and it's all in the paperwork an employee signed after hiring to know specific things like taking back and refunding clearance items was a violation.    I always waited until corporate told me that I had to terminate an employee because of that.   But regulations are regulations and even if I may disagree with them, I have to follow corporate policy the same as the next employee or manager.

[George Simmons]

I'm sure glad I never shopped at any retail outlet you managed Orv.  I can guarantee you that corporate would have heard loud and clear if I had ever purchased defective merchandise, at any price, and the store wouldn't refund it.

 

I'm with you Greg.  For all the complaints, Wally World still seems to get their share of business.  I can honestly say that I've never been treated poorly or unfairly.  We buy almost all our groceries there.  When the time comes that another store sells groceries for less, we'll switch in a heartbeat. 

 

Seems to me Mike, with the poverty you cite that people would be glad for a place where their money goes farther than anywhere else.  I'm not quite sure what you mean that poor people don't know any better.  We never had much when I was a kid, but my mom sure knew how to stretch a dollar, and she sure knew better than to buy from stores that charged higher prices for the same merchandise.

[MikeERWNC]

I am guessing you have not spent time around modern poverty.

 

When you were growing up a cell phone was not more important than baby formula.

Buying a carton of cigarettes weren't more important than clothing for your school age child.

The only real meal their child gets and not a good meal is provided by school, morning and noon they go home and don't get dinner and they barely get food on the weekends.

The school provides a bag for the child to get them through the weekend and the parents eat it while the kid is hungry.

Sure minimum wage isn't much, but it is better than nothing. Steeling from your neighbors to get enough money for meth is more important than flipping burgers to feed the family.

A lot of these people are lucky to have a junior high education.

They are numerous here in the mountains. All of the jobs have long since moved over seas. Wrangler, Lee and all the thread factories which supported them.

 

Don't get me wrong. I am an independent not a socialist. I am not a fan of government handout. How can it ever stop?

Wal-Mart has done nothing good for the country except provide cheap food to those of us who shop there.

They are not making the lives of their employees any better with the exception being the very few who make it to upper management.

Sam Walton had the right idea, sell quality American made products. Once he died some of that mentality was lost.

With it we lost a lot of jobs which were filled by making products to place on Wal-Marts shelves.

To get us lower prices they compromised on quality and American made products. Sure there are still thousands of American made items on the shelves, but how many do you buy?

 

I am always sadden when I see an eighty year old local in the exit corner of Wal-Mart holding a sign, "Will work for food. Family in need."

And you know, He is the provider for his grand kids and great grand kids.

This isn't Wal-Marts fault, but they helped his employer move overseas and ultimately hurt part of our economy.

This country will never be the economic powerhouse it once was. It will be third world at the rate we are going.

Fortunately, most of us won't be here much longer to see it happen.

 

 

WoW! Where did that tangent come from?

 

 

 

[Orville]

No Aldi's in your area George?  Your Dollar Tree stores don't carry groceries?   I try to AVOID Wal-Mart whenever I can. 

 

But Aldi's on many items, at least in my area usually beats Wal-Marts price.   And we get quite a lot of good stuff from the Dollar Tree store in the way of food items, packaged, canned and frozen.

 

As far as Clearance Items, someone said that not returning them is long gone.   Sorry, I have to differ, many stores in my area still adhere to and is posted on clearance aisles and signage in mostly all capital letters in the stores to get your attention: i.e.: "CLEARANCE ITEMS ARE NON-RETURNABLE and NON-REFUNDABLE".   Please verify and check items BEFORE purchasing to make sure they meet your needs.

 

And when I've bought clearance lights, I have them tested in store to make sure they work.  But I don't buy large bulk quantities either, but if I did, I'd still have them ALL tested and verified before I bought them under those terms!  And is why most times I just don't bother with clearance items.

 

Next time I come across one, I'll be sure to take a date/time stamped photo and try to post it.    This is NOT a thing of the past, and many stores here in my region still operate with those rules.

[George Simmons]

Actually we do have an ALDI nearby. It's a dump, their produce is what other stores discard, their meat looks like something the cow was glad to get rid of, and their product selection comes close to rivaling convenience stores. Not exactly my cup of tea when a store is dirtier than even my own kitchen.

I really don't know if Dollar Tree has a store locally or whether they carry groceries. Might be something to check on, presuming they're a cut or five above ALDI.

[shfr26]

Just wondering Orv,  How many places have you worked?  I seem to recall several you have posted about and some are top secret.

 

   Also, if I went to a store and asked for a discount and then wanted to test all the products I wanted, they would show me the door, no questions asked.

[Orville]

Wow George, our Aldi's are nice and clean, the produce has always been fresh.  Really surprised yours is so bad.  Then again, I haven't been in every Aldi's in my area, so I suppose there could be one, depending on location, that could be like the one you described.  

 

Dollar Tree doesn't carry produce, but we have always found a nice selection in the larger stand alone stores, the ones in the malls or strip type centers usually are the worst for any type of grocery items and  even if they do have some. it's usually not very much in the way of grocery items, more like snack type items like chips, crackers and candy.

 

@shfr26, I lost count a long time ago of all the positions I've worked,   But I know I have worked in well over 100 different electronics companies,  and many grocery/retail stores.  Started in Fast Food/Pizza joints - including management, retail/movie theatres/grocery stores and a pharmacy type store like Walgreen's - and those also included management, Data Entry, then into computer/electronic cash register repairs{electronic tech}, then into larger electronic companies: building anything and everything you could probably imagine, Car Stereos, CB Radios, Aircraft Black Boxes{which aren't black by the way},governmental contract items, Alarm systems for Home, Government/Military installations, and working in electronic prototype labs, also a rework specialist on Printed Circuit Boards, not to mention line leader and secondary supervisor of manufacturing personnel, and a little electrical work here and there under an licensed electrician.  Also worked for a few toy stores too, mainly as a secondary job during the Christmas season, but that was long before there was home internet services and on-line buying.   A Toy Store was the worst job you could have during Christmas!   And I also assembled and repaired bicycles, toddler ride on vehicles when I worked for the Toy Stores.  Also worked in many different warehouse environments, limited construction, and volunteered working traffic control with local law enforcement during special events such as walking for MS and other run/walking type events, including directing folks as to where to park.

 

And that's just the tip of the iceberg of my work experiences.  So yes, I've had a lot of different experiences in the workforce and volunteering.   Getting ready to see about volunteering at our local SPCA shelter or Pet Rescue Organization. since one of our felines came from a Pet Rescue and I work with the feral cats in my neighborhood to help get them neutered or spayed as well as acclimated to people so they can be found homes easier.    So yes, I do get involved in controlling the pet population in my neighborhood too..

 

Always been my raising that my parents instilled in me is that you get involved in as much as you can, this is to be a better well rounded person and to learn additional skills that may serve you both on and off the job, which they have many times over.

 

Hey YOU asked!