Do you shop at WalMart?

[proud2BlibKansan]

[Kittycat]

1. No. I feel dirty just driving past it.

[hlthe2b]

3. I just feel sad... Walmart is so exploitative...

There is not a store near where I live, but when I take an alternate route home from work, I do go by a big Walmart SuperStore. It is in a predominantly lower income Latino area and there is always a large crowd there. While I know that there are some much needed bargains there and I certainly can't criticize those seeking--they also sell such crap, especially clothing that won't last the season and toys that break the first day. The one time I went in, there was such an oppressive and stress-filled atmosphere. I felt like the workers were very demoralized-- exhausted dealing with the crowds and that the shoppers, myself included, were constantly one breath away from a shop-lifting accusation.... It was very unpleasant... I never have that experience at Target, though I know that they are probably more expensive on things.

[nolabels]

14. Our nearest Target store does better than the Wallmart that sits next to it

I drive around get to the other end of street where Target entrance is but in the long run it sure beats getting that dirty feeling :-)

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Sometimes--maybe once a month--

when I need something and the alternative is a 20-mile round trip to the nearest alternative place to buy it. In order to save 45 minutes and a gallon of gas, I'll go to MallWart.

[blondeatlast]

8. Think of it this way--you are COSTING MW. If you get the one thing only,

it costs them money; they count on sales of multiple items. I worked retail and know how much a place like MW needs to make per customer to make a profit.

[Jackpine Radical]

43. Well, that's a comfort.

Now I don't feel so bad about my secret vice.

:)

[madmom]

4. Ok let me get this straight you're "unpatriotic" if you shop at Wal mart, but it's your

civic duty to buy foreign cars so the big three straightens their asses up.Do I have that right?

[jobycom]

6. Hell, I can't even figure out my own life.

I've given up living other people's for them.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. No I am just asking if you shop there

You don't have to vote in the poll if you don't want to. :shrug:

[Kalyke]

78. Good point.

I, for one, don't shop at WallyWorld and I drive an American car.

I'm perfect. LOL!

[jobycom]

5. Yes. They are a symptom, not the cause.

[proud2BlibKansan]

I went to WalMart for the first time in a long time a few months ago

I needed something I could not find anywhere else. On my way to pay, I saw a great deal on socks so I picked up a package. When I got home, I put on a pair of those socks and they were about 2 sizes too big.

Threw the socks away and haven't been back to WalMart since.

[jobycom]

16. I went last night.

My parents have limited income, and have more people to feed than they can afford. They bought milk and some frozen stuff to eat for the next week.

On my own, I went last week, because there's a 24 hour Walmart across the street. Bought the same things I'd have bought at a grocery store--same brands--and paid about the same price. They were open, no one else was. The times I've bought socks from them--and admittedly that's rare--they've been just as good as anyplace else I generally shop for socks.

After Katrina they were the first people open, with a good supply. They didn't gouge, and they were even charitable.

Several years ago, my sister worked for them in a small town. They paid better than anyone else for unskilled labor in her rural area.

Yeah, they got some problems. So does every grocery store I'm familiar with, and so do most department stores that have similar prices. The problem to me isn't what they do, but it's what they are allowed to do.

Having said that, I hope the family of the trampled worked become millionaires at their expense. Their deliberate attempt to create a buying frenzy led to an employee's death, and they should be made to pay.

[blondeatlast]

12. Not exactly. Retailing changed DRASTICALLY after Sam Walton died.

Wal-Mart IS very much feeding the disease; see my explanation here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4555515

[jobycom]

25. I don't agree with your post there.

I worked retail in the 80s, too. Everyone wanted to be a monopoly. If Sears could have done it, they would have. K-Mart, all the others. I worked for a 40 store regional chain in a specialty market, and every managers meeting was about how to take over the market. That's nothing new. Not even close to new--that's always been the mantra of American business.

Walmart went after a rural market that the other major chains ignored, and that didn't start when Walton died. Because of the markets, they paid less and focused on lower prices, which was their market strategy for being viable in those areas. And compared to unskilled labor jobs in those markets, they paid fairly well--I've had several relatives work for Walmart. They do what they are allowed to do.

We should stop creating cartoon villains--especially out of organizations that many rural communities like--and start fighting the real battle. Fight what they are allowed to do.

[madmom]

30. I agree with your premise here.I used to work for Walmart, they did pay me well, I

didn't need their insurance, but there were a few co-workers who worked there because they "needed" the insurance for their families. I was treated well,as compared to other jobs I had in retail. For some reason the people on DU love to hate Walmart, when in all reality ALL the big chain stores are doing exactly the same thing.

[hlthe2b]

70. I agree it is complicated. However, Walmart did prey on rural

communities--so strapped for jobs they would have sold their soul (and they did, along with their downtown shopping districts) to have a stable employer in their rural farming community.

One I was especially following in the MidWest (where my Mother grew up)lobbied so hard for both a Walmart and a State Penitentiary that they ended up getting both. That town is so very different now that they are having trouble keeping population. Even with the jobs, their kids want quality of life as well, it seems-- something they feel they lost when it became a prison destination and an interstate exit-based community.

[rebel with a cause]

87. I hate Sears ten times more than I could ever hate Wal-Mart

or any other store.

[tomreedtoon]

27. How much of a change since Walton died?

I agree with you in principle, but I asked this question in another post about the Wal-Mart stampede death.

Was Sam Walton better with his workers and customers? Is there something he did that the new boys don't do now?

I kind of guess that I want to know if his "legacy," quoted ad infinitum on the sides of all those Wal-Mart house brands, is really as good as they say. Or was he the same kind of exploitative bastard that his heirs and successors are?

I'd prefer some factual stories and incidents rather than a bunch of invective. Everybody screams about Wal-Mart now. But what about in Walton's time?

ON EDIT: I read the OP's other post about how Walton's heirs have been bullying bastards who wrecked the retail business, but I'd still like to hear how Walton was different.

[DainBramaged]

68. Very true, Sam Walton believed in the handshake and AMERICAN MADE

I remember the stores in the 80's, they touted American made products.

[hlthe2b]

71. It turned out some of those products were not US-Made BUT

I agree that that appeared to be Sam Walton's goal--a laudable one that had my late father singing his praises.

[Fluffdaddy]

9. I have past up good deals to shop anywhere but WalMart

My daughter used to work there and I know how badly they treat employees. You work there as a last choice.......imo

It's better then no job at all.............But I don't have to support them

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. My sister worked at WalMart one Christmas season

She still refers to it as her labor camp job.

[Fluffdaddy]

15. They use to threaten my daughter with " You work a double shift or you are fired"

And this would be at the last minute when she had a kid to put up at daycare.

I dislike WM a lot.

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. One of my sister's co-workers was fired because someone stole a riding lawnmower

He was a high school kid assigned to work alone on Memorial Day weekend in the Garden Center. It was kind of hard to run a register and guard the lawn mowers at the same time. :shrug:

[wryter2000]

10. My sympathies to those who have no choice

My disgust with Walmart goes back to the mid-nineties when I discovered that my romance novel couldn't be stocked there because it had supernatural characters from Maori folklore in it. Anti-"Christian," don't you know. Not that they would have stocked a book by a nobody like me, but still...

I know they've backed down from that now because they'd lose too much $$$, but that only compounds their evil, as far as I can see. We all know what God they worship, and He ain't Jesus' dad.

[Edweird]

11. walmart sucks. Target rocks.

[sandnsea]

93. They are precisely the same

Non-union, cheap import, massive big box stores. No difference.

[gratefultobelib]

17. Couln't you just have said "yes" without the "I love Wal-Mart?"

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. Edited

[pansypoo53219]

18. i go there for 1 reason.

cheap frames cause walgreens got to $$$ and never had the size i wanted when they had a sale. artists have to save money . 1st time was an emergency. sigh. i hate walmart.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. My songwriter friend's WalMart song

http://sites.google.com/a/herrmannators.com/jim/Home/A-File-Cabinet

[LeftyMom]

21. No. nt

[old mark]

I love Walmart, and I think this hatred of the company is profoundly

fucking stupid. It is a big company that was built from a single store by selling items cheaper than other stores.
It's called competition, and Walmart has competion.

Fact: Over 40% of management of the corporation is female.
Hillary Clinton was on the Board of Directors till 1994.

Fact: Over 90% of walmart's permanent employees have health insurance.

You guys need to find someone new to hate, and this time try hate someone worthwhile.

Idiots.

mark

[brentspeak]

34. Why don't you go apply for a job shilling for Mall-Wart?

They need useful suck-ups to PR on behalf of their wage-slave destruction of the nation's economy.

[old mark]

36. I worked for the State of Pennsylvanis. I got wages that were less than

what I understand are the prevailing rates at Walmart for most of my time there. And, while I didn't have to contribute to my healthcare employees where I worked have had to for the last several years.

Why don't you go to Google, and then check Walmart on Wikipedia.

You guys are such great haters you should all be Republicans.

mark

[brentspeak]

39. A job working for the state would be paradise compared to working at Walmart

That is, unless the state employees are forced to work under "privatized" conditions.

[Radical Activist]

40. lol

Its meaningless to talk about how many of their "full time" employees have health insurance when they keep most of their workforce part time. Very deceptive statistic there. The kind Walmart PR hacks throw around to mislead people. If Walmart health insurance is so good then why are so many of their employees on medicaid?

Slave plantations sold things cheaper too. Its called competition.

[proud2BlibKansan]

77. And how many of their employees are "permanent"?

LOL

[47of74]

23. I've had enough of Wally World

I worked at Wal-Mart for a couple years in the 90s. So I've had enough of that place to last me the rest of my life and then some. In the past five years I've only been in a Sams Club one time, and a Wal-Mart once. I shop other places, like Target, Best Buy, K-Mart, Farm and Fleet, the malls, and so on. True, it may be more expensive. But things I purchase at places other than Wal-Mart tend to last a bit longer and are of higher quality.

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Iterate]

26. No, they have closed all stores in Germany.

When forced to compete on an equal basis with fair wages, no tax subsidies and no cheating, they couldn't cut it and sold off all of their stores. I've heard no complaints of their absence.

[47of74]

28. Wow...

That's great that the Germans were able to stand up to these people and prevent them from destroying an economy.

[norepubsin08]

35. Hi there

I have sung at the Cathedral in Mainz. Beautiful Church. A wonderful hymn came out of there called "God, Father, Praise and Glory" used traditionally on Trinity Sunday.

[Iterate]

51. Terrific

Ah, I was just there a week ago on some errands. The Dom renovations are coming along nicely and the Weihnachtsmarkt was being set up.

If you ever get a chance again, the beautiful rococo Augustinerkirche is just a few blocks away, as is St. Stephans with it's Chagall windows (best seen on a rare non-cloudy day. Email for a tour on your next visit!

[norepubsin08]

55. I've been there

I was born in Frankfurt am Main and wound up singing in an international boy choir out of Rome for 15 months..what an experience. I loved Mainz!!!

[alphafemale]

29. I've been in there maybe twice in the last 6 months.

I'm fortunate enough to have options for just about everything Walmart hawks.

[cyclezealot]

31. Only as a last resort means twice in my life.

I hate the place... The two times I had to , I felt like Judas.. But, for what I needed it was the only choice..

[Blue_In_AK]

32. I only get my prescription there.

I try to avoid Wal-Mart, but my husband shops there sometimes for household stuff and dog food.

[madmom]

33. I find it laughable to read these "I hate Walmart" threads where people say

"I shop there for 1 reason, that's because...." Well that's why everyone else shops there too. Because they find what they want or it's cheaper or both.So whether you like it or not you are a walmartian!

[Dappleganger]

37. I hate to do it, but yes.

If we had received wage raises which equalled the increase of the cost of living, this wouldn't be a big problem. But we have four children, we have incurred unexpected additional expenses in having to care for my mother during the past year (and paid for her funeral expenses), we have college coming up so YES, we shop at fucking Walmart.

[azmouse]

38. I prefer buying my cheap Chinese crap elsewhere.

I went into a Walmart once many years ago. Didn't like it. Too much crap clogging the aisle. Couldn't find my way around the store. Got pissed off. Vowed never to go back.... and I haven't.

[Radical Activist]

41. Not in years.

[lebkuchen]

42. I'm visiting in the states, and Walmart is the only main store in town

I assume it drove the other businesses out.

Walmart used to be in Germany, and I never shopped at it. Apparently, neither did a lot of Germans. It no longer exists in Germany. I think its demise was connected to the strong labor laws in Germany, which hurt Walmart's overhead.

[yy4me]

44. I use the Pharmacy. In the beginning of the $4.00 Generic drug

offerings, WalMart was the only one in my area to offer it. I now have several prescriptions there but would change in a heartbeat if it was not such a pain in the neck. I only have to go once in 90 days so they make no money on me. I may but shampoo or perhaps some other silly thing but will buy nothing there of substance.

[TwilightGardener]

45. Yup. My husband even moonlighted there for a time (toy dept. at Christmas)

back when we were young and had a new baby. Wasn't a bad job, according to him. I think the whole "WalMart is evil" is just stupid. On an individual basis, people who shop there are looking for low prices and convenience. There's nothing wrong or immoral about that--and if Wal-Mart didn't give us what we wanted, they'd go out of business.

[eilen]

46. I don't shop there because of their labor practices

of wage theft, locking in workers, sex discrimination, hour-jerrying etc. Their highly touted health insurance stinks. They are union busters. And they damage the environment.

They also bully manufacturers and put people out of business. Some may call that good business. I call it dishonorable and underhanded.

I've read a book about Walmart and watched a movie about them. We successfully fought against a Walmart Superstore outside our village. Check out Liverpool First. http://www.liverpoolfirst.com/">Liverpool First

[DainBramaged]

47. Folks won't shop at Walmart but they also won't support the Domestic Auto industry

you might as well shop there, your "purer than thou is showing"? And if you don't support whale hunting, why buy Japanese cars??


DU, the dichodomy goes in before the confusion comes on.

[proud2BlibKansan]

I could write a novel about the crappy GM cars I have owned

They lost my business a long time ago. I am not wealthy enough to take a gamble on a major purchase like a car. I can, however, choose to buy things at stores other than WM.

[Kalyke]

84. And my husband could write a novel about the crappy foreign cars he's owned.

He can't wait to pay the current one he owned down so he can afford to trade it in on a Ford. He's so frustrated with this "car" that he gets physically ill every time the "check engine" light comes on.

Foreign car companies have lost his business.

And, you could choose a Ford or another domestic automobile - but you won't because you still think it's 1988.

[proud2BlibKansan]

86. No I won't choose them because they are crappy products

and I am not a wealthy person. :)

As soon as one of the big three makes a car that gets 35 MPG and won't nickel and dime me to death while it continues running with over 200,000 miles on the odometer, I will gladly buy it.

[DainBramaged]

90. "Owned" and "long time ago" are the key words here.

Someday you may give them a chance again.

[hfojvt]

48. I wonder about the income level of those who voted never

Which quintile are they in? It's easy to be snobbish about Wal-mart if you can afford to spend an extra $5 every time you buy groceries. Although that varies too. DG has been beating them consistently on pop for the last six months or so. $1.38 vs. $1.15. And Price Chopper beats them on bread. But as far as labor goes, DG pays less than WM. It's not like I am buying from a union shop when I avoid Wall-E.

[proud2BlibKansan]

81. Fortunately we have enough choices here that you don't have to go to WM for groceries

But that is not true in smaller cities.

[bunnies]

49. You mean Misogynist -Mart? Fuck no. Women deserve better. nt

[Owl]

50. Absolutely NO!

[DianeG5385]

52. My Autistic son loves Walmart, it's a Saturday ritual

He gets the same things every Saturday. The clerks some of who have worked there for years know him very well and love him, we have been coming in virtually every Sat. for close to 10 years..He's 17.

We buy local as much as we can.

[hlthe2b]

72. That's wonderful for your son... But how is WalMart "buying local?"

[JVS]

53. I do. I often am too busy to go shopping at regular hours and or make multiple trips.

So, I've gone to Walmart in the middle of the night on a run for groceries. I hear a lot about cheap plastic crap, but their bottle of ketchup is the same stuff you get at the other store. Their groceries are about as good as the other stores in the area. Not quite as impressive as the top of the line store. Sometimes after getting my supplies, I go over to the other part of the store. I've picked up an occasional DVD or board game over there. People say Target is better, but I can't get the weekly shopping done there. Meijer's can be better and often I go there instead of Walmart. It depends on what items I'm setting out for.

[silverweb]

54. I did once.

When San Diego's first Wal-Mart opened, I went purely out of curiosity because I'd never seen one before. I bought a ceramic bunny garden statue for $2.98 to put in my lavendar patch.

Then I learned about the Walton family and the chain's predatory ways, and I've boycotted them ever since.

[davsand]

56. We make a big deal about NOT shopping with Wallyworld.

Material Girl got a homework assignment a couple of years ago that asked the question, "What would you buy if you had a $100 to spend at Walmart?"

Her first sentence was "We do not shop at Walmart because they refuse to allow unions and we are a union family." She went on to say that if she could take that $100 to some other store she would buy________.

We have talked about it with her in the context of one of her aunt's pals who works full time for Walmart. Material Girl thinks Z. is a really cool lady (and she is) and she does not understand why or how her pal could work for people we consider such jerks.

We explained it is the job she has and it is not her fault that the company is so bad. We also explained we avoid Walmart because we hope our refusal to give them our money will one day make them realize that all workers DO have solidarity with each other. If just one family stays home it isn't enough, if EVERY family does then they will listen.

Literally, I heard her lecture her 78 year old grandmother (my mom) about the evils of Walmart. She did a pretty good job of explaining her position and backing up her arguments.

Maybe one day it will matter...


Laura

[Shiver]

57. By "shopping"...

...I assume you mean "paying for stuff and not stealing"?

There's no option on the poll for me then.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

58. ONLY when I am camping/traveling in an area that has NO other options

for what I need. I figure I go to a Malwart about 2-3 times per year and each time buy about one or 2 items. And I even feel bad about that. I also avoid buying Chinese-made crap ANYWHERE when I can help it.

[excess_3]

59. BIG RETAIL is ripping you off

shop WalMart

[Dukkha]

60. If I were dying of thirst and they were the only store in miles

I'd drink my own piss

[emmadoggy]

61. I do.

I don't love them and hate their business practices. I try to buy what I can in my small town (pop. 4,300) - but there are a lot of things that just aren't available in a town of this size. We have a Pamida, a nice drugstore, and a couple of decent grocery stores. I generally pay more when I buy toiletries and household items in town. I would much prefer to shop at Target for the things I generally buy at Walmart, but the nearest Walmart is 22 miles away, while the nearest Target is 52 miles away. Same goes for Kmart, Shopko, Kohl's, Menards etc. We don't buy groceries at Walmart, unless there is something specific we want that isn't available at our local store (which is not often).

I do a lot of shopping online - in fact, I am probably 85-90% done with my Christmas shopping and probably 80-90% of it I ordered online. There are many, many more things available and I can do it from the comfort of my home and not have to fight crowds and traffic or plan around the weather or other time commitments.

But, yes, for convenience and for cost we do shop at Walmart. Toiletries, household items, kids' clothes, the occasional adult clothing item, some toys and other miscellaneous items are generally what we buy there.

It is just the way it is for us.

[JMDEM]

62. So 57% NEVER shop at Walmart, yet I get lynched by the DU community

for saying it is bad to shop at Walmart?

What's the deal? Do I need to shower more often?

[DainBramaged]

63. Think how I feel defending GM?

[crusoe]

64. I don't shop at Walmart

Because there is no Walmart where I live, New York City.

[Name removed]

65. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[littlebit]

66. Yes I do.

I also deliver freight to their distribution centers. Also my mother has been an executive with them for 20 years. One of my brothers has been working for them as a trucker for almost ten years. So not only do I shop there my family and I do other business with them as well.

[proud2BlibKansan]

82. One of my dearest friend's mother worked for Sam Walton for years

She was an executive in Arkansas at the headquarters. She absolutely loved Sam. But even she won't shop at WM anymore, since it isn't the company Sam envisioned.

[juno jones]

67. I avoid those damn stores 99% of the time.

Except for fabric and patterns. Pretty much the only 'competiton' around here are non-local chains who sells mounds of Chinese-made 'craft items' (ie: weird plastic shite). They charge three times as much for their cloth and notions, often for identical items. I know their employess aren't getting anymore benefits than W-M because I've known a few.

It's the only situation in which I feel no guilt in shopping there. But I avoid them for the most part.

[Pastiche423]

69. I do not and will not

Anything I need, I buy from Bi-Mart, second hand stores and ebay.

[City Lights]

73. I haven't set foot in a wal-mart in years.

Probably close to 14.

[gollygee]

74. The Walmart by me is always really really really slow

so if I need just one thing and I know they'll have it, I sometimes run in there because it's faster. I can park really close and get in and out right away.

But I don't stop there very often. I can't say never, though.

[OhioChick]

75. Never. n/t

[robcon]

76. I shop at Walmart fairly often.

I like their prices and selection.

[HopeFor2006]

79. No way, no how, no Walmart

[mondo joe]

80. No, but I live in a city with a lot of options, and independent businesses.

It's easy for me to not shop there.

[demokatgurrl]

83. Never set foot in one.

[Bitter_Clinger]

85. Several times a week

for almost everything. The only things I do not buy at Walmart are thing that I can't find at Walmart. If my local Walmart does not have it I see if it is available through their website. I can't beat their prices by shopping somewhere else. I do not believe in giving anyone more of my money than I need to and that includes retailers, contractors AND the government.

If I have to choose between making a point or money in my pocket, money in my pocket wins every time.

[vanderBeth]

88. I worked at one.

Don't hurt me. :hide:

[blue_onyx]

89. I've been there a few times

I went once a while ago just to see what the big fuss was about. I don't think we had any Walmarts in the Detroit area until around 1999-2000. The first store near me was the biggest dump you have ever seen. I almost turned around as soon as I walked in the store. I went in but left soon after without buying anything.

I went to the new Supercenter last year, again to see what the big deal was. It was the first SuperCenter in metro Detroit and people acted like it was this huge event. I don't see the big deal. Yeah, you can save some money on certain items but on other things, you'll spend just as much as you would at other stores. About six months ago, I was checking around online to see who had the best deal on ink cartridges and Walmart was 2-3 dollars more than the Office Depot across the street.

I've only purchased something from Walmart once and it was something my mom asked me to pick up for her while I was out. When I go shopping, I prefer Meijer. They have low prices too and I think the atmosphere is more pleasant. Plus, it's a Michigan company so I'm support a local company.

[roody]

91. I actually do go once a year in August for very cheap

school supplies. They sell crayons, notebooks, folders, glue and paper for below cost, or at cost, from 5 to 20 cents.

[dysfunctional press]

92. the people who "can't afford to shop anywhere else"...

does that mean that if walmart went out of business that those people would die? :shrug: