Wal-Mart has cheap oil. :thumbsup2:

I agree, but that does not mean that I won't take advantage of some of their products which are the real deal, and cheap.
Fluids for the cars, soil treatment for the flower beds, canned or frozen foods, fresh produce (our local WalMart buys all their produce locally), and a few other odds and ends.
I won't, however, purchase big ticket items from them, or anything which is made just for WalMart. I am careful about checking model numbers and the like when doing my research.
I figure that the intelligent shopper who is frugal, will end up purchasing some things at WallyWorld, because they have the best price on the same product.
But.... there are many impulse and uneducated shoppers who buy the crap from WM because they are too dumb or too lazy to do the research before they pull the trigger. My belief is that the stores have a limited number of solid products at good prices and loss-leaders.... the rest of the store is worthless garbage. Your job is to sift through and pull the wheat from the chaff.

As an example, I have yet to find a single electronic item cheaper at WalMart than at other online outlets. Only the items and models which are specifically made for WM are ever the cheapest, and they are the headliner on the advertising. I am not interested in a 'made-cheap to sell-cheap' item, regardless of the dubious fact that it may be 'The Cheapest 50" class LED TV On The Planet'......

If I am purchasing something which involves some expertise to use correctly, I will pay more to buy from a local store with knowledgeable people. My pool supplies always come from my local pool company. They are used to seeing me, have given me great advice and steered me towards products that I am happy with. I could have saved some money by purchasing at WalMart, but I would likely have spent more in the long run, messing about with products that do not work as well, or that I would have been unhappy with their performance.


Coming soon... made for WalMart automobiles....

10pm on a Sunday... heck on anyday... If I don't have it, I'm going to live without it for the rest of the night....;)

People get weirder as it gets later, especially at WalMart.... Best bet if you have to go there is right after they open, before the freaks crawl out of whatever grotto they live in...

Walmart targets low income/working class. They put their stores within that demographic, not the rich pheckkers' neighborhoods. When one is in the lower income brackets one pursues products within one's means and shopping radius.

Where would we suggest low income folks shop if Walmart were to raise prices in order to cover increased labor costs and cost of buying all-American products? Also, Walmart would then be competing for the Costco and Target customers, which means they would have to site their stores in that demographic. Where would low income folks go?

I tell you what: You geniuses that think you can provide that demographic better value while meeting all of your sanctimonious goals of patriotism and labor practices should get off your tired-asses and beat Walmart at their game. Let's see your business plans.

You seem to think that people disagree with the business model?? Sure seems to work well to me...
Target and Costco are not significantly different.
The big boxes are all pretty much the same.

The problem we have is that Joe-SixPack can't live without his 70 inch plasma and entertainment center that he can't afford. So he buys them at the cheapest place, and then fills out the rest of his actual necessities with whatever garbage the store that dealt him his humongous TV happens to have.

The stores are not the problem, and their business model has been proven to work extremely well.
The people are the problem, they are mostly a bunch of ignorant dumb-asses.

Have you ever been in a WallyWorld and seen people buying 'furniture'??
Have you ever looked at what passes for 'furniture' there??
That paper crap will no way last even a year before it is falling apart.
People who buy it are idiots, plain and simple. (apologies to any here who may have purchased that crap)

great tinkerers source for stanley tools, which as far as im concerned, are better than craftsman. Also automotive fluids if you just cant leave without trying to start something that night after working on it all day.

More often its things like cleaning supplies, food you needed for the next morning, ect. Toilet paper, thats nice to be able to grab right then.

Plus you get the late night show of loopy people while you shop. I only ever go there super early, or super late.

I was, for several years (more than I care remember), in the socioeconomic target group for Walmart. During that time I came to appreciate the value I received for the meager income I had.

What people choose to purchase (and why) with their own money is not for me to judge. Frankly, I don't give a damn.

If they're on the dole then I have opinions. That's my money they're spending. I feel I have a right to guide their spending.

Due to good fortune and some measure of my own efforts I am no longer in the Walmart target group. If I am lucky I will never again darken their doors. I embrace my illusions that I really am not a raw material from which money must be extracted as expeditiously and parsimoniously as psychology and architecture can arrange. Which is how I feel at fast food joints and big box stores.

(BTW, Costco has a very different business model from Walmart. Walmart stacks 10's of thousands of items, Costco in the lower thousands. Store siting is different customer base, etc. The similarity is in psychology and architectural efficiency of design).

Well put.

Actually never been in a Costco... very seldom visit any big box stores, but I've been to both Target and Wally, and haven't really seen any appreciable difference.

I guess my many years living in the mountains of Colorado has permanently altered my approach to life. Up there, everything was an hour away. We didn't have gas stations, retail outlets or pizza delivery. Really makes one aware of how much TP is left in the house...:D

To this day, I still stockpile household items, and purchase more when the backstock starts getting diminished.
I have also discovered the magic of Amazon prime and subscribe and save.... Stuff I need just shows up every couple months at a 20% markdown, without any real effort on my part. It all started with coffee....:D

Back when I was a road guy, we would often stop the bus late at night at a WalMart.... some real funny stories buried in those experiences....:D In fact, us drunken bands/crew were part of the loopy crowd. Hope we entertained others as much as they did us...

Costco also pays their employees a living wage plus benefits. No need for canned-good collection boxes outside their stores so employees can afford to eat.

Interesting, and true. Apparently Costco pays a solid wage and provides health insurance for their full time workers, and yet it does not seem to hurt their business.
Costco's success over the last years is proving that lower employee turnover, higher productivity and better service can be very profitable for investors in the long term.
Costco, Whole Foods, and The Container Store: 3 Companies Proving That Happy Employees Can Make Shareholders Happy

The High Cost of Low Wages - Harvard Business Review


We now return you to our regularly scheduled WalMart bashing.... ;)

One simply cannot have a discussion about Walmart's wages without someone bringing up Costco. It seems to be de rigeur, like tipping your waiter, calling your mother on her birthday, and never starting your thank you notes with the words "Thank you". So lets get it out of the way before the supper gong goes.

Interesting further reading here: Why Can

Full health benifits/401k/vacation/sick time are also provided for part time employees as well. Not too many companies will do that.

Possibly because it is a valid and honest comparison.

Wonder how the top of the heap gets treated at these companies... especially WalMart, whose business model cannot support high wages...

CostCo CEO Jelinek earned $650,000 in 2012, plus a $200,000 bonus and stock options worth about $4 million.
Walmart CEO Mike Duke’s 2012 base salary was $1.3 million; he was also awarded a $4.4 million cash bonus and $13.6 million in stock grants.
Costco CEO Craig Jelinek Leads the Cheapest, Happiest Company in the World - Businessweek

Maybe I'm missing something here.....

I'm sure the target demographics of the two stores are different, but do people shop at a particular location because they're part of a demographic? Is it a rule or something?
We make Costco runs (2 hr drive there and back) about every two months and pack the Element to the gunnels with necessaries. Soap, detergent, bathroom and laundry stuff, pantry supplies and meats like bacon that we typically don't raise ourselves or don't make enough of. I don't see any benefit WalMart has over Costco when it comes to the supplies I buy there, so from an individual customer's vantage point it's a fair comparison. Costco's cheaper including the gas and the annual fee. I also feel better shopping there knowing the people manning the store probably aren't on food stamps. I don't know how their pay schedule works over all, but I do know the store we shop at starts part timers at 16 bucks an hour plus benefits.
Is anyone striking or protesting Costco?