Abolishing Wal-Mart serfdom

[blublood]

O.k., DBR friends and neighbors, on this glorious day in Duke history, I need your help with rationalization. I hate Wal-Mart. I hate them so, so, so much from their brown tiled floors (I mean, who does that?? Who builds a new store and thinks to themselves, "Self - you know what would really attract shoppers to our store? Brown floors!"?), to their "check-out lanes" that only open 2 at a time, forcing you to "self check-out", to the whole layout of their stores, to the fact that the "Asian" food section consists entirely of soy sauce and Ramen noodles, to the fact that if, God forbid, you should actually need *help* one day, all the employees flee away from you like rabid cats. I HATE this store!!

However, we have suffered under their iron fist as a family because unfortunately, their prices are 10-20% lower than Publix. But last night, I really reached some kind of internal implosion point. Walking in there, I identified my emotional state as not just hate and revulsion, but actual dread of going in that store. This never happens at Publix! At Publix, employees say hi, ask me how I'm doing, interact with my little boy, it's awesome. It's almost like they value me as a customer and want to make my experience pleasant.

So - I want to free myself from enslavement to Wal-Mart, overthrow them in one glorious defenestration of Prague-type gesture. However, considering that they will cost us around $40-$50 more dollars per month, I either need to rationalize that this is worth it, or find another way of conserving $40-$50 per month. We don't have cable or a landline phone, so that's out. I recently found a shorter way to work, so that's saving, like, maybe $10 per month in gas. Any other ideas? It's for a good cause. :)

[Indoor66]

O.k., DBR friends and neighbors, on this glorious day in Duke history, I need your help with rationalization. I hate Wal-Mart. I hate them so, so, so much from their brown tiled floors (I mean, who does that?? Who builds a new store and thinks to themselves, "Self - you know what would really attract shoppers to our store? Brown floors!"?), to their "check-out lanes" that only open 2 at a time, forcing you to "self check-out", to the whole layout of their stores, to the fact that the "Asian" food section consists entirely of soy sauce and Ramen noodles, to the fact that if, God forbid, you should actually need *help* one day, all the employees flee away from you like rabid cats. I HATE this store!!

However, we have suffered under their iron fist as a family because unfortunately, their prices are 10-20% lower than Publix. But last night, I really reached some kind of internal implosion point. Walking in there, I identified my emotional state as not just hate and revulsion, but actual dread of going in that store. This never happens at Publix! At Publix, employees say hi, ask me how I'm doing, interact with my little boy, it's awesome. It's almost like they value me as a customer and want to make my experience pleasant.

So - I want to free myself from enslavement to Wal-Mart, overthrow them in one glorious defenestration of Prague-type gesture. However, considering that they will cost us around $40-$50 more dollars per month, I either need to rationalize that this is worth it, or find another way of conserving $40-$50 per month. We don't have cable or a landline phone, so that's out. I recently found a shorter way to work, so that's saving, like, maybe $10 per month in gas. Any other ideas? It's for a good cause. :)

Get a grip, be an adult, make a choice and live your life.

[DukieInKansas]

Can you identify the items that are only slightly higher at Publix and get those there, limiting the amount of time/money you have to spend at Wally World?

[blublood]

It was meant tongue-in-cheek, but thank you, Indoor66, for your helpful advice.

[Windsor]

I place a high price on my sanity. I will glady pay a few extra dollars to shop in a friendly and stress free environment. I shop at Publix. Occassionally I go to Aldi. I go to Target. I do NOT go to Wal Mart. Ever. Period.

[aimo]

I do not shop at WalMart. I have very similar feelings about it. I tell myself that it's worth spending a little extra on something to NOT have to go to WalMart.

[bjornolf]

We have a Walmart two minutes from our house. We drive to Wegman's instead. My wife is VERY price conscious, and she has discovered that a LOT of items we buy are cheaper at Wegman's. In fact, buying everything at Wegman's actually saves us money, because the few items that ARE cheaper at Walmart aren't THAT much cheaper, and we tend to buy a few "unnecessary" items at each stop. So, if you count in the extra "unnecessary" items from Walmart, it's actually cheaper to just go to Wegman's. And Wegman's has much better selection in almost everything, but especially organic fruits and vegetables for our baby. It's MUCH cheaper to buy our own organic food and make baby food with it than to buy the organic gerber or whatnot at Walmart. Also, Walmart does NOT have everything we need every week, so if we went to Walmart, we'd STILL have to go somewhere else too, thus again adding more. We still go to Walmart sometimes, but it is NOT our regular grocery store anymore. And I don't think you'll find better customer service than Wegman's anywhere. Maybe equal, but not better.

[allenmurray]

I only shop for my gorceries at one store, Harris-Teeter. They are more expensive than Kroger, Food Lion, or Wal-Mart, but their customer service is extraordinary. I feel like they actually care about retaining me as a customer (whereas at the other stores I feel like their goal is to drive all of their customers away).

I will say on behalf of H-T that they have really good sales. I make sure I stock up on non-perishables/freezables when they are on sale, in part to justify that I am shopping at a more expensive store.

Customer service is a dying thing - Wal-Mart treats its customers like fecal matter because most folks are willing to make that trade in order to save a few dollars. As soon as one chain gets away with it it becomes easier for another to do the same as we lower our expectations.

[Cormac]

We frequent Target, Safeway, and our favorite Trader Joe's! We're pretty much broke (we make a total of about 50K and live in Arlington, Va), but we make it work by buying only what we absolutely need for the week (We get groceries every Sunday, that way we never have a huge grocery bill). Granted, the "we" is only my fiance and I, so I don't know how much my advise is worth.

[bjornolf]

How the heck do you afford to live in Arlington on $50K? We barely have enough money to live in Dumfries, and let's just say we make more than you do.

[Cormac]

How the heck do you afford to live in Arlington on $50K? We barely have enough money to live in Dumfries, and let's just say we make more than you do.

A little help from my parents and a lot of prayers! Luckily, we don't have a lot of bills yet. My fiance just started her school loan payments, and mine won't kick in until November. Our only monthly bills are rent (utilities included) and cable. Unless its free, we probably won't be there. I'm only here for grad school (which wraps in May, woohoo!) and then we're out of here to a cheaper area! We're Midwesterners, so DC is just a transient place for us, not really "home" if that makes sense. So we're just trying to survive and then head out of here.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

I, too, don't like many things about Walmart including how Walmart treats their employees. I find their stores depressing. They are so large and impersonal, making any purchase require more time and effort. However, the recent down glide in the economy has made me take a close look at how I spend my money. My solution is to buy only certain things at Walmart, items at least one-third or more cheaper than my regular stores, Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods. I can usually limit my visits to once a month. The rest of the time I shop at my favorite stores after reading the weekly specials.

The money I save from those once a month expeditions allows me more choice of what I can buy at the other stores.

[2535Miles]

blublood, I am with you all the way! Ultimately, I think you need to make decisions that best benefit the family. I'm in a position, without a family, that I can afford to ignore Wal-Mart and I'm quite happy to do so. If budget is a concern, maybe you can look to other areas to offset the price increase at other stores, something like: coupon clubs, clipping them the old fashioned way, becoming a drug kingpin, etc. :)

[killerleft]

My wife recently switched TO Wal-Mart from Harris Teeter. Harris Teeter definitely is higher priced. I have asked HT a couple times about stuff they stocked at one time but don't any more. While they're curteous and get back to me, I still can't get my YooHoo Chocolate Lite in Greensboro. My wife can't find it anywhere in the Greensboro area. And they won't restock other stuff at a particular store even though the other HTs in the area have them in stock. Polite is nice, but all I've ever gotten from them is an explanation. What's the point in asking you if "you found everything all right"?

Any fellow Greensboro shoppers know of any store that carries YooHoo Chocolate Lite? I crave some.

[Fish80]

Walmart is the devil!

We're fortunate to have a very good local grocery, Caraluzzi's. Their prices are competitive, their service is extraordinary, their produce is fresh and high quality, and they're closer than Walmart the devil.

[camion]

South Park: Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes (http://www.southparkzone.com/episode-vid-809.htm)

It's not World of Warcraft, but it captures that Wal-Mart feeling.

[pamtar]

We shop at the Teet. I walked in Wal-Mart three years ago after a 5 year hiatus to buy my mom HP6 for Christmas. The smell turned my stomach so I turned around and went to the LOCAL bookstore to pay five bucks more. Its all about principle. If you watch Wal-Mart destroy the economy of a small town than it doesn't really matter how cheap their s#*t is. By the way, that bookstore went out of business last year. The only place to buy books in Washington, NC (area population 30k) is now Wal-Fart.

As for bargain shopping, we've noticed the Teet has reduced much of their high-end stuff. I guess people stopped buying it and it sat too long. We (my wife an I) spend about $100 a week on food and we eat good. We rarely eat out, and take time to plan every meal. This results in a much healthier and cheaper diet.

[YmoBeThere]

I go to Wal-mart for items that I can't get anywhere else for reasonable prices. The bulk of my shopping is done at the grocery chains in my area. Oh, and Costco.

[DukeUsul]

Do you have a BJ's or Costco near you where you can stock up on inexpensive non-perishables and freezable meats? Then just hit the Publix for the weekly fruit and veg?

[allenmurray]

If you shop at Wal-Mart the terrorists have won. Oops, sorry - I though I was back in 2002. ;)

[Fish80]

If you shop at Wal-Mart the terrorists have won. Oops, sorry - I though I was back in 2002. ;)

I think that old guy Sam is the leader of a sleeper cell.

[captmojo]

I think that old guy Sam is the leader of a sleeper cell.

Right now that cell is six feet underground and he's probably too busy doing double back flips within, due to his descendants, that run the show now, dropping his policy of selling only that which is "made in the USA". :(

[alteran]

Right now that cell is six feet underground and he's probably too busy doing double back flips within, due to his descendants, that run the show now, dropping his policy of selling only that which is "made in the USA". :(

Amen. His body wasn't even cold when they started undoing that policy. Sad.

Although I think his policy was closer to "sell what's made in USA when you can, all things being equal."

Walmart always had certain flaws, but it was a better place in many ways when Sam was still around. Too bad the apples fell very, very far from the tree.

[throatybeard]

I boycott Walmart because, thank God, there isn't one in the City, and I elect to spend my sales tax in the city and not in the sprawlburbs when possible. I prefer to support the organism and not the parasites; I am not financing the infrastructure of another sprawling sack of ocean-size parking lots and ugly balloon-construction houses with garages nailed to the front.

We do have a Target in the City but don't go to it much. I honestly don't see how Wal-Mart, Target, CostCo, and chain grocery stores are much different from an ethical perspective. Wal-Mart is more irritating to be inside.

I will say this though. You get back in small town America and you've got next to no choice. I was back in Starkville MS this past summer, doing fieldwork. Needing this and that, we ended up in Walmart at least twice a day. And we tried to avoid it. It's killed all but two grocery places in Starky, and anything like a general store. That's to say nothing of the smaller places in MS.

It is very nearly impossible to live in the US and live anything like an ethical life when it comes to consumption, but that's a topic for the PPB.

My main shopping difficulty in Saint Louis is that either Schnucks or Diehrbergs has some sort of deal with Kroger where Kroger doesn't come within about a 45-mile radius of the City. This means that every time I'm out of town, I have to buy about a dozen Kroger house brand jars of peanut butter. No other peanut butter is acceptable to me.

[elvis14]

I'm in Wal-Mart a couple of times a week. It's on my way home. Actually, I could take another route and Harris Teeter would be on my way home but I don't like getting fleeced by HT. Do I love Wal-Mart? Heck no, I often hate the place. I shop there for one simple reason, day in day out when you go in and buy stuff, it's cheaper. Yes you can pick and choose and find a few things cheaper elsewhere sometimes....if that's worth your time and you feel like driving around to different stores. But the bottom line is when I buy Jif or Peter Pan (the only 2 peanut butter brands worth buying :D) and other things that are basics like cereal, you pay less at Wal-Mart. Harris Teeter is the most expensive grocery store around here (RTP) and I only go in there if I need to pick up a couple of quick items and I'm right there at the store. Don't even think about buying a box of cereal at HT. It's very nice in HT but the box of cereal that's $2.50 at Wally World is $3.50 at HT. Grab a bunch of stuff and it adds up. I always have sticker shock when I get to the register at HT (same for Target). If you are spending $100 a week at HT, you'd be spending about $80 a week at Wal-mart. I agree, however, that the customer service at HT is better than that at Walmart but I really don't need customer service to buy a box of cereal, a gallon of milk, Eggo waffles, Diet Coke at $3 per 12 pack, and a box of Zone Perfect bars so I'm OK with that.

The tradeoff is that you're in a Wal-mart and it can and does suck in there. I can, however, enter a Wal-mart, recognize that it sucks in many ways, be surrounded by idiots and still be OK. If fact, at times I'm actually quite amused. It's kinda like driving by a wreck, you just have to look. And if some poor guy was talking on his cell phone and rear ended and ice cream truck with flashing lights and a big clown on top, you'll get amused! Wal-mart is THAT wreck. But make no mistake it's still a wreck. I understand 100% when people say the won't shop Wal-mart because it can suck out your soul. It doesn't suck my soul out so I'm OK but if does that to you, yes pay extra some place else and be happy. I'll be in Walmart with a few extra $$ in my pocket, a stupid grin on my face, talking on my cell phone and looking out for clowns!

[allenmurray]

I agree that HT is more expensive. However, the more concious we are of not buying prepared foods the less difference we see in prices between stores, and the lower our grocery bills are in general.

The difference in price between Wal-mart and HT on a box of Uncle-Ben's-Country-Inn-Style-Chicken-and-Herb-Rice-Mix is enormous from one store to the hext. The difference in price between plain rice (prepared in chicken broth instead of water, with some fresh chopped onion) is minimal from one store to the next, and a whole lot healthier as well (processed/conveneince foods = salt). In general, the less conveneince foods you buy the less the price difference between stores (on produce, meat, and milk/eggs they are all pretty competitive).