Let us not forget the online mall here people.. You can get the same prices at Walmart by shopping online at many sites, i.e. Amazon.

I myself have no problem with Walmart. It is business with me. If I can buy something I want there cheaper than elsewhere, well I buy it. Every company out there is out for the exact same thing: Money. Good and bad do not enter the equation with me.

I don't buy the argument that they run mom and pop stores out of business as a valid one. If those mom & pop's could charge less for their merchandise to beat the competition, they would. It is pure business and nothing else.

Anyway, Lowes and Home Depot seem to be putting a hurtin on them lately because I know my wife has been going to them over Walmart more and more and I see more of their stores going up than Walmarts, but it is just my anecdotal evidence.

We have several 24-hour grocery stores here - other than Wally world.

It's not bad enough trying to find decent employees to work the graveyard shift - but it seems that the management at that time of night is one that could use more training as well.

Accepting EBT cards can be tricky with all the factors involved and many clerks are not trained well enough - they depend on electronics too much - they can't think for themselves to help themselves when the pressure is on. With shoppers that don't know what they are doing and a long line of impatient customers - there is pressure.

It's nice to shop at that time - not many shoppers in the store. The downside of it - meat, deli, specialty cheese, departements - are not well stocked until the following morning. Ditto with staples and sale items that have been wiped off the shelf.

To see someone with a $300 order at that time of night - where the heck was security. How do they know that they weren't up to no good.

And I blame the manager for not opening a second register to help relieve the pressure. I hope he is the one that had to put back the cart of groceries.

Also - with an order that large at that time of night - the manager should have been right there watching.

These poor clerks all have thankless jobs - they hear all the crap from the customers. the aisles are not wide enough for 2 shopping carts to pass; the meat is not wrapped properly; all the eggs are broken; the milk is out of date; the produce is rotten; there's no one on the floor to help them; they can find this or that; this is out of stock; the music is too loud; the coupons are out of date so they put things back - not easy. The store clerk is stuck behind the register and is the first target to get it.

Everyone should have to work behind the counter for at least a month to experience all the "fun" it is. They would have more respect for the store clerks.

Kudos to you for having patience!

>Everyone should have to work behind the counter for at least a month to experience all the "fun" it is. They would have more respect for the store clerks.<

I've worked behind that counter, Mama, for considerably more than a month. And I have zero, nada, no respect for clerks who refuse to learn their jobs---nor for managers who don't teach them. All of which describes Walmart's policies.

I feel very strongly that if Sam Walton came back from the grave today there would be some serious changes made. Today's Walmart is not the chain he started!

>If those mom & pop's could charge less for their merchandise to beat the competition, they would. It is pure business and nothing else.<

The problem is, Jafo, that today's consumer is almost strictly a price shopper. Quality doesn't enter into it. You said it yourself: "Good and bad do not enter the equation with me."


If Walmart has, say, a T-shirt it's selling for $1.98, and the Mom & Pop or specialty store has a T-shirt for $2.20, I say, go for the WalMart. But when the Walmart shirt is a buck ninety eight, and the specialty shirt is $5, there's a reason for it.

Despite the ads, and the bouncing smiley face, and the signs all over the place, there are no bargains at Walmart. Just cheap goods---which is not the same thing.

On the other hand, small stores who know what their business is have no trouble competing. They know that their business isn't groceries; or sporting goods; or clothing. Their business is service. That's the one thing Walmart cannot supply at any price.

There are some of us, still, however, who insist on value for our money, and sales clerks who know something about the product they're selling, and check-out people who know how to put stuff in the bags. Those of us who feel that way eschew Walmart and its kind.

By Good and Bad, I was referring to Good and Evil. Whether they are nice people or not doesn't concern me much, nor does it concern them what I am like.

I do agree that if I get good service somewhere, I will favor that place over somewhere else, providing I am not paying an arm and a leg for it.

"And I blame the manager for not opening a second register to help relieve the pressure."

Mama, that's no doubt because you are used to real stores, where the title "manager" has meaning.

Do you know how it works at Walmart? Based on a list of criterium (such as past history of Tuesdays, and weather conditions, etc.) a computer decides 1. how many employees will be called in to work, and 2. how many hours (and when) they get to work that day.

The store manager---the man you would think is in charge---has no authority to change any of that. Doesn't matter that conditions have changed, and more (or fewer) "associates" are needed. Only the computer decides.

And least you think this only applies to the clerks and stockboys, even middle management is paid on an hourly basis, and works when the computer says so. The store manager is the only salaried employee in the place.

That, alone, should tell you something.

"To see someone with a $300 order at that time of night - where the heck was security. How do they know that they weren't up to no good."

Excuse me? This needs explaining. What does the time of day I shop have to do with my honesty and integrity?