Why do we as a country still shop at Wal-Mart?

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I avoid Walmart at all costs if at all possible. I can't even remember the last time I was IN Walmart
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....(sometime last month and it was because the Pharmacy in my grocery store did'nt have something I needed). Got in, got out.....got on my way.

I have to say quite a number of people who work there (in our area) are very rude and unprofessional. So you can bet that whenever I go into Walmart I'm in there for a specific thing....don't like to browse or window shop either. It's not a Super Walmart...and even if it were I would'nt buy my groceries there...I have to say I'm very picky with groceries and won't buy the generic brands unless they're tried and true. Been there done that and have been quite dissappointed.

Speaking of American made...we are growing our own this year, taking a big step and doing up a garden for this specific purpose. Not many things, but veggies such as tomatoes, onions, squash, peppers, etc....every little bit helps. And for my dogs, I have been cooking for them since the dog food scare a year ago. That based with a good brand dog food kibble and the girls are pretty well set. Which btw Canidae just went up $6.00 a bag!!!
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And my pet food supplier says it's due to gas prices....
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So as long as the good Lord lets me I will continue on as I am.....

Just a little "aside" here. I am a crafter and have noticed that people buying things hand made/American made are getting pretty picky. They'd much rather go to the farmer's market where you can get things mass-produced from China and costing only a dollar than hand crafted here in the US.
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Oh and I love the comments...."Oh...so and so....we can go to the farmers market and get something similar to what she's selling for way less". Sad really. Ok...sorry for the long post, but this does bug me.
 
Yes, do know some Toyota's are made in the USA. DH old Echo was made in Japan,, my Van was made in the US.
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But the Tech is so much better in the Japanese cars.

Scary to think the American car makers think so little of us...they keep making unreliable cars.
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Or how they lie...spouting " our Trucks are made in the USA". However.. many models of Chevy are made in..... Mexico!
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Sterling.. tell me about people wanting crafts or Art..but do not want to pay a fair price for it...because they can get the cheaper mass made stuff from China for less. I do not live in China.. I live here and spend..hours and months on my Art. Can't afford to give it away for nothing. Sigh ~~

Don't see anything getting any better soon. As long as the main masses..that have no clue what is going on......keep buying like they do, nothing is going to change.

If I had the money for some of those new solar panels that work in my kind of clime and a wind generator that can handle the high gusty winds.. I would get off the grid in a heart beat. I know... bit of a different subject.

Could do the Veggie and Fruits.. Beef from that Family,,, could stay local for that kind of stuff.

But for a lot of things...and I have looked.. is hard to find Made in America.. everyday items and clothing.
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China is now where most products can be made the cheapest for the The Companies.

When will will learn China makes quantity not quality

Who can beat the prices?

Example my husbands job is at stake again, (been there now 17 years.) the last automotive job he was there 13 years, and their doors closed after 75 years. You are never secure anymore.

Now this company has built a foundry over in China and Hungry, has a foundry down in Georgia which did not make it. and has closed a couple of places in Ontario. (NO RAISE FOR 5 YEARS) and guess what, want the workers to take a $4.00 cut and cut in benefits.

I hate hearing, oh be thankful he has a JOB.!!!!!

OK they take the cut and in a few more years still closes! now what are we going to be living off, now that our unemployment has been cut even more.

He usually needs to work 50 hours now to make our bills...

No more overtime right now, because of their contract coming up
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I have just got to the point you cannot fight them, when one door closes, we pray another door will open.
 
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nootka said:
Is it well-made enough to justify betraying my country/neighbors.Soldiers are dying for our freedoms, and we are selling them to China, at an alarming rate.

China will use the money to turn around and take them away from us.

Liz
Unfortunately, most of the soldiers I've talked to think Walmart is great!
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Like me, when you are YOUNG and BROKE and looking at an economic recession and unbelievable housing prices and wondering how on earth you're ever going to maintain a family and buy land and keep your horses, you've got to cut corners somewhere. For me it's going wherever things are cheapest. Period. Yes, the store is depressing and crowded and ugly and the merchandise is junk. I go there maybe six times a year and then it's for very specific supplies like crates for making jumps or a folding table for the mini shows or other brand-name items I know are the same as I could purchase elsewhere for half the price. I don't buy food there (yuck!) nor clothing for the most part, just those plastic items I need and don't feel like paying more for. The reason I don't have much money left over for those sorts of necessities is because I'm busy spending so much of my income on hand-made American harnesses, horse feed, and British-designed made-in-America carts!
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So I don't feel as guilty as I might.

It's a vicious circle...Walmart-type corporations pay poverty level wages so employees and their families can only afford to shop at poverty-level stores which in turn make enough money to stay in business. But the fact is that many people in American cannot AFFORD to spend their dollars at a "better class" of establishment just to make a statement. Frankly we feel like no one will hear it anyway and it's just that many fewer dollars available to put in the gas tank so we can get to work.

Crabby-Chicken said:
If our country would stand up, fund more than 10% to our public schools, making us beg for the rest, stop making it near impossible for a middle class child to get an education so that they can keep up and make enough money to keep our country going. But no,. that doesn't keep enough desperate kids around that feel like they HAVE to join the military and go fight for MORE companies to make even larger profits over seas. I was at Wal Mart the other day,,, I was going to buy a water bottle,,, the thing was so misshapen it didn't even sit on the shelf without wobbling. It was made in the USA. THAT is not going to help us in the global market if we make crap, but higher priced crap than other countries make.
Here here on both points! My ex spent thousands going to college to become an electrical engineer with promises of big jobs right out of school but when after TWO YEARS no one would hire him but Fred Meyer's (at minimum wage, I might add) he joined the Army. This was a 25 year old bright, healthy, college-educated white male. Guess what- now he's got a blown knee, ruined shoulder, two bad ankles, and they shipped him off for his first tour of duty in Iraq yesterday at 29 years old despite his Army-induced disabilities. The only good news is at least they paid off his student loans while they were busy permanently disabling him.
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I too would like to buy American-made items theoretically but frankly many of them are every bit as bad as foreign-made items and it's a waste of my money. I spend an awful lot of time going
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and borrowing Kody's blinders just to try and stay sane in this world. I think honestly the horses are my escape. I spend hundreds on them and never blink but freak out at $30 for a pair of jeans or $40 for a haircut.
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I try to buy experiences as much as possible and limit my items to the ones necessary to make those experiences happen.

Leia
 
I
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Fred Meyers! Where else can you spend fifty bucks or more on a half bag of groceries? It sure helps you to be selective!
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I not only try to buy American and local, but natural and organic as well. I drive a '96 JEEP (American made, easy on gas and able to tow my pony if needed). I will soon be buying no flat tires for my bike so I can make more trips that way.

HOW MUCH STUFF DO YOU REALLY NEED?!
 
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I just want to say here in Western Wisconsin and Eastern Minnesota there are 3 Walmarts that I shop at. They are beautiful, very clean, well lighted stores. I love Walmart. MOST of the people are very nice, friendly and helpful. If any of the stores here were like you describe I would not enjoy shopping at them. They have very fresh meat and fruits and vegetables. They say the average Walmart shopper saves roughly $2500.00 a year and I believe it. It is the one stop shopping that has me hooked. I don't like hopping from store to store, costs more to keep starting your car and going on short stops than you save. Just MHO.
 
I just want to say here in Western Wisconsin and Eastern Minnesota there are 3 Walmarts that I shop at. They are beautiful, very clean, well lighted stores. I love Walmart. MOST of the people are very nice, friendly and helpful. If any of the stores here were like you describe I would not enjoy shopping at them. They have very fresh meat and fruits and vegetables. They say the average Walmart shopper saves roughly $2500.00 a year and I believe it. It is the one stop shopping that has me hooked. I don't like hopping from store to store, costs more to keep starting your car and going on short stops than you save. Just MHO.
I completely agree with you. I shop at wal-mart on average maybe two times a week. Call me young and selfish as much as you want. All of our walmarts are clean and i have never been treated wrongly. Prices are great, the quality is great. Food section is nice and full of fresh foods, clothing is actually pretty good for a department store. I can go buy grocerys, clothes, makeup ext, and little extra things like music and dvd and get my photos developed all in one stop! OR i guess i could put $30 in my car and drive store to store to store and make getting things done a all day chore, i would personally like to avoid that. Walmart is actually the only store i enjoy shopping at. They offer "designer" brands of perfumes ext much cheaper then what you would pay at a mall.

Kmart, now THAT is the store that worrys me. We have two kmarts that i have shopped at and the selection is HORRIABLE and they are nasty.

One of my best friends from high school works at walmart and she enjoys her job and gets paid "decent" but it also allows her to do college.
 
HOW MUCH STUFF DO YOU REALLY NEED?!
Personally, I think mininik has hit on a big problem with America as a whole.

We are spoiled, greedy and wasteful.

I am sure that myself included, we could learn a lot from smaller nations who exist more efficiently. Just because we HAVE the resources, doesn't mean we should use them all right now.

I know people who have to go out and buy all new decorations for EVERY holiday. They don't think to save the nicer ones, or buy nice ones to begin with and take care of them, or keep it simple and use easily available items in the beginning.

Then again, there are others I know that buy several different outfits at a time, wear them a time or two, then either ruin them because they can't care for them, or are too lazy to fix them up right (stain removal, zipper repair, etc.) and toss them in the trash.

Tsk, tsk.

Kmart and Wal-Mart are cut from the same cloth. Loads and loads of stuff we don't need, all served up around great prices on things we DO want and need. As long as you're in there getting the stuff you know you need and want, you will likely pick up a lot of the other stuff as well.

The sad thing is that they use their clout to force long-standing companies out of business, or to go against their business practices that made them a decent company to begin with. They disrespect workers, and they pollute the environment. A fine for them is just like a "tax" it is considered a cost of doing business.

They are just TOO BIG, IMO, for the good of our country.

I see too much of our treasured way of life being trod upon as the masses hurry to the sales. Who really needs all those trashy plastic cups and placemats, tablecloths and such just because it's Spring/Summer?

Use the ones you have, or keep a nice set of Corelle you bought at a thrift store. LIghtweight, re-usable and easily replaced if one breaks. I have a set I've had since I was married in 1988.

Then again, I also have the same Winter coat I've had since 1998, given to me from the boat owner that Martin worked on at the time.

It's interesting to see everyone's point of view. If you look at the walmartwatch.com website, you'll see a lot of why Wal-Mart is a bad idea, and it's probably a good idea to limit spending and be wary, and if there's not one in your town, do all you can to make sure it doesn't happen.

Liz
 
Kmart and Wal-Mart are cut from the same cloth. Loads and loads of stuff we don't need, all served up around great prices on things we DO want and need. As long as you're in there getting the stuff you know you need and want, you will likely pick up a lot of the other stuff as well.

Liz
Ummmm that is not just the hope of K-Mart or Wal-Mart. That is the hope and what all stores push for be it a department store that sells clothes or any grocery store
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However please don't feel I am downplaying your feelings and passion on the issue.

I will take the time to go and read the site you posted.
 
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Yes, I know it is the plan of all stores that sell anything, it's just the monopoly that Wal-Mart will have if we don't force ourselves to find other options, and look seriously at our spending habits.

If they can control the market, it's not healthy for any of us.

I would never imagine that Wal-Mart and K-Mart are the "only" baddies, it's just that Wal-Mart happens to be the biggest, and right now the baddest to my knowledge.

Liz
 
So funny as I had posted pretty much the same thing as you Liz on another forum about a month ago. I cant stand walmart and have hated them ever since they first started in small towns pushing out all the mom and pop stores

Our walmart is the pitts. The produce is horrible. Its dirty, cluttered ughh.

I also posted about the lawsuit where Walmart was suing an injured worker and was really taken to task over it. Heres a link. They finally dropped the suit against her under pressure. Walmart is self insured so the retorts that they "had" to sue her to comply with their ins are false. Walmart is their own ins company

walmart

Then there are all the lawsuits over the sandals from china they kept selling even after numerous injuries were reported. The list goes on and on
 
Glad you see inside the machine that is Wal-Mart, kaykay...

it might look slick and shiny in some places, but it's eating people alive.

The videos they post from their conventions and such are just revolting.

I've known people that have worked there and it is degrading.

Our Wal-Marts (only ever have been in the Longview, Wa, the St. Helens and a few Portland area ones) are just filthy and full of the lower ranks of human civilization (including me on those days, I'm sure).

The workers had dirty uniforms and the floors were filthy, things were in disarray and the cold grease from the McDonald's inside just coagulates in the air. Ugh.

Our local Fred Meyer's USED TO BE locally owned. They were started by Fred G. Meyer, who passed away some time ago. My dad used to work for the chain, which was pretty much only in the Northwest. They were a good one stop shopping store. Now they are owned by Kroger, and I don't like a lot of the changes. I have switched to Safeway where I can, but I try to split it for the best price between the two, or use our one and only locally owned grocery store, Main St. Market in Warrenton.

I can't wait for our Sunday Market so that I can begin buying produce from our local farmers!!!

I've thought that we should start growing some of our own food, too, though I am so inept at that...with the price of fuel, what will we do if it gets too expensive to buy the staples we need (sure ain't talking about chicken mcnuggets, here)?

Luckily, we could get fish and seafood pretty easily as long as my husband's working or someone he knows is working.

But, that is all off-topic. I urge anyone and everyone to take a careful look at what you spend at Wal-Mart, and please do go in there with the list of things you have to buy there, but hurry back out and explore alternatives.

For the record, I shop very little on eBay except for rare items and antique items that are not part of any new retail chain. I do not shop with anyone other than my local feed and pet stores for my horses and pets. I rarely buy clothing online, though I do occasionally buy specialty things and I DO shop Hobby Horse for horse show clothing once in a while. I do think the internet has also changed the economy in many ways, but I don't want to see it become the only option.

Our local feed/farm supply dealer is likely going to be run out of business in some aspects by a new Home Depot going in nearby. The price they get their cattle panels for is $2 ea. more than what the same supplier sells them to Home Depot for. That means that Home Depot sells them for less than he can afford to even carry them. I find that tragic. I would gladly spend that extra $2 to keep this long-standing local family in business and keep them here.

I know not everyone feels the same, but I will do what I can, where I can, even though I know it is an eyedropper in the ocean.

I hope to get a few hanging baskets for Mother's Day, but I will not buy them anywhere except a local nursery. There are two or three great ones to choose from, here. I could buy them at Fred Meyer's, but I don't know who runs their nurseries, and likely it's nowhere near here. Instead, I go to Brim's which is just a few miles from here (the mother of the guy I mentioned about the cattle panels, she is part oft he family business, she does the plants and trees/gardening stuff), or Valley Nursery just outside of Astoria. For $30, I'll get the hugest baskets that will flower all Summer. Not all that much more than the ones coming from Freddy's, and certainly prettier. Think about where you spend your money...where it goes, and what you get for that money...where it comes from.

Liz
 
See, here our WalMart is nothing like Liz describes. We have a new big store--it doesn't have a produce or meat section, but compared to the old store we had up until 3 years ago, this one is big. It's a brand new building, very clean, staff are clean, friendly and well groomed. A few are as slow as molasses & absolutely hopeless at ringing up a large amount of canned cat food correctly--I've learned which ones to avoid!--On a busy day the store seems crowded because they always have displays along the center of the main aisles, and then between those center displays they stack boxes of stock that hasn't been unpacked yet--in that respect it is cluttered. The building itself is located in our city's busist retail center--a big bunch of box stores. At night the parking lots could be better lit, but that is true of the entire complex, it's not just a WalMart problem.

I know someone--a government employee in the same department as me, but a different office--who works part time as a greeter in the WalMart in his town, and he apparently loves the job.

I have to say I have always been well treated by Wal Mart customer service the few times I've had to return something.
 
I was thinking about this some more (as i sit here sleep deprived on mare stare)

I remember living in a small town in illinois with a locally owned grocery store that i adored. everyone knew my name and my kids. the meat cutter knew just how I liked our steaks and chops cut and even had great cooking tips. Then about 20 miles away in the next town walmart came in. The store owner was okay though because it was just a walmart. Then a couple years later they announced it would be remodeled to become a super walmart. I saw the resignation in the owners eyes. He hung in there as long as he could but they closed 2 years later. It was so sad. I knew then an era was over.

Another small town I lived in (yep ive lived a lot of places) started a huge advertising campaign to BUY LOCAL. it was effective. I still try to buy from my local merchants when possible but they are so disappearing.
 
The Walmarts here are not nice, nor are the people running it...or shopping in it for that matter.

For Soldiers loving Walmart.... hate to say this.. but in the 21 years Hubby was in the Navy and all the years since. Everyone we know in the mliltary Navy/Airforce, will go 3 to 4 hours one way if they have to, to shop at the Military base and stock up for 6 months or a year.

They don't like Walmart. But maybe we run in different circles.

What is nice about the Military base.. all clothing.. Military issue..is made in the USA and not badly made. But that doesn't help those not in the military.

Changing gears...

Liz.. Have you looked into a Local Organic food co-op? My Parents joined one.. pre pay for the Veggies and Fruit and you get a set amount every week. Is working out really good for them.

Here is one of the many directories you can look at.

http://www.tilth.org/Resources/directory/index.html

You are also in an area "Azure Standard" goes to. You can either ask to see if there are any open drop points in your area.. or buy $400.00 of food.. which is really easy..and they will bring it to your door in one of their Semi's.

http://www.azurestandard.com/

Lately I have been buying Organic Shirts.. really like them. Cotton grown in the USA.. non GMO and all that..and made in the US.
 
When we were putting up horse fence and we saw the panels advertised cheaper at Home Depot, we went to the local farm store and they matched the price.

We do support our local stores and customer service is alive and well in these small town businesses!
 
HOW MUCH STUFF DO YOU REALLY NEED?!
Kidding some, but that's kind of like asking how much money do you want to earn? For me, no matter how much it is, "more" is always the answer
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But, then, it's my job to make money and in more ways than one
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I'm a business owner and I have been for over a decade. It's easy to empathize with the business owners who have been pushed out of the market by Walmart but the flip side is I know how many hoops I have gone through, and continue to evolve, so that my firm stays viable. I don't know the answer for a merchant but I know I "could have" let the big name brand brokerage houses run me out (or run a branch office for them if I really wanted to hate my job), or I can make myself a niche and that's what I've done.

It's a free market. Free markets work. Competition, even when we're talking something as big as Walmart, is good for the consumer.
 
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PLEASE no offense Liz, but you obviously have more money to spend than we in the poor midwest (ie Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa etc) that I and a lot of others have to spend at our nice clean, friendly, well run Walmarts. Moving is not an option. I have to live on $1500.00 a month. Very, very hard. One reason I had to give up my horses. I get by and am not complaining but I HAVE to shop where I get it the cheapest.
 
I just dont see where Walmart encourages competition. They come in and undercut every store around them until they go under and then gradually bring the prices back up.

I still remember when airlines and utilities were split up for being monopolies. Walmart is fast on its way to becoming a monopoly imo.

It is hard to shop other places especially if you live in rural areas. And gas prices dont help that either. Its such a hard spot to be in
 
What about Dollar stores, how much product is made in the USA?

I have seen 3 farmers markets spring up in the last 2 years just in my area. With all the food recalls people want to buy fresh AND LOCAL. With the price of gas is it cheaper to buy from your neighbor or drive 30 miles to the nearest Walmart? Just a thought.
 

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