Tell me what you really think.
I DESPISE, LOATHE, AND DETEST WAL-MART. Sorry - got a little excited there.
They really do stand for all that is evil in capitalism. That being said, I DO have to go there to buy cat food and litter, because no one else carries the cat food that my sensitive-kidneys cat needs and, since I'm in the aisle anyway, their litter prices are better than anyone else's. Still, I try my best to NOT give them my money - but I hate that they've made it almost unavoidable to do so...
I'm with Mrs. Chili. I do try to avoid Wal-Mart at all costs. I decided long ago to go to the local grocery and pay a little more. I buy what I go for and nothing else. I used to go to Wal-Mart to buy something for a dollar (that was a long time ago) and end up spending fity or a hundred.
Remember when the sign said "You're always next in line"?
WalMart on a Sunday is my idea of Hell on Earth. I wonder if anyone's contacted someone like Amnesty about the inhuman treatment there?
I love Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has done more for the poor than every entitlement program ever implemented. We have two super-centers here, but waiting is not a problem. There are lots of check-out lanes, with cashiers, and self-checkouts. I even try to think up reasons to patronize Wal-Mart.
The Sam's Club here is only about half the size of the one in Bloomington, though.
I don't like the huge stores because it is too hard to find what you want, and on the way to it, you find too much other stuff to spend $$ on.
But I do go there occasionally; maybe once every 4 months. I don't usually have a problem with long lines.
I haven't been to WAL-Mart for a while but the last couple of times I was there the wait wasn't too long. Target, otoh, is always a long long wait.
I go to wally world because we are a 5 person and 1 big dog family living on one income and the 5-10 cents difference in prices adds up!
That said, the customer service is miserable. I live equal distance between 2 superstores (aren't I lucky?) and at one they have the self check out machines that always seem to freeze up and the racist cashiers.
I love my WalMart. It has a McDonald's where I can go sit and drink an endless supply of Diet Coke while I watch people, the cat food is cheaper there (in the sotre, not the McD's...) than anywhere else, and it has self-checkouts. Unless I go shopping on a Sunday, I rarely have to wait.
Our Super Wal Mart has 30 check outs and never have more than 3 open at any given time. Have you ever tried finding an employee in the Hardware/paint department? NO ONE "works" at Wal Mart.They are all hiding behind bags of dog food or under the dry goods counters.I have so many Wal Mart stories I don't even want to begin.
That's probably all to the good. I mean, nobody died there TODAY, did they?
Ok, I admit it, I hate getting in line at Wal-mart. But Wal-mart also has given a really good living to quite a few people that I know. I get tired of Walmart bashing. It's the same old trade-off we' ve always had, and always will have. Capitalism works. You just have to figure out how you want it to work in your life. My small town is getting a super store - almost everyone is excited, I have mixed emotions.
The problem with the self check-out lines at Wal-Mart here (anywhere here, not just Wal-Mart) isn't that they're not open--they are. It's that the people here seem to have done a Rip van Winkle and slept through the last twenty years. They're mystified by barcodes, or how to scan them. It's bizarre. So the one person working the group of six lanes is running back and forth scanning items for customers. Never get in line behind anyone at a self check-out here.
For years, I scorned the WalMart. Then one moved in, and I have come to see dwell in the joy of a camisole for $7.95, and a pair of black dress slacks (that I absolutely love) for $14.95. Saturday, I bought a camel blazer for $9.00.
That said, I never return anything I buy there that breaks/doesn't fit/don't want anymore, because the Returns Checkout is usually an hour wait. And if it wasn't for self-checkout, I'd have shot someone by now.
I dunno... to me, Wal Mart's the living embodiment of "Dawn of the Dead". To Wal Mart shoppers on the internet: Do you really need to slow-walk your entire family in a line abreast and block all the aisles? I never see anyone do that elsewhere.
I too get sick of hearing people bash WallyWorld on an economic basis. To me, that's the only defensible thing about them: That they're a successful business. Other than that, I really cannot stand them. Their cheap products, and their illusion of savings (really, when I price compare products I actually buy with other places (Target, Marsh and Krogers (for food), etc.) most of Wal Mart prices don't come out favorable, believe it or not)... the warehouse mentality of "as much stuff on the shelves as possible, regardless of appearance"...
I've just stopped going there, especially when I noticed the price savings - on the occasions when they were actually there - were just not significant, especially when compared to the price of gas used to get there.
But... I am a price whore. As well as a hypocrite. If they're truly cheaper for a certain product - to the point of making a trip worth it - I'd still go there.
Shame on me. 
The three times that I went in comparison shopping at Wal-mart (actually comparing to individual grocery stores in my area)Wal-mart beat them all, hands down. Granted that's been awhile, but there wasn't one trademarked item (remember grocery item)that wasn't cheaper at Wal-mart. The same held true for store brands. All the way across the board.
What can I say, it really does save me money. For me, that really is the bottom line, and I don't mind admitting it.
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