John / Billybob
Wallyworld=Chinaworld.
I like Wal-Mart, but their prices aren't always the lowest. I usually have to shop at three different stores to get the products I want.
Um, its Peyton, not Payton.
Thanks for posting this Congressman Billybob and a pingaroo to my friend Gabz.
I don't really like Wal*Mart just because I don't like downscale, dull, mainstream type places.
Still, for the better part of a year i've shopped at Wal*Mart because the local grocery chain, Giant Eagle, was no better.
Then Giant Eagle came out with its Market District stores, which are its slightly clueless attempt to attract the upscale shopper.
Now I drive 15 miles each way to go to Market District because it sells the stuff I want, even though there is a Wal*Mart within a few miles of me.
This shows a couple of interesting things:
First, if you're inferior to Wal*Mart in every way, people will go to Wal*Mart -- even people who really don't like the place.
Second, it IS possible to compete with Wal*Mart if you know what people really need, even if you charge higher prices for it.
Incidentally, Giant Eagle is a union shop that pays minimum wage. I think they will have to pay Market District employees more in the end, since they need people who actually understand what they are selling to make the shopping experience good and upsell people to the more expensive products.
A typical minimum wage Giant Eagle employee does not have the skill to do this. I have noticed Market District has a 50/50 split of employees who "get it" and those who don't.
Whole Foods still regins supreme in that department, but it's more than 30 miles away from me. I'm very glad I have Market District as a decent compromise alternative.
Of course Publix in Florida still blows away any Giant Eagle. Pennsylvania is just not a very competitive market, and it shows. Wal*Mart prospers, an does a lot of good, by setting up in states where nobody really cares about customer service.
D
Good post.
My WW is about 5 minutes away. I have pretty much quit driving "into town".
Why bother?
My family first came to Bentonville in 1835. I was an Army brat, so I didn't grow up there, but did return for vacations and would invariably head to Sam Walton's store on the square for licorice and the like. Back then, Bentonville was a dusty little town that had seen its best days in the Twenties when my dad was growing up. Sam didn't show up until after the war, but the place hasn't been the same since. The remarkable economic boom that has transformed Northwest Arkansas can be largely attributed to the economic activity that Walmart brought to bear.
Something I rarely see mentioned but to me is significant is the fact that Wal-Mart employs what many might consider unemployable, the physically and mentally handicapped, they are the cart chasers, stockers, floor cleaners and other such jobs. People who might otherwise be another drain on the social services and tax payers.
Wal-Mart may not have pioneered this policy but they sure hire their share or more.
Walmart is a religion for some people.
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I hear it makes good mulch too.
I wish we had a Super closer by. We have to drive a whole 25 miles or so to Gilroy.. within 10 miles or so are a few Costcos. ;-)
Shopping there allows me to piss off people in this college town that I can't stand. So, that's why I shop there.
bttt
BUMP
untill 2004 we han ONE real grocery store in the whole county so people had to drive 20-30 miles to shop for anything. in 2004 we got a SuperWally and if they only have 1000(a very modest number)customers a day, 365 days a year, that translates into going on 1,000,000 gals of gas saved a year let alone any number of accidents avoided.
My first thought was the Griswold vacation spot. My next thought was the Delta Force training complex. I wish people would use proper names instead of cutesy nicknames, especially if the cutesy nickname is borrowed from something else.
After reading that, I have an urge to go shopping at Walmart.
I haven't been there for over a month, and my project/wish list has been growing. They have some 100w solar panels on sale too...
That means a trip to Wally-World First, we buy an Atlanta Journal-Constitution for its coupons,