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
If memory serves, there were a few Wegman's in PA. Some yrs ago that chain was written up in WSJ as the best supermarket chain in the country for consumer ambience, at least in its larger stores.
I don't like their prices at all, but I can always get exactly what I want at Publix....and I know where they keep it. The last couple years they've had an in-house sushi chef in the meat dept. with fresh goodies.
They also have an outstanding produce dept.....and I think I just talked myself into heading over there later this afternoon to get the ingredients for a major salad.
Shopping in a Wal-Mart in Northwest Arkansas (home of Wal-Mart) is like being in a third world country.