“I think the reason Walmart started selling groceries was so they could tap into the huge welfare market.”
I don’t think so; I believe it was just a brilliant concept of one-stop shopping (where you basically fit a whole mall into a large store). Supermarkets were the last places on “Main Street” that Wal-Mart hadn’t eliminated yet.
BTW, their prices on groceries are great; shopping there stinks, but is worthwhile from a financial standpoint. Just go early, while the gibsmedats are sleeping.
In Iowa, WalMart is generally not competitive on most groceries.