Don't bet your butt on it. I worked for Walmart for 4 years and was assistant department manager to the local Electronics department in our supercenter. That's a 3 plust million a year department. From personal experience, they staff to a skeleton crew level at all times. When I worked there, The staffing was so deplorable that the manager actually demanded one of the department people to walk around the store continually to make it look like there was someone there. I'm not kidding. The guy's job was threatened on the spot if he failed to do so. I was there when it happened and I could give the guy's name and the now ex-manager's name. I'd note he isn't an ex manager for that practice...
He was demoted and sent to classes on personal communications or sum such - basically exiled to assistant manager position in a smaller store. He then quit. I went in there to get groceries on a busy night last week and stood in line for 20 minutes waiting on a price check on a pair of boots because although they have thirty-some checkouts, they only had about 5 of them staffed and no help on the floor. If you can find help at a Walmart, in my experience both shopping and working there, it happens by accident or after a long wait. You have to walk a mile across the building to get to anything and by the time you get taken care of, you could have gone elsewhere and been home for half an hour before you get through the lines.
When I was there my last christmas, we had lines so long in the store waiting to get any help at all that many people left hundreds - even thousands of dollars in merchandise sitting in Carts and walked out. With all staff on registers, only half the registers in the store were open and running and there was no one to help anyone out in the store getting merchandise off high counters and such. And that's with managers helping run the checkouts on a friday night.
Walmart is a joke.
But, many people would rather stand around for half an hour to save $.30.
On a very busy day they will have half their check-out stations working.
Two of the past managers (both had moved from here) at Walmart committed suicide.
What I love (NOT) most about Walmart is the story on Paul Harvey about the man who left his truck to have the oil changed while he shopped. When he went to get his truck, a Walmart employee leaving work had stolen and wrecked the truck. Walmart tried to get the man to file on his own insurance. They wanted to accept no responsibility for any of it.
As for groceries costing 25% of a salary fifty years ago, has as much or more to do with improved farming. IF it's an improvement. Fifty years ago, what you bought in a grocery store today was picked yesterday. Today what you buy was picked before it ripened a month ago.
Turnip greens. Fifty years ago you got greens with turnips. Today you buy greens without turnips and buy the turnips separately. Cans contained more, were larger. A pound of coffee was 16 ounces. Today a "pound" is 13 ounces. A "pound" of bacon is 12 ounces. And it costs more than 16 ounces cost. So I think you don't know what you're talking about, CT.
You aren't getting more for less but are actually getting less for more and you just haven't figured it out.