Before buyng read the lable to make sure what you are buying isn’t coming from China! I do buy some Walmart products. Their plain white paper towels (I think there are 8 rolls in a appack?) are as good of quality as brand name are and fairly cheap.
We shop at our Neighborhood Wal-Mart grocery store. (not a big Wal-mart but one focused on food instead.) Over the past few years, we have noticed prices go up up up on store brand and name brand items. We started buying the Sam’s Choice products because I refuse to buy a can of green beans for $1/can. That’s crazy. Of course, when other stuff is on sale, we buy the other stuff. We haven’t noticed a difference in quality. We buy the Great Value laundry detergent—smells great and seems to work just fine. We buy Great Value vinegar, sugar, canned veggies, and I don’t know what else. I haven’t noticed that seasonings have been replaced with GV stuff. Maybe it’s happened. I don’t know. If Wal-Mart is replacing name brand stuff with the GV stuff, it’s because they’re selling more GV stuff.
The prices at our Wal-Mart started going up when the gas prices skyrocketed. When the minimum wage increase went into effect, prices went up even more. The only products that we have seen decrease in price are milk and butter, and that varies. We watch sales a lot more than ever. The only people who’ve seen wage increases in the past 3 years are the folks on minimum wage, and a lot of good their wage increases did. They now pay more for food. And I’ve noticed that our Wal-Mart grocery has cut back on workers. Government mandated wages have a cost.
HEY FOLKS, THEY CHANGED THE PACKAGING!!
Before, Great Value had different colors and logos on their products. Now the packages are predominantly white. They stand out more and people are noticing.
They already control the fresh produce market which is why we no longer grow fresh produce, we got tired of getting screwed. It was different when Sam was alive, they gave the best price for the best produce, now they want to pay nothing for perfection and they mislead and actually defraud you.
While Wal-Mart is good for non-grocery items...I HATE buying food there and avoid going whenever possible. I find Kroger has better food and deals anyway.
I'm really more upset that Stop & Shop is discontinuing the USA made cat food by Harmony Pet Products. After Purina had the tainted Chinese melamine in it's pet food, I go the extra cost for the cat.
My wife got WalMart house brand hamburger patties once. They were vile, odd texture, weird taste, I wouldn’t feed them to an annoying neighborhood dog. That was the last straw in a series of disappointments with WalMart house brand, they are now banned from the home.
It's the same stuff. When the big peanut butter recall happened a few years back - it turned out Peter Pan and Great Value were one and the same. Walmart's not producing food - they're putting their label on it... So keep track of recalls and you'll know what you're buying - and a MUCH cheaper price.
Since they are the same products made in the same factories in many cases, what’s the diff?
Krogers, Food Lion, Publix, etc. simply will NOT even try to be competive with Walmart. They can buy their stock often just as cheap as Walmart and pass the savings along. But nooo, they’d rather lose the business, and the items go out of date, sitting on the shelf.
I say “Why Not”
WalMart and ALDI can have at each other. The consumer benifets from it with lower prices.
Walmart food products are without much taste. The only exceptions are Walmart’s cheesecakes and their cheese bread. Both are delicious.
I’ve tried their cookies, other breads, etc., and the taste is just not there. They need to improve greatly.
Most of “their” brands suck. Cereals, pasta sauces, preserves, and food additives...tried them all, they are the text book definition of “sucky”.
“Great Value” = made in China?
I prefer they’re Chinese, “Yummy” brand.
You eat, yumyum, tastes good.
This move is all about Walmart becoming “the brand”.
Never buy generic sweet pickle relish.
I shop at Wally World for most, but not all, of my groceries. Some of their items are less expensive for the same (brand name) item, but some are not. Buyers need to know the prices at the local markets and spend accordingly.
Some of the "Great Value" products are excellent, some are inferior. If the price differential is great enough I'll try it. If not I stick w/ what I know works. If I can't get exactly what I want there I pick it up with my second stop at a local supermarket chain store.
A few examples:
All of the Perdue chicken at my Walmart (except the fillets) is injected with "chicken broth" (salt water). I would rather not pay ~$2.50 per pound for water, and boost my sodium intake at the same time. I get all of my chicken at a local chain.
The same goes for beef - I have yet to try a piece of beef from Walmart that tasted good. I just don't bother anymore.
The GV oatmeal is as good as the local store brand, and around $1 less expensive. Neither are as good as Quaker, but I don't care if the flattened oat grain is pristine and oval or not. The taste is the same.
The "Malt-o-meal" bags of frosted shreadded wheat are superior, IMO, to the brand name cereal and drastically less expensive.
Nearly all of the brand name cereals at Walmart are $.50 or greater less costly than our local market.
Walmart tracks ALL of this stuff. If you don't get what you want complain to the store, or online. They will either listen and give you what you want or they will not. Then you will either spend your money there or somewhere else. If many people agree with you and start spending too much of their money somewhere else Walmarts grocery sales will drop and they will loose money, etc. etc.
It isn't a particularly complicated formula, folks, and it has worked for a very long time. If Walmart was not good at it they would not be the juggernaut they are. Just shop accordingly.
For the record, I scrupulously avoid the Pepperidge Farm breads baked and painted w/ lead in China.