I've seen some of that, @Ike Willis. I was going to buy a shotgun from a Walmart in Bangor but all of their guns were not only in a locked case behind the counter, but there was so much space between the customer area and the guns that you barely even see them. In order to look at a gun, I would have to ask the clerk to hand me one at a time, and I couldn't even see them well enough to know which to ask for. So I left that store and stopped at another Walmart that had them, still in a locked case, obviously, but where customers could at least look at them closely enough to know which to ask for. The same gun costs more than fifty dollars more at a gun store. Unlike some chains, Walmart stores are not all alike. As for food, I never think of Walmart in terms of being a grocery store because they don't carry much food worth buying. Their produce section is such that whether I buy an orange, a tangerine or a lemon, they all taste the same - bland. I do go there for other stuff, though.
I just read that Walmart is about to shut down hundreds of stores around the world, firing 10,000 employees in the United States and about 16,000 in other countries. They say that sales went down past December despite their good offers, but probably they haven't realized yet that is the bad service what contributes to scare people away.
The bulk of those closed were WalMart Express locations. These are sorta like convenience stores. WalMart has never been known for service. They have succeeded due to being big, one-stop-shop stores. A busy society can make one stop for groceries, clothes, hardware, etc. We used to look at WalMart for price. They now aren't any less expensive than other retail venues... or Amazon, etc. As the "big bully of retail" they thought their name alone would allow the smaller locations to push all competitors out business. Well, a lot of the smaller brick and mortar locations actually still know the definition of service. WalMart thought their age-old business model of low pay, who cares if they know their product, let's let our tats and piercings show who we are "customer service" employees would succeed in the smaller locations. Well... for one-off shopping people remained loyal to their local small business. Does anyone remember when Sam Walton bragged about all the product in "his" WalMart stores being made in the U.S.??!!??
Now I know why you hate Walmart. My gosh you really got to be on your toes when shopping at Walmart. I bus so I don't buy any kind of tires and after reading your story I'm not going to Walmart for tires!
Saw this article on Business Insider... Typical Walmart Shopper: Walmart's typical shopper in the US is a white woman between 55 and 64 years old, who is married and living in the suburbs of the Southeast. She typically has an undergraduate degree and earns about $80,000 per year. She visits Walmart at least once per week - about 63 trips per year - and picks up 13 products for a total cost of about $54 per trip. 13.5% of her spending takes place at Walmart, while she spends about 11% at Amazon. Her primary shopping categories in-store are groceries, including chicken, fruit, snacks and sweets, but she also gets a lot of fast food. Her favorite five brands at Walmart are Turkey Knob, Cheetos, Betty Crocker, Dole, and Tyson. Read the original article on Business Insider
If the typical Walmart customer really makes $80k living in the southeast, that sure dispels a lot of myths. And I find the age range to be interesting. They ain't shopping for a family at that age. They're shopping for themselves and perhaps their husbands...but the kids are gone. Maybe that's representative of regional demographics and not a "families shop elsewhere" thing. I agree with the observation that a lot of fast food is being bought. My Walmart's grocery department did a massive reorganization several years ago, and a friend pointed out the selection of cooking staples had been drastically reduced to make room for more ready-to-eat stuff. That's a demand-pull response. Walmart's not forcing the stuff on people. I've seen shopping carts full of stuff that will never see a cutting board. It's depressing. I shop there once or twice a week. If a decent grocery store came here, Walmart would lose a larger chunk of my business than it already has. I've been making a weekly 50 mile round trip to Charlottesville the past year or so to buy decent produce and meats. I got tired of dingy wilted lettuce.
Yesterday i went to Win-co to pick up a few items. I was in the area and least it was not Walmart. Normally we buy meats on sale at Tom Thumb, especially chuck roast on sale low as $2.77 a lb. Win-co had roasts out in a center aisle container. $3.98 a lb.Put two in cart and moseyed on over to the meat counter. Woo, more chuck roasts looking good- er what ? Ok that is not bad, and they are excellent looking piece of meat. I will not feel the need to wait on sale at TT. Put two in cart and moseyed on over to the meat counter. Woo, more chuck roasts looking good- er what ? $6.98 a lb. Um, this is the very same cuts of meat. A very young guy was stocking more me next to me. Why the difference in price for the same cut of meat? The lower priced one is about to go on sale, the others have not been marked down yet. You must pat attention to prices. Smh, no wonder it takes so long to buy grocery anymore. I was happy with the two I had, decided to go home. Stopped and got mail. Oh look TT ad. Chuck roasts on sale @2.77 a lb . Rats !
Stock up on meats. Biden is declaring war on the meat industry, blaming the effect of inflation on "that greedy industry," although prices on everything went up after Biden took office. The Left wants us to eat less meat, so this is how they're gonna make it it happen while pretending to "help," the same as they get us to drive less by jacking up the price of gas. Just another facet of the Democrats deciding they are gonna control our every bowel movement.
For the best foods, I have to drive 46 miles RT to a Fred Meyer North of me. Look at how many aisles at the store are sugars, or foods that turn into sugar. The truth is out there but a person has to want to know the truth, and apply it to their life. I see a lot of grocery carts full of packaged this and that foods ;( Especially notice my senior neighbors having the worst smelling "greasey" food they deliver from the Senior Center ;( I walk my dog early-mornings near the Senior Center and the smell damn near gags me Thing is, most are well able to cook for themselves, they just don't for one reason or another. I am actually glad I got diagnosed with T2 Diabetes, sounds crazy to some, but now I am very diligent about what I eat, and definitely what I refuse to eat. I think someone posted about the obesity "plague" in America, and I could have been there very shortly if it had not been for that diagnosis. The real blessing is, I don't miss all the junk-foods, or the sugar. I'm not a damn saint, I was SCARED straight you might say.
When I had cable, I would watch some of those shows about helping the morbidly obese correct their eating habits. There was one I will never forget. They laid everything that this woman would eat in a day (or maybe a week) out on the table and they asked her what she noticed. I caught it right away...there was no color. It was a sea of tan & brown. Everything was processed or fried. EVERYTHING!!! Not a single fruit or veggie in the entire mess. If I go more than a day without a decent salad, I can feel it. Not long ago, a friend was diagnosed with either Type 2 or he had a really high A1C level. Like you, he self-corrected. Sadly, his wife is on a pump and makes jokes as she has her 3rd piece of pecan pie.
Yes, I have 2 people in my life that joke, and yuck it up laughing, even bragging it sounds like to me. My sister, and a gal I was in highschool with, but before anyone here thinks I rag on them, they both complain to me about their weight, and health issues. So I just share about my experience, and the next thing I know is they have changed the subject. I said I was glad to have T2 because it woke me up, but I wouldn't wish that on anyone, because I know for certain there are diabetics with amputations, and that should be enough for anyone to want to avoid. I bet you know something about Insulin Resistance, and people are busy poopooing that information (funded by big pharma no doubt) but I believe there lies the problem of more than just diabetes, many other illnesses/diseases as well.
Buyer Beware I had to pick up Rx from small Walmart store, decided to get a few things while I was there. Kroger was too far away for the - well was not going to be much. I bought batch of mustard greens for hubby, only second time for me to buy.There were only two left, neither looked great. Finished my shopping and yea there was a clerk to check me out. I knew i had spent between 60 - $70 dollars. Wow , fall over and faint kind of Wow. $112 dollars! How could this be? After I got home kept adding it up and could not come up that total . But i looked further and it said i bought 66 items, Um i clearly bought 26. Went back to Walmart, and at first they could not figure it out either. But wait it was showing i had bought 41 batches of mustard greens @$1.18 each. I will get a refund of $46 on my card. Clerk said she had no idea how that happened. I said um well you need to find out because this is not good. All was very amicable . On the way home i decided that the amount is for a case of those, and someone forgot to break the price down individually. Point being check and recheck prices of what you buy regardless of where. That a lot of money for a Weed