Invest In Your Future: Shop at Wal Mart
Posted by Raven on July 21st, 2008 / ADJUST TEXT SIZE 
I haven’t written lately about the shop everyone loves to hate- Wal Mart. I guess I stopped writing because the “issue” hasn’t been news in the past year or so. Of all the bad press, Wal Mart still out performs every other retailer 10:1…and people like to spend less money on items they want and need. Working class peons such as myself depend upon Wal Mart’s low prices to keep us afloat. I believe people are simply stupid to not shop at Wal Mart.
This lady writes of being forced to shop at the big evil retailer, and discovers its not all that bad after all.
It’s a long story — one that involves a darling family of ducks, a semitrailer and me — but the upshot is that for the first time in three years, I have a car payment.
And in order to make those payments and fill my car with gas — I almost wept when I paid $4.29 a gallon the other day — and have enough left over for my ever-increasing bills and save some for emergencies, I’ve had to make some changes.
I’ve begun shopping at Wal-Mart.
She says with some shame, I suspect. NOT ME. I proudly admit I shop at the Wal Mart supercenter up the road, every week, for groceries and other stuff. Always have, since the place opened up over 10 years ago.
The lady whines-
For a long time, my biggest complaint about Wal-Mart was its vibe. Nothing about the store makes me feel special — though I suppose the greeter tries — and whether you admit it or not, most of us want to feel special when we buy something new.
Uuhh….special? Feeling special is how we’re supposed to feel when we shop or buy something? This is a big problem with people: This over dependence of shopping as a form of therapy. Fertheloveofhawd. You don’t shop to feel good. You shop to get the stuff you need.
The checkout lines tend to be long. There’s too much chatter over the public address system. I think the store is poorly organized. And it felt oddly behind the times, its 1970s-esque yellow smiley face sincere, rather than retro, the way it might be at the hipper Target.
I’ve been to the local Target as well and I don’t like the place. There aren’t a lot of choices; everything looks the same - a couple months ago I noticed how the women and men clothing sections had all the same color themes; even the handbags and jewlery echoed the colors (brown, red, beige, yellow…eeeck!) As we wandered thru the store we noticed, ammusingly how the candles and linens all matched the clothes. Hmm. Hipper? I don’t think so.
A couple weeks ago I spent $2.50 on a Wal-Mart plant that was $4.99 at the nursery up the street.
I stumbled upon DVDs for $5 and I’ve stashed away the fairly new releases to give as Christmas presents.
And my favorite fat-free sugar-free Jell-O instant pudding mix is 25 cents cheaper than at my regular grocery.
And the selection!
At Wal-Mart, I can buy a bag of red lentils, hummus in a can, lint screens for the hose on my washing machine, and, should I ever feel the need, scrapbooking materials from the store’s new Martha Stewart crafts line.
Yep…one can buy almost everything they need in one stop…saves time, gas, money. Selection is great if not superior to any other retailer in the world.
Suddenly, shopping at Wal-Mart makes me feel smart.
Well you should feel smart..cause you are. Now.
Shopping at Wal Mart is not only smart, it’s an investment. Into one’s own bank account of savings.
:smile:
July 21st, 2008 at 12:12 pm
I absolutely agree. Smart people shop at Wal-Mart because it saves them money. The only downsize is that Wal-Mart does get so many of its products overseas (which is one big reason they are cheaper.) And that is the conundrum. Shop at Wal-Mart to save money NOW (because we are desperate to save money NOW) and in the long run send much of our hard earned money to overseas jobs, costing Americans their jobs. It’s a hard choice to make. I shop at Wal-Mart, I need to save the money. But I do worry about how it effects the local job loss.
July 21st, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Love it or hate it, Wal-Mart is here to stay. Yes, it could use some improvements, and yes, I think that the employees should unionize. But Wal-Mart is here to stay, and we may as well make the best of it. As soon as I learned that a Wal-Mart was opening in my town I bought Wal-Mart stock. It has done very very well. If you want to change the system, sometimes you need to get into the system and change it from within. Those that want to change Wal-Mart would be well advised to buy Wal-Mart stock and then lobby as stockholders for the changes they would like to see.
July 21st, 2008 at 1:28 pm
I shop at Walmart quite a bit. I like the variety. Nothing like being able to buy clothes, photo albums, sporting goods, clocks, shower curtains, and even food in the same store.
The one drawback is, well, let’s just say that I often refer to the place as “Sams’s Chinese Imports”.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:31 pm
I agree. We resisted Walmart for awhile because of the whole made in China issue and the fact that they had a history of hiring illegals.
The reality is tough that all stores do this and eventually you have to decide, are you going to pay more for Chinese goods somewhere else or buy them cheaper at Walmart. We decided to keep more of our money and do a lot of our shopping at Walmart now.
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:24 am
I shop at Wal-Mart all the time. The selection of products at Target is terrible and their prices are higher! I think that Wal-Mart is here to stay, so we may as well make the best of things and save our dollars by shopping there! Why spend more? That is just plain stupid!
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:26 am
When I shop at Wal Mart it’s almost all for groceries. The prices cannot be beat and a can of Maxell House coffee is the same can I could buy from the Shaws Supermarket up the road- but- when that can costs 3.00 less at WM…only morons are willing to spend the extra money. The coffee isn’t made in China.
I buy lightbulbs, batteries, lighters, and those sorts of things at WM and none are made in China. I also buy coffee makers once in awhile and if you look, you can find models made in the USA…they don’t cost anymore. I don’t buy needless products. I see people buying fans and pool products and CD players and TV’s from WM- and all of this is from China for sure. Who is going to spend hundreds more on the same thing? Not me.
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:28 am
The employees are free people. They choose to work for Wal Mart. They accept employment at a certain hourly rate.
Unions are for people who WANT to see their jobs die. Unions are a huge factor in WHY so many American businesses closed shop and moved over to China, or down to Mexico.
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Aaaaaah. Bring back the days when multimillionaires lord over people who barely get enough to eat.
July 25th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Well in this case people are CHOOSING to shop at WM and I don’t think anyone is ever forced to do so. I could be wrong though…in the US people still use force to make people do things, right?
July 26th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
This is, without a doubt, the lamest blog post I’ve seen in a long time. Ravenous- Wal Mart’s newest spokesperson. YAY Wal Mart!!! Give me a break. So bad.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Bunny,
This is by far the lamest comment I have ever read. Give me a break, you can’t be this retarded. Or are you just trying to stir something up….