Razor Blades and Wal Mart

[Bird]

My wife is a smart shopper and the food prices at walmart are across the board higher then 2 other chains that we have here.And as far as Sam's clubs go there prices are very high and figure in your membership fee it's even higher.

So, are you going to tell who the other chains are that are cheaper? I don't own any Walmart stock, so if I find a better deal, I'll change.

Right now, we still have several Albertson's, although they've closed a lot of their stores, and the one closest to me is not only very high priced, but also very poor service. We have Kroger's, real nice stores, one new one, nice people, but prices are generally 30-35% higher than Walmart. We have one old Brookshire's; again nice people in an old store, but high prices. Then we have a Sack 'N Save; a really old, dirty looking place and even that is probably 5% to 10% higher than Walmart.

Is anyone familiar with Aldi Foods? Bring your own shopping bag, or pay for theirs. A quarter deposit on the shopping cart, refundable when you take the cart back in the store. Nothing I've read made it appear that they would be a good choice, but they claim to be expanding in the recession. According to the local newspaper, they are not just going to build a store in this area, but plan to build a big distribution warehouse in Denton.

 

[kenstrac]

So, are you going to tell who the other chains are that are cheaper? I don't own any Walmart stock, so if I find a better deal, I'll change.

Right now, we still have several Albertson's, although they've closed a lot of their stores, and the one closest to me is not only very high priced, but also very poor service. We have Kroger's, real nice stores, one new one, nice people, but prices are generally 30-35% higher than Walmart. We have one old Brookshire's; again nice people in an old store, but high prices. Then we have a Sack 'N Save; a really old, dirty looking place and even that is probably 5% to 10% higher than Walmart.

Is anyone familiar with Aldi Foods? Bring your own shopping bag, or pay for theirs. A quarter deposit on the shopping cart, refundable when you take the cart back in the store. Nothing I've read made it appear that they would be a good choice, but they claim to be expanding in the recession. According to the local newspaper, they are not just going to build a store in this area, but plan to build a big distribution warehouse in Denton.

Ok Bird I'll tell you as long you don't shop there the lines are long enough already Hannaford and Market Basket Market Baskets checkouts are always full no mater what time of the day you go and they don't have self checkouts.

 

[Bird]

Ok Bird I'll tell you as long you don't shop there the lines are long enough already Hannaford and Market Basket Market Baskets checkouts are always full no mater what time of the day you go and they don't have self checkouts.

Well, shucks, I guess I won't be able to shop at those since I don't think either of them has a store within 1500 miles of my home.

And besides, I don't want to shop where I have to stand in line to check out.

 

[dgl24087]

News about the evil uncaring Walmart: Wal-Mart awarding $2B to U.S. hourly employees, report says - USATODAY.com. I wonder how many other companies are awarding profit sharing and bonuses to their employees. Mine sure isn't!

 

[NuBota]

How do they remove those rights? Easy... With the threat that if you go union we'll shut the store down.

In CANADA, you cannot discriminate against (ie:fire) someone or a group because they went union. As workers we have that right.

Walmart closed this store (and the lube shop at a different store) after they went union. Walmarts position was that the stores wernt profitable.

Due to the timing of the closures, it sure looks like they closed the stores to prevent the union.

Does this amount to a violation of those workers rights to be employed and be in a union? The quebec labour board says yes. Now its before the Supreme court.

This decision will be very important regarding workers rights in Canada, There's alot more at stake than oil changes at walmart.

What workers rights are being violated besides the ability to unionize? What determines a fair wage. The Union or the market? Labor laws pretty much protect good workers from the abuses that caused unions to form in the first place. Why should a person that aspires to be nothing more than a Wal-Mart "greeter" make more than minimum wage? If people don't like the wage or job position then they need to develop an ambition to work their way up the ladder or go compete for a better paying job.

Key word is competition - both in the price of goods and in labor. Unions, by their very nature, stifle both. There are plenty of people in this world that pull themselves up by their bootstraps and drive themselves to achieve a better position by working up the chain in a company or starting their own business. It doesn't require any special intelligence or help to do either.

I flipped bugers in HS, at 18 worked myself to asst. mgr, at 19 was promoted to manager and bought a house. Made a meager $22K a year (in the mid '80s, salaried, working 60+ hrs a week).Got married, had three kids, all with a household income of less than $40K until the mid '90s. Decided this wasn't good enough, went in hock for a PC, learned it inside and out, took an entry level IT job and worked my butt off. Now I'm self employed and make good money. I know plenty of other stories just like this one.

I graduated with people that worked in a union supermarket stocking shelves - and they are still there 25 years later doing the exact same job making good money. Why in the world should they expect to be making a good wage with full benefits that enables them to afford a house, car, etc? Stocking shelves should be a part-time, entry level job either for supplemental income or a teenager at half the pay- not a career. Why should I as a consumer have to subsidise that labor expense because of someone who has no aspirations of anything more - and is protected in his job through just about any right to terminate short of him killing someone

Competiton has become a dirty word, whether in schools, the Lil' League field, etc. Only makes sense it would make it's way into the business world

Sorry for the rant - I say I am going to ignore these type of threads but always let myself get drawn in..... Need to seek help for that.......

 

[MossRoad]

Is anyone familiar with Aldi Foods?

Oh yeah. One time I grabbed a box of Apple Cinnamon Cheerios out of our pantry and poured it in the bowl. As it poured out I looked at it and yelled "What the he** is this???!!!" The Cheerios were tiny and pale. My wife's mom had talked her into doing some shopping at Aldi's and my wife bought their brand of apple cinnamon cheepios and stuck it in my real Cheerios box! She didn't think I'd notice.

They are competitively priced on name brand stuff, and their own brand stuff is a lot less in price, but I found it not so good.

Now, every so often, when we eat at my mother in law's house, she will ask me how I like something. Then I know she's feeding me Aldi stuff.

The last time was over the holidays where I did a blind taste test on Ritz brand crackers VS similar Aldi brand crackers. I said I liked them both. One was less buttery and the other was more crispy. I picked the buttery one as Ritz brand and was correct.

 

[Bird]

That's interesting, David. Of course, I haven't seen one of their stores yet, but our local newspaper has quoted them as saying their business picks up during recessions when people are trying to save money, then when times get better, the customers they gained during the recession stay with them.

It is interesting that during this recession, Aldi is coming to town AND a new Walmart and Sam's Club are being built.

 

[Bedlam]

Yea my wife got her bonus just under 50 dollars befor taxes.

 

[Scooby074]

NuBota, The employees right not to be discriminated against simply for being in a union is a very important right. As an American, you should understand the value of an individuals rights and freedoms.

If a person chooses to work at walmart (not my thing, but hey) its not for me or you to say. Thats their choice, and they should be paid a reasonable wage and appropriate benefits. Why shouldnt they have health care, or the chance at a full time position instead of being kept as a part timer, just a couple hours/week short of full time? Like i said, the guys in the garage were only asking for $13, which is less than a first year apprentice would get at a dealer or other garage for doing the same job.

You said that unions stifle competition, id argue that walmart does the same on a much larger scale. How many mom and pops were driven out of business? How many suppliers have been driven out because they wont play ball with walmart on THEIR price. Walmart is the one that set the prices to their suppliers, then they begin the never ending job of chipping away at whatever profit YOU were making, eventually you either go broke, reduce quality or offshore the manufacturing to meet walmarts idea of what YOUR cost should be.

Sure, the easy answer is to choose not to sell to them or work for walmart.

Unfortunately walmart is THE retailer. Most CEO's cant say no to them. And in these tough times, people dont necessarily have the luxury or skills to go on to a better job.

Heres a good article about the squeeze walmart puts on a supplier from a CEO's perspective http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/102/open_snapper.html Its a eye opener no matter what side of the discussion your on.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

So, are you going to tell who the other chains are that are cheaper? I don't own any Walmart stock, so if I find a better deal, I'll change.

Right now, we still have several Albertson's, although they've closed a lot of their stores, and the one closest to me is not only very high priced, but also very poor service. We have Kroger's, real nice stores, one new one, nice people, but prices are generally 30-35% higher than Walmart. We have one old Brookshire's; again nice people in an old store, but high prices. Then we have a Sack 'N Save; a really old, dirty looking place and even that is probably 5% to 10% higher than Walmart.

Is anyone familiar with Aldi Foods? Bring your own shopping bag, or pay for theirs. A quarter deposit on the shopping cart, refundable when you take the cart back in the store. Nothing I've read made it appear that they would be a good choice, but they claim to be expanding in the recession. According to the local newspaper, they are not just going to build a store in this area, but plan to build a big distribution warehouse in Denton.

Walmart grocery is the cheapest around me, but it's too big a pain to go there just for groceries, plus you have to park a half mile away.

Many years ago one of the early warehouse clubs (PACE, bought out by SAMS) tried the quarter deposit for shopping cart. The idea is to get your quarter back, you have to return it and connect it back in the cart corral instead of leaving it in the parking lot. It didn't last long, people got real good at popping the quarters out without returning the carts. When I was in germany you had to pay for grocery bags or you bring your own.