Walmart - End of an Era

Oaktree · Mar 27, 2012

brin said:
There are a lot of reasons my wife and I do not like to shop at walmart but just to name a few....the store is too big, they are not consistent in stocking products, you find something on one visit you like and next time they no longer carry it...the produce spoils within a couple of days, the bakery items only last a couple of days but most of all, at least in our town , Walmart caused many small businesses to close.

Most of the WMs around here do not have supermarkets, but in the one that does I agree that the produce is pretty naasty, the meat isn't much better (very fatty and/or low grade). As far as bakery items not lasting more than a couple days, much the same can be said for any supermarket's store-baked goods...I haven't seen that WM's are any worse.

As far as "causing small businesses to close", as I commented earlier, how many of those small businesses closed at 5pm, and were not open on Sunday? Like it or not, weekends and evenings are the only times many of us have free to do our shopping. If you're not open when it's convenient for your customers, you're not going to get any business.

MMagis · Mar 27, 2012

Bird said:
I was surprised this morning to find the greeter that I've known for 6 years still there. Of course, he's now standing back by the produce instead of near the door. So he's really doing nothing, and for those who don't already know it, standing around one place doing nothing is about the hardest work I know of. I really think Walmart is trying to get them to quit so the company can say they didn't lay them off. And that's a guess with no evidence to back it up.

So, how does that differ from what they were doing as greeters?

If they wanted them gone, they'd be gone. They're under no requirement to pay people to stand around and do nothing. I'd say they deserve a little credit in that regard.

logdog · Mar 27, 2012

Oaktree said:
As far as "causing small businesses to close", as I commented earlier, how many of those small businesses closed at 5pm, and were not open on Sunday? Like it or not, weekends and evenings are the only times many of us have free to do our shopping. If you're not open when it's convenient for your customers, you're not going to get any business.

This is how we end up at the Big Orange hardware store so much. There is a great old school hardware store downtown. They close at 530 M-F. I couldnt even be there before 545 and that is assuming I got to leave work exactly on time. They are open something like 12-4 on Saturday and closed Sunday. So if I want to keep my money local I have to have a shopping list ready to go and wait until lunch time on one day a week to buy anything. Usually by noon I am deep in whatever project is going on. I shop at TSC alot and they stay open until 8. At least I have a chance to get in on my choice of days. I often wonder how a place can stay in business only being open 8 hours a day.

MMagis · Mar 27, 2012

logdog said:
I often wonder how a place can stay in business only being open 8 hours a day.

A lot of them can't. People would rather blame the big corporations, instead of the poor business practices that, in reality, cause the failure.

jonyyuma · Mar 27, 2012

MMagis said:
A lot of them can't. People would rather blame the big corporations, instead of the poor business practices that, in reality, cause the failure.

I believe this to be true..In my case anyway..WM or Lowes are not to blame, but really make it better for the shopper..Food is available any time..

300UGUY · Mar 27, 2012

jonyyuma said:
I believe this to be true..In my case anyway..WM or Lowes are not to blame, but really make it better for the shopper..Food is available any time..

If you are running a small family business, do you want to be there 24/7/365? I understand that folks have work schedules that preclude shopping 9 to 5, Mon - Fri. Really this is a big factor in small companies going out of biz. Exhaustion. I have a couple of friends that owned Subway shops. The franchise contract called for them to be open 10 to 11, M- sat, 10 to 10 Sunday, and only close 4 days per year, I think Easter, xmas, T day, and ? After several years of 100 hour weeks, they sold out. They didn't have enough shops to hire a manager to take up the extra hours. A Donut shop guy I know sold out, left all the equipment and in process donuts sitting when he got a offer for his real estate. He said he just couldn't do it anymore. Self employment is highly overrated. The boss is horrible.

Car Doc · Mar 28, 2012

As a society we are not willing to wait on anything or plan ahead we need everything right now not Monday. I am not as guilty as some but guilty non the less.

I run my auto repair business 5 days a week 8-5 and come Monday start fixing stuff the 7 day a week 24 hr shops mess up over the weekend. :laughing:

Oaktree · Mar 28, 2012

Car Doc said:
As a society we are not willing to wait on anything or plan ahead we need everything right now not Monday. I am not as guilty as some but guilty non the less.

I run my auto repair business 5 days a week 8-5 and come Monday start fixing stuff the 7 day a week 24 hr shops mess up over the weekend. :laughing:

So far auto-repair shops have been able to get away with this, retail stores not so much.
The bottom line is that as a business owner is that if you aren't open when it's convenient for you customers, they'll find someone who is. I feel bad for small business owners, especially those not big enough to keep extended hours, but the big boys have changed the game.

pacerron · Mar 28, 2012

Oaktree said:
So far auto-repair shops have been able to get away with this, retail stores not so much.
The bottom line is that as a business owner is that if you aren't open when it's convenient for you customers, they'll find someone who is. I feel bad for small business owners, especially those not big enough to keep extended hours, but the big boys have changed the game.

And... the game is changing for the "Big Boys"
We went to a Super Walmart today within 25 miles of Columbus and always very busy. No greeters and no exiters ( whatever they are called )
Nice lunch at Subway inside WM, main reason for going there but we did buy a few items from WM too. Plenty of checkouts for the 11 AM to 2 PM crowd.
And then off to, Lowes nearby. Didn't have Pearlite for mixing potting soil and clerk really didn't know what it was. Only 1 live checkout backing up her line because some guy and his wife were disputing the price the computer was charging for an item versus what the item was marked at on the shelves. So waiting to get somebody to check the price, waiting, waiting. After about 4 minutes we pealed off to the customer service counter where there was one clerk, on the phone.
Finally got out of there after too long a delay from not having enough clerks.
Then to Best Buy to get a couple pc RAMs. Had to wait at service desk for a guy to become available to look up the numbers for the RAM. Then he took us to the back and got the RAM. Looking good. We went to the door area for checkout. No checkouts, none... They even had the area blocked with a belt.
The security guy at the door had left his post, so we had to go back over to the other side and ask where to checkout. They pointed to the service desk.
Back there, waiting again, to pay, and to the guy that had helped us in the first place. I asked him,"where is all the help" He said we try to run a lean ship anymore. At least there was no loud music, as usual.
I told him if it gets much leaner everyone would just use the internet. He said, "getting that way now."

So which comes first, the chicken or the egg?
Where are all these jobs the politicians talk about going to come from?
If we are going to put the big boys brick and mortar Stores out of business because we can order stuff over the internet and get it at home via "Brown" or "Fed Ex" in a couple days... who is the real villan?