Wal Mart Plans to shut down 269 stores

[vdeane]

454-2020 (Celino and Barnes, before they switched their number to all 8s to jump on a bandwagon started when another business got a number with all 5s; only reason I remember it is because the jingle in their ads fits better with their old number)

[noelbotevera]

how strange of a discussion, everyone's listing phone numbers.

[cl94]

454-2020 (Celino and Barnes, before they switched their number to all 8s to jump on a bandwagon started when another business got a number with all 5s; only reason I remember it is because the jingle in their ads fits better with their old number)

854- was their Buffalo number, 621- was the NYC number. I have no idea what the LA number was. 444-4444 is William Mattar statewide. They had the "all one digit" number first and, as the main statewide competitor, were probably seen as having an advantage.

[jp the roadgeek]

867-5309 is a hot commodity.  We have the taxi to hell (666-6666) and the taxi to heaven (777-7777) in my area.

[rickmastfan67]

OK, who pinned this thread, and why?

It was at the top of the off-topic board all the time anyways. I too am pretty confused.

I don't know why it was either.  I'm un-pinning it.

[US71]

867-5309 is a hot commodity.  We have the taxi to hell (666-6666) and the taxi to heaven (777-7777) in my area.

[US71]

how strange of a discussion, everyone's listing phone numbers.

We should probably split this, no?

[cl94]

867-5309 is a hot commodity.  We have the taxi to hell (666-6666) and the taxi to heaven (777-7777) in my area.

Our version of Jenny is used as a marketing ploy

[noelbotevera]

how strange of a discussion, everyone's listing phone numbers.

We should probably split this, no?

Agreed. Because somewhere along the line, someone's gonna list a phone number to a parking space (but in all seriousness, thread was derailed, this is nonsense).

[jeffandnicole]

Wal-Mart shuts down 269 stores...everyone has an opinion.

Old Country Buffet closes 77 restaurants...no one says a word.

What is wrong with this world??!!

[cl94]

Wal-Mart shuts down 269 stores...everyone has an opinion.

Old Country Buffet closes 77 restaurants...no one says a word.

What is wrong with this world??!!

I haven't been to an OCB in nearly 5 years. Too expensive for miserable food and it really hasn't crossed my mind at all. Walmart, on the other hand, is somewhere you either shop at or consciously avoid.

[kkt]

Walmart, on the other hand, is somewhere you either shop at or consciously avoid.

Only when I'm visiting somewhere.  There's no Walmart super close to my home.

[jp the roadgeek]

Almost all the former Old Country and Hometown Buffets in my area were replaced with Buffalo Wild Wings.

[froggie]

Walmart, on the other hand, is somewhere you either shop at or consciously avoid.

Or neither, if you're an hour-plus from the nearest WalMart.

[Takumi]

Almost all the former Old Country and Hometown Buffets in my area were replaced with Buffalo Wild Wings.

The one near me was replaced with a Chinese buffet/hibachi, but still uses the OCB furniture and probably some of its equipment. There's even still an OCB logo on one of the windows.

[US71]

Almost all the former Old Country and Hometown Buffets in my area were replaced with Buffalo Wild Wings.

The one near me was replaced with a Chinese buffet/hibachi, but still uses the OCB furniture and probably some of its equipment. There's even still an OCB logo on one of the windows.

A Chinese Buffet took over a Ryan's in Springfield, MO until they got in trouble with the health department. It has since been replaced by ...a Chinese Buffet.

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post: What happens to a tiny town when Walmart disappears? - A pullback from underperforming stores has left some rural communities without a vital source of support.

KIMBALL, W. Va. – To hear Mary Francis Matney tell it, Walmart didn't kill the once-vibrant cluster of shops next to a railroad and a creek in the faded old coal town of Kimball, W. Va. – the disappearance of the mines had pretty well taken care of that already. But now that Walmart's leaving, too, as one of 154 U.S. stores the company closed in January, the town might be snuffed out for good.

"It makes everyone so downhearted they don't know what to do,"  said Matney, 60, browsing the half-empty shelves of Kimball's massive Supercenter, leaning on her cart, which contains a dustbuster and door crack insulation. Her husband once worked in the coal mines. Now the couple lives on what little they get from Medicare and Social Security, and with precious few other options she made the hour-and-a-half trip from her home back in the "hollers"  once a month to stock up.

"It's like we're a forgotten bunch of people,"  said Matney, her long gray hair loosely clipped into a bun. "It's about all there was to look forward to. If we had to go any further, there ain't no way."  

[doorknob60]

The only store around I avoid is a small chain called Paul's Market. They burnt me with a super confusing loyalty points program. Basically, you have the loyalty card, but that's not enough to get the advertised prices. You get points for buying things, then to get certain sale prices, you have to "redeem" this points or pay the full price.

Paul's kicks ass- if you're a frequent shopper you can use points to get things like milk for $.50 a gallon. It's maybe a little bit confusing for infrequent shoppers, but it's awesome. At least the one in McCall - I haven't been to any Paul's down in the valley.

I think Ridley's, anther primarily Idaho chain, does a similar program- at least they did a ten years ago when I lived in McCall. I've only been to Paul's on returns to visit parents in Idaho the last few years.

Fully agreed that WinCo is awesome, and if they ever come to Montana I will give them all my money.

This is a long rant. If you don't care, don't keep reading.

Maybe you're right about Paul's, but that's not the way I understood it. I'll describe it best I can. I was buying a gallon of Milk. Regular Price was I think $2.39. It said something like "$1.89 with Pauls Card with point redemption". I go to pay, and it rings up full price because I don't have enough points (yes I gave them my Pauls card). $1.89 is about the price I expect to pay normally for a gallon of milk here (Albertsons, Fred Meyer, etc. are always in the $1.89-$1.99 range), but I had to pay like $0.50 more because of this confusing system. Now, if it really is possible to get deals like milk for $0.50, then I can see its upsides (no other store you'd find deals like that). I guess you'd have to watch for ads and such to find the good deals. But my experience, I was denied a price that would be standard anywhere else. Maybe I just got unlucky, I'll admit I never have run into this before (though with only a handful of trips). Not worth having to worry about though.


And with so many other stores nearby, it's not worth becoming a frequent shopper to get the occasional great deal. Most of their prices are fairly high. For example, El Monterey frozen burritos are a good snack/lunch I buy. At Walmart and Fred Meyer the regular price is about $2.50. At Albertsons it's about $3.50, a bit higher but I can tolerate it if I'm already there. At Paul's, I was going to buy some one time and they were nearly $5! Not worth it. If I lived in a town like McCall or, say, Homedale, where Paul's was the only (or one of a couple) options, it would be more worth it. But in Nampa, I see no value in going there.

As for Ridley's, never been to one as there isn't one in Nampa. There just opened a new one in Kuna and maybe if I somehow am in that area and am bored I'll check it out. Winco is pretty great, and I would go there a lot more if it wasn't all the way on the other side of town (sometimes I combine it with a trip to Costco, which works out well).

EDIT: Okay, I'll give Paul's a bit more credit. Here is their current ad (first page, image may change in the future, not sure): http://pauls.net/Kickstrap/img/weeklyAd/p1WeeklyAd.jpg It appears only a small number of deals require using the points. The rest aren't affected by how many points you have saved up. I was under the impression for a bit that most or all of their sale prices required redeeming points. In my head I was thinking "where are you going to get these points if you keep needing to redeem them!". But no, only a few things need it. That said, milk is still advertised at $1.88 with point redeption. Some of the other point deals are better, but the regular price on milk should be around there, not the point redemption price. So I'll still prefer other stores.

Okay, I'm done ranting now, that went on way too long.

[froggie]

CNN Money has a list of all 154 of the U.S. store closings:

http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/15/news/walmart-list-store-closings-in-us/index.html?iid=ob_article_footer&iid=obinsite

Of note:

- 23 states are unaffected.  Virginia is among them.

- Texas is, by far, the biggest state affected, with 29 stores closing.

- Other states with heavy impacts are North Carolina, Arkansas, and Alabama.

- Not one, but three stores closing in Wichita, KS.

[US71]

Via Springfield (MO) News-Leader

http://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/ozarks/2016/02/04/when-walmart-express-left-recent-store-closings-largely-affect-small-town-rural-america-seligman-clever-noel-anderson-missouri/79059666/

[hbelkins]

Washington Post: What happens to a tiny town when Walmart disappears? - A pullback from underperforming stores has left some rural communities without a vital source of support.

KIMBALL, W. Va. – To hear Mary Francis Matney tell it, Walmart didn't kill the once-vibrant cluster of shops next to a railroad and a creek in the faded old coal town of Kimball, W. Va. – the disappearance of the mines had pretty well taken care of that already. But now that Walmart's leaving, too, as one of 154 U.S. stores the company closed in January, the town might be snuffed out for good.

"It makes everyone so downhearted they don't know what to do,"  said Matney, 60, browsing the half-empty shelves of Kimball's massive Supercenter, leaning on her cart, which contains a dustbuster and door crack insulation. Her husband once worked in the coal mines. Now the couple lives on what little they get from Medicare and Social Security, and with precious few other options she made the hour-and-a-half trip from her home back in the "hollers"  once a month to stock up.

"It's like we're a forgotten bunch of people,"  said Matney, her long gray hair loosely clipped into a bun. "It's about all there was to look forward to. If we had to go any further, there ain't no way."  

I remember a Kmart out in the middle of nowhere on US 52 in the Kimball/Welch vicinity the first time I drove that road. I think it closed the next time I passed through that area. Walmart moved in after Kmart left, because I don't remember ever seeing a Walmart.

[GCrites]

The one near me was replaced with a Chinese buffet/hibachi, but still uses the OCB furniture and probably some of its equipment. There's even still an OCB logo on one of the windows.

I'm pretty sure the profit margin on Chinese buffet/food court food is sky-high. That's why you see so many of those places soldier on where others can't make it as long as they mind their Ps and Qs.

[okroads]

When I lived in OKC, I lived 1/2 mile from Walmart but 3 miles from Crest. However, I usually went to Crest for grocery shopping because they were better all around. Now that I live in Columbus, Ohio, there aren't nearly as many Walmarts around, and there are more choices for grocery shopping (ie. there are 3 Krogers that are closer to where I live than the nearest Walmart). I have been to Walmart exactly once in the four months I've lived in Ohio. So far, I don't really miss Walmart.

Wal-Mart came to Columbus very late (early-mid-2000s), so Meijer and Kroger had such a massive head start here it was hard for them to do much. At the same time Big Bear and Big Bear Plus shut down Giant Eagle moved in. Even in the surrounding cities only Circleville had a Wal-Mart that had been open a long time (early '90s) to my knowledge (I don't know much about Delaware, Newark, London and Washington CH). Wal-Mart is actually scared of Meijer.

That's interesting how Walmart didn't really come to this area until recently. Of course, I'm used to OKC being "Walmart test market central" where seemingly every shopping center development has a Walmart in it. A new supercenter is being built at I-44 & SW 104th in OKC which will highly impact traffic at that interchange, which has not been improved much (if any) since it was built before I-44 was extended in 1982.

[noelbotevera]

There's a Wegman's and Trader Joe's in State College..and a Walmart. However, we did our shopping at Wegman's and Trader Joe's because Wegman's just had so much variety that I prefer it over Walmart. However, the markups are high as a space shuttle.

[rickmastfan67]

And with so many other stores nearby, it's not worth becoming a frequent shopper to get the occasional great deal. Most of their prices are fairly high. For example, El Monterey frozen burritos are a good snack/lunch I buy. At Walmart and Fred Meyer the regular price is about $2.50. At Albertsons it's about $3.50, a bit higher but I can tolerate it if I'm already there. At Paul's, I was going to buy some one time and they were nearly $5! Not worth it. If I lived in a town like McCall or, say, Homedale, where Paul's was the only (or one of a couple) options, it would be more worth it. But in Nampa, I see no value in going there.

You're getting ripped off at all those places.  I only pay $1 for them @ Giant Eagle. (I can post a picture later if you don't believe me.)