Wal Mart Plans to shut down 269 stores

[US71]

Pretty much like when some people say they've never seen a Chick-fil-a and live hundreds of miles from one, but they're going to boycott it anyway.

Or the people that go Facebook crazy saying they're never going to shop at some store ever again because of how someone was treated, or how something was handled.  Then they're posting on Facebook that they are shopping at that very same store...the very next day.

Even places I can't stand I'll eventually go back to, after avoiding them for a while.

CFA makes me sicker than cheap Chinese food.


It's so ironic with Wal-Mart that so many of their Accociates appear to be on Welfare, while those who vehemently oppose Welfare "handouts" seem to have no problem with Associates being paid shit wages.

[Pete from Boston]

I don't think there's much evidence to support the idea that most people who boycott something only do so until it impacts their convenience.  I think the truth is more like most people don't boycott things.

I also don't know many people anymore who eschew Wal-Mart on principle.  This was common 20, 25 years ago, when there was a regular progress of Wal-Marts opening, undercutting small businesses, shaking down suppliers for lower prices, and driving manufacturing abroad because things could not be made here at a price that Wal-Mart would pay.  This is now the rule, and while Wal-Mart was a pioneer, there are businesses in every sector who have wiped out their own competition. 

To not shop at Wal-Mart on principle nowadays requires shopping very few places to uphold that principle.  While there is a strong buy-local reaction to the damage that has been done, not many people have any practical alternatives left.

[jeffandnicole]

I buy where it's convenient and practical.  If I want just milk, I'll walk to the convenience store 3 blocks away.  Or I'll drive there.  Unless it's 2am and they're closed, in which case I'll drive to a 24 hour convenience store or Supermarket or Wawa.  I have my favorite supermarket, but the other day when I tried going, the road was flooded (not due to rain, but due to high tide in an area prone to flooding), so I went to another supermarket.

In every case, notice what I wasn't saying?  "Oh, I go here because the attitudes of the employees are so much better".  I'd prefer they just around and available if needbe, but otherwise I could care less.  And honestly, regardless if I ask someone at Walmart or Shoprite, they tell me what I need to know.  I'm not looking for friendships from them.   I'd just prefer to check out myself, really. 

[Pete from Boston]

In every case, notice what I wasn't saying?  "Oh, I go here because the attitudes of the employees are so much better".  I'd prefer they just around and available if needbe, but otherwise I could care less.  And honestly, regardless if I ask someone at Walmart or Shoprite, they tell me what I need to know.  I'm not looking for friendships from them.   I'd just prefer to check out myself, really.

Notice what I wasn't saying? "Let's be friends."  There are a lot of transactions that require something in between that and simply operating buttons on a cash register, and it really helps get me out of there quicker if the employee doesn't go about it with resentment of the fact that I'm asking them to do their job.  There's an awful lot of the latter at Walmart, and it really makes what should be simple procedures way more agonizing for everyone than they need to be.

Through some short straw of fate I've drawn, my last three visits to Walmart have involved an exchange, an online order pick up, and a return. Each one of these required the involvement of an employee beyond simply standing there next to me. And each time it was as if I was asking a teenager to take time out of their personal life to do extra homework voluntarily (and no, none of them were teenagers).  The service was begrudging, slow, totally abandoned in at least one case with no explanation, and it never was my request unusual or complicated.

I have worked in retail and beyond that just have respect for people I'm doing business with, so I'm polite in all these transactions. I'm not looking for friends. I'm not even looking for someone to make me feel any better than I did when I went in. I'm just looking for the bare goddamn minimum, which yes, requires a better attitude than these.

[mariethefoxy]

CFA makes me sicker than cheap Chinese food.

Same thing happened to me, Ill spare you the details but I was so sick I had to stay an extra day on a Delaware trip because I was really badly sick to my stomach. Even the thought of their food makes my stomach churn.

[hbelkins]

If I have a choice between Walmart and Meijer, I will choose Walmart every time. Because, in general, it's cheaper. Meijer is fine if they carry something I want or need that Walmart doesn't, but beyond that, unless Meijer has a sale, it's usually more expensive. Plus there are more Walmarts than Meijerses, so they are easier to get to, and Walmart does price matching on sale. I have noticed no appreciable difference in customer service between the two stores.

[Bruce]

It's Wal-Mart's own fault for expanding so fast. Over the last 10 years, they've built 3 stores to serve my town of 60,000, including 2 in the last 2 years alone. It's not really necessary.

[US71]

It's Wal-Mart's own fault for expanding so fast. Over the last 10 years, they've built 3 stores to serve my town of 60,000, including 2 in the last 2 years alone. It's not really necessary.

Fort Smith has 3 Stupor Centers and 2 Neighborhood Markets. One Stupor Center and one Neighborhood Market are almost the same distance from me in opposite directions, making them maybe 2 miles apart.  Our population is just under 90K

[Scott5114]

In the Oklahoma City metro, we have been seeing Walmart's death grip on the grocery sector start to slip over the past few years. Part of that is because a local chain, Crest Fresh Market, has been opening stores that are priced on par with Walmart (some things are more expensive, but enough things are cheaper that it's a wash). Another part of that is because a lot of national chains that have traditionally shied away from Oklahoma City have been giving it a second look and opening successful stores here.

OKC tends to be passed over by many national chains because their metrics don't mesh well with how the city operates. Retailers traditionally look at the demographics with a circle of a certain radius around a potential site to come up with potential sales figures. Owing to the lower population density here compared to other places, potential OKC stores are often written off as being unprofitable based on these metrics. But they don't account for the fact that OKC residents are willing to drive further distances than those in other cities to visit a destination store. The retailers that have taken a chance and opened an OKC store are amazed at how their projections are blown out of the water. Seeing this trend happen time and again has led to more retailers giving OKC a chance, and we're getting things like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and WinCo for the first time ever, all of which have been eating into Walmart's market share.

I do not boycott Walmart, but I do actively avoid shopping there. Walmart is usually my fifth or sixth choice; I prefer to shop at Crest for my groceries and try to source everything else from other stores. My distaste of Walmart is not solely from their business practices: I find their stores to be actively irritating to be in, because the aisles are too narrow to maneuver around other customers in, and the large warehouse aesthetic unpleasant.

[slorydn1]

I avoid Walmart for the most part, but really only to protect my car, not because of any moral or ethical issue. Our supercenter parking lot's layout is a special kind of hell. Wrecks are a several times a day occurrence.

Making it safely to a parking stall is no guarantee that you won't come back out to find damage on your car. I have witnessed several hit and runs where people in mini vans and suvs especially just back right up, hit the car behind them and drive right off without hesitation. Then there was the time when I used to park with everyone else that some woman just threw their door open and it hit my truck. Of course I gave her the requisite "WTF!?!?" to which the woman replied by flipped me off and storming away into the store. It was great pleasure having her charged with damage to property and watching her dragged away in handcuffs screaming about her rights.


Now, if we do go (my wife still refuses to not shop their on occasion) we park as far away as we possibly can and walk, but even that is still not a guarantee that some idiot wont do something stupid to it.  It was great fun last summer restraining my wife from stomping a mudhole in some lady's ass because they decided to use the trunk lid of her Mustang as a staging area for putting their items in their trunk.


I am not sure what it is about Walmart that attracts the dirtbags of society in droves. We have never had a problem at the traditional shopping mall across the street, nor at any of the grocery stores in the immediate vicinity-heck even the far off stores at the other end of same parking lot as Walmart.


As for the shopping experience itself, I have found that the people that work there are the same as the people that work in all of our big box stores here. I really haven't had any problems with the employees that work there, they have been as helpful as any of the others. I'm not saying they bend over backwards to go the extra mile for me, but I haven't encountered any inappropriate attitudes or anything like that, either.

[cl94]

Maybe the situation is worse in other parts of the country, but in this region, Walmart filled the gap created when Ames went under, Kmart pulled out of the grocery business, and a few supermarket chains (i.e. Grand Union) closed their doors and became part of larger companies, many already having a presence in the area.

[Duke87]

The grocery aspect is an interesting one. Up until fairly recently I would have scoffed at the idea of going grocery shopping at a store that dedicates the vast majority of its floor space to things other than food. But then, up until fairly recently, I hadn't ever lived somewhere were the nearest such store was of comparable proximity to the nearest grocery store.

But now there is a Target in my neighborhood and I do on occasion find myself going there specifically for groceries because although their selection is limited compared to an actual grocery store, what they do have tends to be cheaper. Furthermore, on sale at Target means on sale. On sale at the other nearby stores means you pay full price unless you sign up for one of their stupid store cards or get a cashier nice enough to use theirs for you. This is the retail equivalent of transponder discrimination and I am not a fan.

[cl94]

The grocery aspect is an interesting one. Up until fairly recently I would have scoffed at the idea of going grocery shopping at a store that dedicates the vast majority of its floor space to things other than food. But then, up until fairly recently, I hadn't ever lived somewhere were the nearest such store was of comparable proximity to the nearest grocery store.

But now there is a Target in my neighborhood and I do on occasion find myself going there specifically for groceries because although their selection is limited compared to an actual grocery store, what they do have tends to be cheaper. Furthermore, on sale at Target means on sale. On sale at the other nearby stores means you pay full price unless you sign up for one of their stupid store cards or get a cashier nice enough to use theirs for you. This is the retail equivalent of transponder discrimination and I am not a fan.

Some stores have cards but will give you the card price even if you don't have one. Tops is usually like that and I've seen it happen on several occasions at Ghetto...um, I mean Price Chopper. Or, even better, get a damn free card and opt out of the emails. At this point, many chains have apps so you don't even need the physical card to get the savings or you can enter your phone number.

Of course, I do most of my shopping at Hannaford, which doesn't have cards in the first place, so it's kind of a moot point as far as I'm concerned.

[froggie]

at Ghetto...um, I mean Price Chopper.

Up here, it's Tops and Hannaford that are the ghetto marts...

[Pete from Boston]

The Price Chopper I went to 25 years ago was dumpy.  All the ones I've been to since are nice stores with good selections.  Hannaford too.  We don't have Tops but they have seemed fairly middle-of-the-road to me.

I don't know about Hannaford but neither Shaw's/Star nor Market Basket have loyalty cards.  Stop & Shop does.  Most of the sale prices at Stop & Shop and Shaw's/Star are more expensive than Market Basket's regular price, though (even with the dope-luring gas discounts) which is the best argument there is against the loyalty card.

[spooky]

The Price Chopper I went to 25 years ago was dumpy.  All the ones I've been to since are nice stores with good selections.  Hannaford too.  We don't have Tops but they have seemed fairly middle-of-the-road to me.

I don't know about Hannaford but neither Shaw's/Star nor Market Basket have loyalty cards.  Stop & Shop does.  Most of the sale prices at Stop & Shop and Shaw's/Star are more expensive than Market Basket's regular price, though (even with the dope-luring gas discounts) which is the best argument there is against the loyalty card.

Shaw's got rid of their loyalty card and clearly was targeting Stop & Shop with advertising touting that Shaw's now had lower prices every day without a loyalty card. I believe there was even someone in store when they made this change who would take your card and shred it for you.

Fast forward a couple years, and now Shaw's asks you for your MyMixx card. I assume it's just a loyalty card in a different pair of pants.

[KEVIN_224]

I'm clueless when it comes to Shaw's. They left Connecticut several years ago. The only one I ever go to is if I'm on Congress Street in Portland, ME, since it's not too far from their bus and train terminal. There was another one I used to go to on the Providence/Pawtucket, RI city line area, but that's gone now, too.

The Hannaford along US Route 5, in the north end of Brattleboro, VT, is actually kind of nice. The Price Chopper in the south end (also on US Route 5), was kind of dumpy, however.

Despite the fact I work at a Stop & Shop, I've only shopped at it twice this year (employees only get a 5% discount, which doesn't even cover our sales tax).

Getting back to Walmart, the only Connecticut closure I'm aware of is a supermarket-type place they opened in the Bishop's Corner area of West Hartford barely three years ago. Corbin's Corner wouldn't have been an option, since that area already has a long-established shopping plaza AND WestFarms Mall as it is.

[Pete from Boston]

Wal-Mart is not a factor close to Boston since they never made inroads here.  Activists kept a Neighborhood Market from opening in Somerville (in classic Somerville fashion, preferring five more years of an empty building instead), and the rest are ten miles out.  Targets, though, are everywhere, having capitalized when Bradlees and others left a lot of empty store space fifteen years ago.  Target is a nicer store, but I still have contempt for people who won't shop at Wal-Mart on economic principle yet traipse blissfully  through Target like it's not having a lot of the same impacts.

[realjd]

The grocery aspect is an interesting one. Up until fairly recently I would have scoffed at the idea of going grocery shopping at a store that dedicates the vast majority of its floor space to things other than food. But then, up until fairly recently, I hadn't ever lived somewhere were the nearest such store was of comparable proximity to the nearest grocery store.

But now there is a Target in my neighborhood and I do on occasion find myself going there specifically for groceries because although their selection is limited compared to an actual grocery store, what they do have tends to be cheaper. Furthermore, on sale at Target means on sale. On sale at the other nearby stores means you pay full price unless you sign up for one of their stupid store cards or get a cashier nice enough to use theirs for you. This is the retail equivalent of transponder discrimination and I am not a fan.

Pro-tip: if you don't have a discount card and don't want to sign up, have the cashier look up by phone number (local area code)-867-5309. Someone has always already signed up with that fake phone number.

[Pete from Boston]

The grocery aspect is an interesting one. Up until fairly recently I would have scoffed at the idea of going grocery shopping at a store that dedicates the vast majority of its floor space to things other than food. But then, up until fairly recently, I hadn't ever lived somewhere were the nearest such store was of comparable proximity to the nearest grocery store.

But now there is a Target in my neighborhood and I do on occasion find myself going there specifically for groceries because although their selection is limited compared to an actual grocery store, what they do have tends to be cheaper. Furthermore, on sale at Target means on sale. On sale at the other nearby stores means you pay full price unless you sign up for one of their stupid store cards or get a cashier nice enough to use theirs for you. This is the retail equivalent of transponder discrimination and I am not a fan.

Pro-tip: if you don't have a discount card and don't want to sign up, have the cashier look up by phone number (local area code)-867-5309. Someone has always already signed up with that fake phone number.

I use a local check-your-voice-mail number.  If they have to look it up, there are always several people using it.

[jeffandnicole]

I always found these "I don't want to get a shoppers card because it invades my privacy" arguments funny.  The argument's been going on since these shoppers cards were invented, and I can't think of a single instance where someone's privacy was actually invaded.  What are shopper card server thieves going to do...list all the people that bought whole milk instead of 1%?

[kkt]

The grocery aspect is an interesting one. Up until fairly recently I would have scoffed at the idea of going grocery shopping at a store that dedicates the vast majority of its floor space to things other than food. But then, up until fairly recently, I hadn't ever lived somewhere were the nearest such store was of comparable proximity to the nearest grocery store.

But now there is a Target in my neighborhood and I do on occasion find myself going there specifically for groceries because although their selection is limited compared to an actual grocery store, what they do have tends to be cheaper. Furthermore, on sale at Target means on sale. On sale at the other nearby stores means you pay full price unless you sign up for one of their stupid store cards or get a cashier nice enough to use theirs for you. This is the retail equivalent of transponder discrimination and I am not a fan.

Pro-tip: if you don't have a discount card and don't want to sign up, have the cashier look up by phone number (local area code)-867-5309. Someone has always already signed up with that fake phone number.

I tried that at Haggen's once.  They refused to accept it.  I paid full price.  On another subject completely, Haggen's is in bankruptcy now.

[kkt]

I always found these "I don't want to get a shoppers card because it invades my privacy" arguments funny.  The argument's been going on since these shoppers cards were invented, and I can't think of a single instance where someone's privacy was actually invaded.  What are shopper card server thieves going to do...list all the people that bought whole milk instead of 1%?

You like being on mailing lists?  Buy baby food, get on lists for everything from toys to college savings plans.  Buy pet food, get on lists for pet kennels.  Buy cheese from the gourmet section, get on lists for European river cruises.

[Pete from Boston]

I always found these "I don't want to get a shoppers card because it invades my privacy" arguments funny.  The argument's been going on since these shoppers cards were invented, and I can't think of a single instance where someone's privacy was actually invaded.  What are shopper card server thieves going to do...list all the people that bought whole milk instead of 1%?

I think it's just general annoyance at being tracked, or at having to jump through this little hoop other stores don't require to get a sale price.  My CVS card is from the two someone left behind (you get three) in the store after getting theirs, so my receipts occasionally say "Congratulations, Rob!"  Some other store handed me their card and application form, so I kept both.

[seicer]

To show how lopsided it has become, Kroger has now become the No. 3 chain in the states - I believe by sales. They have been acquiring a lot of chains and either keeping the names intact or rebranding them. Many are loyal to a particular chain and Kroger acknowledges that, unlike Federated/Macy's.

If you haven't been in a Kroger Marketplace, they are impressive - at over 100,000 square feet, Marketplaces will contain furnishings, Bed Bath & Beyond items, along with kitchenware, small appliances and ... food.