Walmart Super Centers

**lvpets2002** · 03-09-2006, 03:17 PM

Well I will admitt my checkbook is at Walmart every Saturday to do grocery shopping & I find it great can also get CDs & cloths & shoes & what ever else at the same time & dont have to run all over town..

**king2005** · 03-09-2006, 03:43 PM

Originally Posted by Tubby & Peanut's Mom

I have mixed feelings about Wal-Mart. I, like everyone else, like the low prices, and they let us park in their parking lot overnight with the motorhome when we're on the road. However, I'm not sure I like the tactics they use to get those low prices. We saw a documentary on public TV once that didn't judge, they just explained how Wal-Mart works. As for how they treat their employees, I'm not too sure about that either. As far as I know, they are the biggest employer in the US, and when you consider the trickle down effect, there are millions of people employed because of Wal-Mart. When you employee that many people, you are going to come across a few disgruntled employees, but you will also find many who are thrilled to be working there.

About how the employees are treated.
In Quebec, the workers tried to get a union (like many others) going & guess how Wal-mart solved it?
They closed the whole store. It was brand new too, I think 1-2yrs old.

The Doc. on tv said that Wal-Mart has also fired people or "ring leaders" for tring to start a union.

Remember the part where they scared some of these "ring leaders"?

or how about the parts where SOO many people we're being mugged & raped in the Wal-Mart parkings lots over & over & Wal-Mat didin't give a crap

To me thats BAD treatment of employees!!

**BitsyNaceyDog** · 03-09-2006, 03:46 PM

Originally Posted by Tubby & Peanut's Mom

Oh, another reason I don't like Super Target - or Target in general - is because of something I heard a few years ago. I have no idea if it's true or not, but since I didn't like the store much to begin with, it was enough to make stay away. I heard they will NOT support any Veterans organizations whatsoever. Their take on it is that they have their "preferred" not-for-profit organizations they donate to and that's ALL they'll donate to - no matter who from the local community comes in. Now, I understand that corporations and businesses are bombarded with solicitations from every Tom, Dick and Harry, but sometimes you have to be able to be flexible and support local organizations and the local community. Like I say, I have no idea if this is true or not.

It's not true. See here.

I don't have a super Target (or a Target of any kind) near me. I like them much more than Walmart though. I shop at Walmart a few times a year, and hate it when I do. Justin and I go to Target every now and again, I like some of there things.

**Roxyluvsme13** · 03-09-2006, 04:11 PM

We have one! I love it, but its so crowded, so we dont go there much.

**Tubby & Peanut's Mom** · 03-09-2006, 04:15 PM

Originally Posted by KBlaix

It's not true. See here.

Thanks for the link. Now I know. Somehow I figured it was one of those "urban legends" but like I say, I never really liked Target to begin with and this was just the straw that broke the camels back. Guess the camel can start healing now

although that doesn't mean I'm going to rush right out and go on a shopping spree at Target.

**lizbud** · 03-09-2006, 04:35 PM

I hardly ever shop at Walmart. It's way out near the boonies & I'm
too lazy to drive that far. I did try it once for kitty food because my neighbors told me how cheap it was at Walmart. I couldn't find my cats
favorite brand & they also don't carry the dog food I buy. Most all my
shopping seems to be for food, for myself & the fur kids.

**kimlovescats** · 03-09-2006, 09:53 PM

OH yes ... we have 2 super-centers here. I buy all of my groceries there ... have for years now! In fact I get most everything there that you can possibly get .... Wal-Mart gets all of our money!

**dukedogsmom** · 03-09-2006, 09:56 PM

I love Walmart! There are a few people at planetfeedback.com that can't stand it. They call WalMart the Beast of Bentonville.

**catnapper** · 03-10-2006, 07:17 AM

Originally Posted by dukedogsmom

They call WalMart the Beast of Bentonville.

LOLOLOLOLOLOL

As for how they treat their employees...... that all depends on how compassionate and caring the manager is. My dad worked at one Walmart with a jerk of a boss who didn't give a flip that he's disabled and pretty much told me dad t hat if he didn't find a way to perform ONE task, he'd be fired. Now he's in another store and the manager bends over backwards to accomodate dad's disability.

One of my best friends is a store manager. She's one of the good ones who cares about her employees and they know she's out to protect them as best she can, yet they know she's got to be on them for doing their jobs since her job depends on them doing theirs (did that make sense)

Its like every other job in a large retail corporation. Be it a supermarket, chain clothing store, etc. My job at the pet supply store (name witheld for now

) drives me nuts because they cut my hours. My manager fought it for me, but corporate in their wisdom thought dog trainers only need be in the store when training. How on earth am I to get students if I'm not there to talk to people about our classes??? Ok, back to the topic of the hour

Walmart just seems to constantly be in the line of fire because they are so big.

As for Target -- I always hated that place. I agree with Debbie about annoying commercials!

I also think Target is much more expensive than Wal Mart. I did a test once and bought all the same supplies I typically buy at Walmart. Same brands, same sizes, everything. I spent almost $20 more on the same stuff! And it wasn't even fun stuff -- it was toilet paper, shampoo, Lysol, etc.

**christa** · 03-10-2006, 08:48 AM

You mean to tell me there are other options besides Super Walmart?

LOL

I never even gave it a thought!

**Edwina's Secretary** · 03-10-2006, 01:32 PM

This will probably be a shock....but I refuse to shop at Walmart for political reasons.....

I do not like their tactics in building new stores, but most of all I do not like the way they go about offereing such low prices....btw....grocery stores have about the lowest margins of any business...they make about a nickel in profit on every dollar in sales...so a couple of pennies makes a big difference.

Walmart mistreats their employees (They are being sued for discriminating against women....violating wage and hours laws....locking employees in the store and forcing off the clock work, etc.) they are horrible to their vendors. A store manager may treat the employees in a store well but you can't overcome the corporate policies. Internal memos have been published about the number of employees receiving public assistance for medical insurance because they don't provide it and their plan to hire younger workers to reduce medical costs.

So the money you save at Walmart you are simply paying somewhere else...higher taxes, etc.

Eventually, we in the United States will be selling each other hamburgers and real estate because all the manufacturing jobs will have gone off-shore. But we will be able to buy things cheap at Walmart....

**Lady's Human** · 03-10-2006, 03:09 PM

Let me start this by saying I am a member of a union, but I shop at wal mart, sam's club, target, kmart, or wherever the best prices are.

Having been in a non-union workplace that a union was trying to "organize", I have to question how one sided the reporting on Wal-mart's tactics were in dealing with the union organizers. Much of the reporting on Wal Mart has a blatant agenda. When the company I used to work for was targeted by a union, the employees were given pamphlets on their way in to work (at the entrance to the plant, which was a public way, so they weren't trespassing), and supervisors and mangement were harrassed. The union pamphlets were full of half truths, telling the workers how much their hourly wages would go up under the proposed union contract, but left out the fact that overtime would disappear (by the proposed contract, a third shift would be added, instead of 2 shifts), and that the plant that was working under that contract was closed 3 months out of the year because it was cheaper to run the plant 24/7 for 9 months and then lay everyone off for three months than to keep it running all year. The plant owners were threatened, their CHILDREN were threatened, etc.. It was fairly ugly for a while, the employees looked at the proposal, and did not even hold a vote once everything was on the table.

There isn't a major employer out there that hasn't been sued for discrimination, sexual harassment, labor law violations, you name it. While I was a supervisor in another company, I had 13 employees working for me. All but one was of hispanic extraction (salvadoran, columbian, and mexican). Out of those 12, I had one who was constantly threatening me and the company with lawsuits for race discrimination, labor law violations, and harrassment. He even went to the local congressional delegation with his complaints. They went nowwhere, but you could easily add the company to the list of "bad employers" because of the multitude of complaints filed by one person.

There are other experiences I have had with this issue, including the product demands of the big box stores, but I have no problem with them. They are just trying to get the most from the supplier, and if the demands are unreasonable they aren't going to find a supplier.

Again, I shop wherever the cheapest prices are, and that includes the local grocery store, which frequently beats Wal Mart on both price and quality.