Headline: American Families Now Save $2,500 a Year, Thanks to Wal-Mart

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinanceDude I don't save $2500 a year at WalMart, but I am pretty sure I save $1000 a year at Sam's Club....... 10 pounds of frozen chicken breasts? Yum!!

Ewwww... when I evacuated for Katrina, I left 50 pounds of newly purchased chicken, fish, and shrimp in my freezer, along with a couple of steaks for good measure. When I returned, what a mess. After a couple of weeks with no electricity and hot, late summer temperatures, opening that freezer was an experience I would wish on nobody.

Frank was such a sweetheart. He actually did the first cleaning of that refrigerator for me. What a great guy! Just going in the house after it had been opened was enough to make me want to pass out.

I wouldn't keep over a pound of frozen chicken any more for anything, especially during hurricane season. A half pound is more like it. Since I am single, I don't have to have very much food on hand at any given time, so that works out nicely.

[Khan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Want2retire We have a little neighborhood Ace hardware store, as small as any old-fashioned hardware store you ever saw, and they actually hire people that know hardware and are pleasant and helpful. They always have what I want, even when the big box stores don't. The prices are higher, but I always leave smiling!

I love ACE.

Whatever I'm paying for the extra service, it's worth it.

When I wrenched my back, they would wheel stuff out and load it into the car.

[bosco]

I refuse to shop at Walmart because I deplore their business practices.

If you buy Levis at Walmart, you are not getting the same Levis you get at a different store. You are getting thinner cloth, and poorer stitching. Walmart leans on companies to cut costs and in many cases puts out special lower-quality marks. So just because you are buying 'brand x', you may well be getting a lesser product than 'brand x' at another store.

I heard an interview with the author of "the WalMart Effect." I haven't read the book yet but intend to. It validated much of what I had heard in other places.

Amazon.com: The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works--and How It's Transforming the American Economy: Books: Charles Fishman


Obviously, it's a free market. I'd rather pay a bit more than patronize business that, IMO, are this damaging. But I wonder if the $2,500 includes deductions for the lower quality. Somehow, I doubt it.

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bosco I refuse to shop at Walmart because I deplore their business practices. If you buy Levis at Walmart, you are not getting the same Levis you get at a different store. You are getting thinner cloth, and poorer stitching. Walmart leans on companies to cut costs and in many cases puts out special lower-quality marks. So just because you are buying 'brand x', you may well be getting a lesser product than 'brand x' at another store.

I don't buy clothes there, mostly Kohls and TJ Maxx..............

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Want2retire Ewwww... when I evacuated for Katrina, I left 50 pounds of newly purchased chicken, fish, and shrimp in my freezer, along with a couple of steaks for good measure. When I returned, what a mess. After a couple of weeks with no electricity and hot, late summer temperatures, opening that freezer was an experience I would wish on nobody. Frank was such a sweetheart. He actually did the first cleaning of that refrigerator for me. What a great guy! Just going in the house after it had been opened was enough to make me want to pass out. I wouldn't keep over a pound of frozen chicken any more for anything, especially during hurricane season. A half pound is more like it. Since I am single, I don't have to have very much food on hand at any given time, so that works out nicely.

I live in the MidWest, no hurricanes here..........

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinanceDude I live in the MidWest, no hurricanes here..........

I'm hightailing it up to Missouri as soon as I can ER!!! Looks like 2010. No hurricanes is just fine with me!

Meanwhile, every time I evacuate for a hurricane, the contents of my lovely NEW refrigerator will be in an ice chest by my side, or else in the trash. I will never come home to that again, if I can help it.

[Texas Proud]

Well... I went there last night to look at car batteries.... my mom's died and I need to pick her up a new one..

Well, for $69 you can get one with 550 CCA.... at Advanced you can get a 700 CCA for a whopping $60... at Auto Zone it is 720 CCA for $70...

It does not seem like I am saving any money at Wally..

[REWahoo]

Don't think I'm saving anywhere near $2,500 at WW but I like the one-stop shopping convenience. My shopping cart contents today:

- Bananas
- Coffee
- Foam fishing floats (for toilet tank 'upgrade')
- 1" wood drill bit
- Two markdown golf shirts ($6 each - how can you pass on a deal like that?)
- 4-pole trailer wiring kit
- Prescription refill
- Plastic wastebasket

Not too many other places you can go to find all that in one spot. Yeah, they sell cheap Chinese crap, but so does almost everyone else....

[bssc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texas Proud Well... I went there last night to look at car batteries.... my mom's died and I need to pick her up a new one.. Well, for $69 you can get one with 550 CCA.... at Advanced you can get a 700 CCA for a whopping $60... at Auto Zone it is 720 CCA for $70... It does not seem like I am saving any money at Wally..

You are saving money since WM drove the prices down at all the other places to compete and stay in business. And they drove down prices at their suppliers. At least this is the theory.

[justin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texas Proud Well... I went there last night to look at car batteries.... my mom's died and I need to pick her up a new one.. Well, for $69 you can get one with 550 CCA.... at Advanced you can get a 700 CCA for a whopping $60... at Auto Zone it is 720 CCA for $70... It does not seem like I am saving any money at Wally..

Wow - last two times I priced batteries (this past weekend and 1 year ago), walmart was $5-10 cheaper for similar CCA batteries. They also had free installation like Autozone (don't know about Advanced). However, the deal breaker for me was the wait at walmart was between 2 hours and a day for a battery install. Autozone gets you in and out, including free diagnostic in 15-20 minutes. Obviously a dead battery is something pretty important to the continuing operation of a vehicle, so I ponied up the extra $10 and went with the non-walmart choice. But it is great to know that I can shop for groceries, car batteries and tires all in the same store!

[twaddle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bosco If you buy Levis at Walmart, you are not getting the same Levis you get at a different store. You are getting thinner cloth, and poorer stitching. Walmart leans on companies to cut costs and in many cases puts out special lower-quality mark.

There was an article in the NY Times the other day on lead paint in Chinese toys. A manufacturer said, "We only use lead paint when our client demands a certain price point. We can use any paint they'd like, but lead paint is cheaper."

[Texas Proud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by justin Wow - last two times I priced batteries (this past weekend and 1 year ago), walmart was $5-10 cheaper for similar CCA batteries. They also had free installation like Autozone (don't know about Advanced). However, the deal breaker for me was the wait at walmart was between 2 hours and a day for a battery install. Autozone gets you in and out, including free diagnostic in 15-20 minutes. Obviously a dead battery is something pretty important to the continuing operation of a vehicle, so I ponied up the extra $10 and went with the non-walmart choice. But it is great to know that I can shop for groceries, car batteries and tires all in the same store!

Yea... I was surprised also.... but I get to put it in since my mom had her car towed home when it died...

And BSSC, I would bet that the price of the others are down because of Walmart, but how do you explain them to be CHEAPER??

I can buy a 630 CCA at O'Reilly at $43.... a lot less then the Walmart.

[Citizen~of~the~World]

and they are volume buyer, and they really saved money for all of us average Americans. Wal-Mart buyers can go into any factory or vendor demanding that they cut their prices. Meet Walmart's prices or be dropped. In China, many factories were squeezed by Walmart, and yes, the price dropped and Walmarts profit goes up, and all of us Americans can buy cheap. But little did we know most of the products we get are substandard and could even be harmful too. When Walmart buyers squeeze the vendor, they have to find ways to cut cost and deliver the goods. So they use cheaper industrial grade materials for consumer products. Example: Industrial salt to consumer salt, toxic paint to safe paint for toys and all sorts. In the end, Walmart or Mattel will blame Chinese manufacturers for the poor quality but themselves. If they have quality and fair pricing in their sourcing system to begin with, I am sure the quality will be under control. By all means, this is not Walmart bashing but whenever I travel to far east and meet factory owners, I heard them lament about Walmart buyers placing pressure on them to cut cost. In the end, its us consumers that suffer when we buy substandard products. Cheers!

[Bikerdude]

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Originally Posted by Citizen~of~the~World By all means, this is not Walmart bashing but whenever I travel to far east and meet factory owners, I heard them lament about Walmart buyers placing pressure on them to cut cost. In the end, its us consumers that suffer when we buy substandard products. Cheers!

Yeah, all those honorable Chinese businessmen that respect product and intellectual license and rights. And how about their great human rights and environmental progress. They certainly show us how evil that old Wal-Mart is.

[Citizen~of~the~World]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bikerdude Yeah, all those honorable Chinese businessmen that respect product and intellectual license and rights. And how about their great human rights and environmental progress. They certainly show us how evil that old Wal-Mart is.

In terms of honorable chinese businessman and China itself as a country, that is another debatable subject that could go for pages. As long as the country is moving forward, it has it problems. Most chinese businessman in China only worships money, and could sell you their mother-in-law and wouldn't blink a bit. So when you mix Walmart and those businessmen who will do anything to meet the price, the losers are consumers like us. In every society, there are honorable and unscrupulous businessmen. We can start with the CEO of Enron for US and the FDA Chief of China who allow untested drugs to flood the market. Its unfortunate that we Americans continue to buy and enjoy the fruits of cheap labor from China and feed these chinese businessmen and Walmart. We wake up in the morning by the alarm clock made in China, drive a Japanese car, yak into a chinese made Nokia phone and come back to prepare dinner in a Korean oven and watch TV made in China. Now we wonder why we some of us couldnt find a job around here. In China, you and I hv no rights, not to mention human rights. When you are taken in, you can get an attorney to plead for lesser sentence. That's the way the society works. Wanna go biking in China one of these days? You are welcome to join me. Cheers!

[Average Joe]

It's not just about saving money:

By shopping at WalMart, I conserve the planet’s valuable resources. I forgo the higher quality (and therefore more resource intensive) products available elsewhere. So my trash bags are thinner because they’re made using less petrochemicals than other trash bags? They’re good enough for what I’m going to do with them. So my feather duster doesn’t have an expensively finished hardwood handle? I feel good that no rainforest giants were felled to make it. So that table I bought was made with 100% recycled plastic instead of mahogany? That’s OK, I don’t mind recycled plastic and even though it’s cheap and low quality, it serves my purposes and uses fewer resources to do so.

By shopping at WalMart, I combat global warming. Instead of driving around to different specialized outlets, I find everything under one roof that thereby save fuel and reduce my carbon footprint.

By shopping at WalMart, I help Mom and Pop store owners – the ones that own Walmart stock. And as a member of a Mom and Pop team myself, I save money and TIME by shopping at WalMart along with all the other Moms and Pops I see shopping there whenever I go.

Some things I’d definitely shop for elsewhere. Shoes, for example; I prefer shoes of higher quality than I believe are available there (maybe I’m mistaken and should look closer at Walmart shoes). But not everything I use needs to be made to the highest standards – that would be wasteful in my opinion. Just good enough is in many cases best.

[Bikerdude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Average Joe By shopping at WalMart, I help Mom and Pop store owners – the ones that own Walmart stock. And as a member of a Mom and Pop team myself, I save money and TIME by shopping at WalMart along with all the other Moms and Pops I see shopping there whenever I go. .

Yeah I see lots of Mom & Pops shopping at WM. Mostly retired looking for bargains. The other big group is minorities looking to stretch a dollar. They really like Wal-Mart.

[citril]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bosco I heard an interview with the author of "the WalMart Effect." I haven't read the book yet but intend to. It validated much of what I had heard in other places. Amazon.com: The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works--and How It's Transforming the American Economy: Books: Charles Fishman

It's ironic when a book describing the negative impact on local retailers is linked to from Amazon.com

[Bikerdude]

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Originally Posted by citril It's ironic when a book describing the negative impact on local retailers is linked to from Amazon.com

Welcome to "free enterprise"

[youbet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by citril It's ironic when a book describing the negative impact on local retailers is linked to from Amazon.com

Good catch citril! Yeah, it is ironic.

Our Walmart situation here in Chicago-land seems to be working a little differently than it is in small town America. The city of Chicago itself, to the best of my knowledge, has no Walmarts. Here in the suburbs, there are Walmarts and Sam's Clubs, but they have tough competition and are considered just another big box discount store available to check for best prices/quality/service. They clearly don't dominate.

There is a Walmart about two miles from me. It occupies a building formerly occupied by a KMart. I think they're doing a better job in all regards than the KMart folks did. And I'm glad they're there competing with the other big box discount stores for both customers and employees. It keeps everyone honest and on their toes.