Why don't more people know about Walmart?

[demgurl]

I was in a grocery store today and there was a customer checking out in front of me. The cashier said what a great deal the customer got on ice cream. The lady leaned forward and sort of whispered she usually gets it at Walmart because it is sooo much cheaper. She then leaned in again and whispered, to the cashier, about some of the other deals Walmart always has. The cashier ended the sale by saying she might have to stop by Walmart on the way after work.

I know enough not to attack people because they just will not listen. I wanted to shake the little girl who was the cashier but I took a different route. I waited for the old lady to leave and then leaned in as she had done and whispered, "I would not shop at Walmart if someone paid me a $1,000 to do so" and I chuckled. The girl's eyes flew open wide and she asked why!!!!

At this point I had two options : I could bang my head over and over again on the counter or I could explain it to her. I knew the latter idea would hurt me a lot less and so I went on to explain the horror that is Walmart. She kind of stood there trying to take in the condensed version of information I had to give her since there were three customers behind her. She finally said that the dollar store has items pretty cheap and she could shop there. I am not sure if it really sunk in with her or she was saying it to just agree with me. I hope she was educated somewhat on the evils that lurk behind the blue trademark name.

I know some people could not care less how their shopping effects others but how is it that people still do not know how bad Walmart is? I am honestly thinking of printing up information so I can hand it out to people. It should not be this hard to get information out and people should be educated on where they shop.

Thanks for letting me vent.

[cynatnite]

1. Understandable, but keep in mind

It is cheaper than a lot of stores. With more tight budgets these days and it being harder to make the money stretch Walmart does offer products that are cheaper.

[napi21]

7. I don't disagree that it's cheaper on packaged items.

Canned goods, Cereal, Soap Tishues etc. But DON't BUT produce there! Check the meat carefully too!

I can't tell you why the produce is bad, but it doesn't last, under the best circumstances, for more than 2 days!

Meats are ok if you just want something to cook and serve. They won't hurt you, but they sure won't taste great either.

Couple all that with how they treat their employees, what effect they have on small towns, I won't shop there.

[demgurl]

11. The thing is, they are not cheaper.....

I heard a bit on NPR the other day and they said that it is a mis-perception and that the basics that people note prices on such as milk and bread are cheaper, but the other items are not! People for some reason do not seem to notice they are paying more!

[Robbien]

2. Where would people even hear about the evil which is WalMart

Its not in the papers or on the news. Only word of mouth and the internet gets the truth out there. And now because of you there is one more person in the know.

[Conservativesux]

4. Its on talk-radio more and more, but that doesnt hit home for joe six-pack

,his wife jane and thier four kids, on a tight budget.

Very sad days indeed.

[DanCa]

3. Maybe its the cell phones?

Wall mart shoppers are too busy yakking on cell phones to notice thier surroundings. I dont really expect them to care about nothing untill its right in their face.

[FloridaPat]

5. The work "quality" left the American vocabulary ages ago.

We only look at price. The supply thousands of jobs. Most people think a job is good and don't bite the hand that feeds you. At least they're not laying off. As a side not, have you gone over the merchandise in any store and noted where it's mostly coming from? China. Cracker Barrel has a ton of stuff from China. K-Mart. Wal-Mart. And that's with them keeping their money tied to the dollar. We're dead and just don't know it yet.

[warrens]

6. Wal-Mart's day is coming

But their advertising and word of mouth is dynamite. They DO offer great deals. The catch is, they do it in unethical and heavy-handed ways. If Wal-Mart went out of business, two things would happen immediately. China would go into a deep recession, and consumer prices here would rise. There would probably even be shortages of some items, since Wal-Mart virtually owns some overseas industries and they would collapse without their main customer.

That would self-correct within a few months, as the dollar stores and grocery stores added those products. Right now, Wal-Mart is in flopsweat mode. The dollar stores (most of which are run by pretty progressive people) on the lower end, and Target and resurgent department stores on the upper end are growing; Wal-Mart is stagnating. And like a shark, it has to keep swimming or die.

Expecting the average kid on the street to understand all this is asking too much. To most people, Wal-Mart is just a fact of life, just like Kmart and Sears used to be.

[The2ndWheel]

8. We need stuff

We've been told from birth that we need it. We're constantly reminded with every step we take that we need it. Nobody "needs" cheap ice cream. But if it's cheaper, we must have it, so our overlords repeat day in and day out. Cheap stuff, whatever it is, is good for the consumer. Since that's all we are, if it's that good for us, we have to have it.

When, as a society, we stop thinking we need everything they put in a store, Wal-Mart will disappear. That is if they haven't put everyone else out of business by the time we wise up. Then we're completely screwed.

[merh]

9. It's just my personal opinion, but

boycotting Walmart because of the management's treatment of their employees and other such liberal views is like the sanctions against Iraq. The only ones harmed by the boycotts are the employees.

If you cause a major employer to shut down a store, who are you hurting? The employees that work there and the citizens that live on a budget and shop there.

To improve Walmart conditions, the ideal thing to do is to get employees more involved in the management and empower them to make the improvements from within. Also, we need to elect representatives to office that will pass labor laws that do not allow corporations like Walmart to play the system, we have to hold them accountable legally, economically will do nothing more than hurt the employees we want to save. In my area, the Walmarts employ a lot of folks who would not have work, but for Walmart.

[demgurl]

12. Actually, the biggest reason I boycott them...

is not the workers and how they are treated and nor is it the sweatshop products. All of these reasons do factor into it, but it is not my biggest reason. I am a former rape victim (former because I refuse to be a victim any more) and I refuse to shop there because they refuse to carry the morning after pill. The morning after pill is primarily used for rape victims and I feel this shows a callous disregard for all a rape victim has to go through. There are also other reasons, of course. yes, I realize putting them out of business would hurt the employees but they did not seem to care about all the businesses they put out of business for the almighty dollar. Perhaps some of the old businesses could open up again and there would not only be better jobs but a higher pay and better benefits.

People have tried to improve from within but the moment a union was taken on, such as was the case in Canada, Walmart shut their doors rather than let their employees have benefits!

Anyway, as a former rape victim, there is not much I can do to convince the moral right to carry the morning after pill but carrying this pill is an important and non-negotiable point to me. They are saying they do not care what someone goes through and if you ever have someone close to you go through a rape, you will know how horrific this attitude is.

[nonconformist]

16. Sacrifice for the greater good

It's a dilemma. It's also one few people seem to feel strongly about anymore.

In small towns and rural areas, Walmarts put local Mom & Pops out of business. They hold down wages in the community. They drain social programs. They even cause other retail chains to bail out or not move into a community. It could be argued that long-term, it's beneficial for a community for their Walmart to shut down. Of course there are the short-term issues, thus the dilemma. I would compare it to the dilemma of a person in desperate need of work crossing a picket line to become a scab.

Also, employee treatment isn't the only valid reason for boycotting. There are a host of reasons to not want to give that corporation your hard earned money.

[shanti]

10. quick and dirty answer?

they just don't give a damn.

[demgurl]

13. I wish there was just some way to make them see

how their actions effect the whole community. They are ignorant.

[nonconformist]

14. My personal experience is

Is that a great deal of people, whether they shop there or not, realize it's evil. They may not know a whole lot about it, but they know it's bad. But they continue to shop there because it's cheap and in many cases their options are limited since it's put local competition out of business.

You should print out fliers and hand them out and put them on bulletin boards. I'm going to start doing that too.

[Conservativesux]

17. Make sure you can prove everything you post, else these bastards

will sic a pack of thier money-hungry attorneys on you faster then you can yell "Made in China" !

Don't think Wallymart wont put out a few PI's to track down anyone who they precieve as a threat to thier "good name".

These people are bloodsucking maggots of the worst kind, IMO.

[DebJ]

15. I would've said: YOU make less money because of Wal Mart

on edit: Even a Republican can feel that pain!