I struggle every day with the clutter that my family has accumulated over the last 20 years. After reading an article about Wal-Mart's slipping influence over the retail universe ,I realize they did it to themselves. A quote from the article said, "For the first time in a long time, quality has a chance to gain on price." I truly believe in America's effort to gain more and more stuff we also began to let go of our need for quality. Wal-Mart took advantage of that and has provided us with massive amounts of low quality "stuff" for the last 20 years. Homes are packed to the rim with items that are neither needed and rarely truly wanted. We build more and more storage facilities to house the extra stuff.
I stopped shopping at Wal-Mart 3 months ago and have felt incrediably free. I spend less time in lines, I don't purchase sensless items and my checking acount is a little healthier. Just wondered what everyone else thought about the Wal-Mart era.
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I absolutely LOVE Wal-Mart. I seem to find myself there a few times a week. YES, I agree it does take a toll on my wallet. But I am pretty good about what I need and what I want. There's where people need to learn the difference. We have to be responsible about what we are spending. You don't have to come home with things you don't need that is just what people choose to do. I only go and buy the things that I need and come home. Now I use to go and buy things, come home, and think why did I buy that? But, I always return it because I don't need anymore junk in my house than I allready have. Pretty much it just boils down to people being more responsible. It don't just have to be at Wal-mart but at every store we go to.
The only reason I shop at Walmart is because most of them are open 24/7. I like getting up very early and getting my shopping done before 8:00am. I love it, but I think their marketing strategy tricks us into buying things we really don't need. What's the difference between $5.00 and $4.98? Nothing, but we buy things that end in .98 thinking we are getting a great deal.
I think Wal-Mart has become a sort of necessary evil. It's cheap and convenient so quality has gone by the way side. Is this good? Probably not.. But that seems to be the way our society is going.
I think the European lifestyle makes more sense. After traveling I've been able to see that in Europe especially, people go for quality over quantity. There are separate specialty stores for meat, cheese, wine, baked goods, clothing, fabric, etc. They are used to purchasing higher quality items than we are here. Wal-Marts in Europe have failed and shut down. People there are not willing to forgo superior quality in order to save a buck and buy everything in one place.
I agree that the mentality of quality over quantity is more desirable. But this country is so far steeped in commercialism that I don't foresee a change any time in the near future.
I was just in my basement, and there is an abundance of items that i have not used since i moved here 2 years ago. Instead of digging I shop and just buy the same items over verses looking through boxes for them. I think it is more of a personal issue than a "Walmart" issue, but I do understand where you are comming from.
I really only shop there when I don't feel like going to a specialty store (meaning like an EB games for games, publix or ingles for food, etc). I hardly find anything there that is better than if I went to store made around what I need, but it is convenient if Wal-Mart is closer by.
I think Walmart is OK. I only go there when something is TRUELY needed and I only stick to buying that item. I've never had a problem with the quality of what I buy. They are also open all day, everyday, and that is a big plus!The only thing that bothers me is, as you have said,the rediculously long lines. Every Walmart has at least 20-something registers and usually only 5 of them are open. I think Walmart plays a very smart game in this industry. Their products may not be any better than anyone else's, but, they make it seem that way. And for this, I applaud them.
I saw this video on jibjab.com that poked fun at Walmart in this way. It was a musical that showed this man who shopped exclusivly at Walmart and lost all his money so he ended up working at Walmart. Funny as this video was, it has truth to it. As I walked down the ailes at Walmart I noticed the products put up messily and the items strewn on the floor that seemed to become acceptible for the people who shopped there. I do believe that Walmart has led America to sell its soul in the quality department. The stores are messy but the prices are low. The products are shabby but the prices low. Maybe we will change...
I know exactly how it is. WalMart is almost just filled with a lot of things you dont really need. I can go in there looking for a pack of pencils and come out with an $80 bill.
The trick to not doing any unnecessary spending or rat packing is to think like the merchants not the consumers. For example when you look through the sales paper and find a deal on toilet tissue then proceed to the store to purchase it, where does the merchant usually put all the items they have on sale? They put them in the back of the store, of course. If the merchant puts the item on sale in the back of their store the consumer has to search and walk past several intriguing items that are also on sale, resulting in unnecessary purchases. So how can you avoid this? Take only enough money in the store for the item(s) you came for, and if you are the type that only uses debit cards to purchase everything, STOP! Go get just enough money out of the ATM for your purchase; you don’t have to walk around with your whole direct deposited pay check in your pocket.
I agree with several of the posts, that the ulimate responsibility lies with personal will power. I just feel as though I am being forced to fight that temptation with every sales flyer, and end cap of "specials" each time I walk through the door. Not to mention the pressure from my kids to get something everytime we walk through the door.
A group of friends and I recently did a study. There were 12 of us who gathered together all the Walmart receipts we could find in our cars, homes and purses. We sat down and tallied up, from 220 receipts, the number of items we purchased that we did not go into the store to buy initally. Out of the 220 only 7 receipts had ONLY the items that were what we went in for. 9 receipts were too old or with too many items and we couldn't remember. 96 had 2 to 5 extra items and 108 had more than 5 items on the receipts that they did not intend to purchase.
The 12 of us come from all walks of life with different marital status, professions, and ages. I was shocked, because I thought it was just me. I believe convieience makes us numb, we don't realize all the stuff we are accumulating until its time to clean out a closet, or in Carla's case, the basement.
I truly wonder where we would be without walmart....better...or worse??
I like to shop at Wal-Mart because they have just about everything and the cost is often less. I never assume that Wal-Mart has the best price though, especially if I am looking at spending a large amount of money on an item, such as a TV. On the larger purchases I make, I often shop several different stores, including specialty stores such as Circuit City, before making my purchase. For the smaller items, like groceries, I do think Wal-Mart has a good selection, with competitive prices and often buy products there because it is convenient.
Walmart is not bad.When I came to US about 5 years ago Walmart wasn't as good as it is right. It got better throughout the years.It's pretty cheap and its open 24/7 so thats a good thing.I only buy groceries there, others stuff seems to be not as good as it is in the other stores.On the other side stores like Kroger and Publix are little bit more expensive, but they also have bigger variety to choose from.They sell more healthier stuff as well.
I love Walmart but sadly everything there is really bad quality...Almost everything in America today is bad quality and thats why a lot of things are cheap. I buy the more expensive items and I never have problems with them. I think we should have a store called AmeriMart and everything in the store is made in America only. It may be more expensive but they would always be better quality and would help the economy even more.
I have never been a big Wal-mart shopper, I used to shop at the super Wal-mart for my groceries but I found that Kroger has better deals on what I need. I never find myself buying things "not on the list" at Wal-mart however, Target is a different story- a girl can get in trouble in there :)
I love to shop at Target versus Walmart because I think the quality is so much better. I believe you get what you pay for. I also buy only what I need. The other thing I do is for every one item I buy, I get rid of two items. This way, the clutter doesn't occur.
I go to wal-mart all the time and I just buy what I need. I think it's more of a self-control issue than anything
I think walmart is very convenient. I do agree however that walmart does lack in quality in certain areas like produce. I spend less money at walmart than i would spend at any other grocery store. Its open 24 hours, so that in itself gives it an edge over the others. We cant blame walmart for unneccessary purchases. You have to be responsible enough to spend wisely.
I also think WalMart has become a neccesary evil. I only go there because on a limited budget, there are only so many places a person can shop. Sometimes I catch myself wandering but it's very rare that I will buy anything I don't need. My husband on the other hand just likes to spend money. No matter where we are.
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