Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Walmart Grocery Shopping

If you've been following this blog you know of the battles Bob and I have over grocery shopping. His preferred store is FredMeyer (Kroger) and mine is Safeway. It would appear we may have found a store on neutral turf, Walmart.

Walmart has recently opened a grocery store near us. It's only sells groceries and has a pharmacy. It's not one of their big box stores. I never used Walmart when we lived in Texas, and until recently it wasn't an option in Oregon.

Every time I enter this new store I have a bad feeling. I keep thinking I'm supposed to be boycotting Walmart for some reason but I don't remember what.

I looked online to see what I could find. It looks like progressives may be boycotting Walmart because they pay low wages and do not give their employees enough hours to require them to have to pay benefits.

I'm assuming this is the issue. Now I have a decision to make. Paying low wages and not paying benefits would make Republicans smile because that would be a money maker for Walmart. Paying low wages and not paying benefits would make Democrats frown because employees would not be making a living wage or have the benefits all Americans need, such as healthcare.

I've never liked Walmart since the day one went in near us in Texas. It was built out of concrete blocks, it was huge, the parking lot was huge, and the building was painted gray and blue. It was one ugly store. The few times I was there It was crowded, and the parking lot and sidewalk areas around the store were dirty. I hate big box stores on a good day and I really don't like crowded ones. Nothing about it was pleasing to the eye.

Now it appears Walmart has finally figured out it might be a good idea to build stores that blend with the surrounding buildings. I have to say this new grocery store is very nice and the architecture blends nicely.

I can't find much to criticize except that I have this nagging feeling I'm not supposed to shop there because they're bad. Are they bad for the economy, bad for other businesses in the area, bad because they pay low wages?

What do you think about Walmart?

20 comments:

  1. I don't know anything about grocery only Walmart stores. That's new to me. Personally I do not shop at Walmart. I assume there is one somewhere around but I don't know where.
    If I lived in a small town where there were few choices, like Jill did in Colorado, I might shop there, but I do have an issue with cheap products produced by poorly paid employees in foreign countries, then sold by poorly paid staff. In the past Walmart has been all about cornering the market but not being a friendly neighbor.

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    1. Thanks, that's helpful information. I don't think I'm going to be comfortable with Walmart. Bob is never going to come around to Safeway. I might as well back my ears and learn to like FredMeyer. The only problem we have right now is road construction that almost totally prevents us getting to FredMeyer. It's a serious pain getting there. I need to check to see how much longer that's going to be going on. I don't think I ever go anywhere here that they aren't doing road construction.

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  2. I love Fred Meijer stores but I don't think they are out your way. If Bob likes Fred Meyer (Kroger) and you like Safeway why not alternate, going to one store the first and third weeks of the month and the second and forth weeks to the other store? That way everyone's preferences are validated.

    I boycott Walmart because the Walton family that owns the chain of stores gives at lot of money to Tea Party candidates and Republican causes. They also pay very low wages and give literature to their employees how to sign up for things like food stamps and other public assistance programs in each state they're in.

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    1. I've never boycotted a store before but I just having a nagging feeling about Walmart. Your suggestion is a good one. For a while we'd been playing between the two stores then daughter came to visit and went to the new Walmart Grocery which is near where our son lives. She came back telling us she thought it would be a good option because it wasn't crowded and had a lot of parking. I don't think I'm going to be able to live with this bad feeling I have. Think we'll go back to playing between the two stores.

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  3. You've certainly hit the hot button issues on Walmart. For most of these things, I think it will be a while before they play out. I think Walmart will just implode as they are too big to manage. When they're not growing things will fall apart.

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    1. I've just never had a good feeling about Walmart. I feel like they're bullies and I don't like it.

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  4. Another thing that I've never liked about Walmart is they have built a lot of stores in smallest towns which has forced a lot of local businesses to go out of business. I like to give my money to stores and chains with a social conscious that a lines closer to my sense of ethics.

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    1. Yes, I do remember now that they did that in small towns in Texas. I think you have to be Republican to like Walmart.

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  5. People love Walmart for the cheap prices, but the true costs to society are not taken into account. I do not shop at Walmart because of their intimidation of manufacturers, pressure to deliver lower and lower prices over time so that eventually the manufacturer can no long stay in business AND the quality of the goods we buy decreases. I realize Walmart is not alone in this, but they do it better than most. Also, I definitely do not want to support the Walton family's political agenda. Google the evils of Walmart. You will hae to sort out biases but you will find enough information to convince you to shop elsewhere.

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    1. Yes, the direction of Walmart's political donations is enough to keep me out of their stores. Looks like Bob and I will just have to continue to battle road construction to get to the grocery stores we've always used.

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  6. I do not like Walmart for the reasons mentioned in comments, also, if you find a product you like - Don't expect it to be there the next time you shop - they either quit selling it or move it so you can't find it and have to 'shop' more of the store. I hate the place.

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    1. It has been a very long time since I've actually shopped in a full Walmart store. After a long battle they bullied their way into a small town near us. It is not convenient to us but we drove out there one day to check it out, found it poorly stocked and haven't been back.

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  7. Well Arkansas is the home of Walmart. The nearest town is very small so there are few options and yes, one of the few options just couldn't compete and closed. I tend to spread my quarters between Walmart and the remaining grocery store depending on what I need.

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  8. Patti, who knows what other companies do? They may do the same as Walmart. I think Walmart being so big makes it feel like they're bullies. Of course they can sell cheaper if they pay lower wages and no benefits but other places I shop may do the same thing and it just hasn't been advertised as much.

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  9. I haven't been in a Walmart located several miles away in a next door city to where I live. I've not seen any of their groceries only stores. When I had more mouths at home to feed and where we lived in other states what I usually purchased at each store if I needed it was based on their loss leaders on sale items. Location also influenced, so often Krogers was used, but never had Safeway close enough. A Krogers under some other name opened nearby out here replacing another store that couldn't survive and they didn't either. Now I'm really pleased as I have access to a quality chain here called Stater Bros., a Trader Joe's, Sprouts, and an independent local market plus a chain Von's. I enjoy Farmers Markets in each of surrounding cities and my own. I've been displeased with Walmart for many years for all the reasons others have described, but if I lived in an area with fewer options where I could shop, necessity would probably compel me to go there. However, with the Internet now, many items could be ordered that way I guess, but that brings up another of my concerns about not wanting to see brick & mortar stores put out of business & then can only shop online. That's kinda like going back to the days when to have a variety of choices people in small towns, country, remote areas ordered from Sears, "Monkey" Ward, and J.C. Penny catalogs.

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    1. You made me smile. Hadn't thought of 'Monkey' Ward in many years. We have other options so I think we'll go back to shopping at those. The reason this store even appealed to me in the slightest was because it has a huge parking lot and very few cars. Inside the store there's very few shoppers. Most of the time they only have one check out lane working. They're going to need more business I think. I'm wondering now if I should check on Amazon and see if they do business like Walmart, maybe not.

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  10. I'm like you. I've been conditioned to think Negative about Walmart and Sam's Club. I don't like their employment policies except there are moms and college students that need part time work. So I guess there is something good about it but still I feel guilty too.

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    1. Like you I recognize there could be some benefit to students and others who only need part time work. I think I'm turned off because of their political contributions. I don't want to support their choices.

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  11. I practically live next door to Walmart, it is the closest store though I have several choices within another seven or eight blocks. As a result I tend to do a circuit, picking up the items at my preferred stores (Safeway/Sobey's and Co-op) before circling back to Walmart to pick up a few items. I won't buy meat or produce there, it's never fresh and doesn't last even the best before dates.

    I don't know about the U.S. but in Canada, unless a store is unionized, the wages at all stores are minimum wage. Walmart is definitely not unionized, but does tend to hire new immigrants, unlike several of the other stores. So it is sort of a balancing act - one I'm not going to feel too horribly guilty about.

    Good luck finding a store, both you and your husband can agree on.

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    1. It's only a grocery store near us. My sister-in-law in Texas has mentioned to me that they do hire new immigrants. There's also students who just need part-time work, and sometimes mothers who can work while their children are in school and don't need to rely on Walmart for healthcare. No doubt Walmart is not the only one, it is however probably the largest one.

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