walmart is here!

[René_Julien]

We have an odd variation in the local towns at night, where a lady will offer you a bit of fun in an alley(not for money), but while the deed is happening, will steal your wallet, lol.

I've not heard of your storys(for lack of a better word) happening in the Lidl and Aldi's here, but I don't ever visit them at night, so it is a possibility.

No, you must have misunderstood me.

It's during when those stores are open.
The "payment" is a shopping cart filled to the brim with whatever you can find at an Aldi or Lidl.

So next time you see a man and a woman with a full cart at the cash register, keep in mind that there is a slight possibility that they might not be a couple.

 

[Darkstrike]

No, you must have misunderstood me.

It's during when those stores are open.
The "payment" is a shopping cart filled to the brim with whatever you can find at an Aldi or Lidl.

So next time you see a man and a woman with a full cart at the cash register, keep in mind that there is a slight possibility that they might not be a couple.

No, I understood you, I just assumed it was happening closer to closing time, dunno why.

 

[thehangingmist]

nooooooooooo! dont derail the thread anymore please

 

[thehangingmist]

what i was actually wondering about was that Walmart has a reputation of driving others out of business since they are so big that its difficult to compete. but HERE they are foreigners, if they sell stuff made outside they pay for shipping, duties, excise etc right?
hence it gets interesting. it'll surely open the market here further some stuff which is a little hard to find would be prolly more available. they will have to compete with super cheap superstore chains which already exist here though

 

[rustynuts]

The difference between Walmart and other superstore chains is their sheer volume. They are so large that in some cases they don't ASK the manufacturer for a discount, they TELL the manufacturer what they will pay for an item, and then buy them by the shipping container load.

I'm sure the company has done their research on your area and if they didn't think they could come in and compete against the locals, they wouldn't be there.

 

[thehangingmist]

The difference between Walmart and other superstore chains is their sheer volume. They are so large that in some cases they don't ASK the manufacturer for a discount, they TELL the manufacturer what they will pay for an item, and then buy them by the shipping container load.

I'm sure the company has done their research on your area and if they didn't think they could come in and compete against the locals, they wouldn't be there.

yep thats right on!

 

[warwick.hoy]

Aldi?

I've seen one of those in Pennsylvania. It was a discount place...sort of like an end of the line for dent and scratch dry goods, nearly expired perishable items, and questionable produce. Like TJ Maxx, Marshalls, or Ross (If Europeans even know what those are)....for food. Sound about right????

No pics, no welfare moms and juggalos, lol.

I can take pictures if you want me to, but let me paint a picture. (The wal-mart bingo card is right on the money). Here in Spokane the median household income is a little over $30,000 a year and 16% of the population live below the poverty line. The population of the region hovers around 450,000 people (200,000 within city limits). The area is 90% (painfully) White. We have (I have to count) 4 Walmarts in the area; 5 if you count the one just into the border of Idaho. In a nutshell...Spokane is an impoverished area.

This town is on the fringe of the midwest and a majority of people are about 5 years behind the times in terms of music, style and culture. There is a hipster scene with people that are "with it", but it's a drama filled joke. The town is full of white boy wannabe ganstas, white makeup wearing juggalos, rednecks and white trash. Lots of fanny packs and denim shorts riding up the front butt. There is also quite a community of sex offenders (I hear shipped in from Seattle, but I don't know for sure) and people in poor mental health, many of them with drug (meth) and alcohol problems. The homeless community is quite large as well. There is a bit of a Military community, but they all live west of here on the AF base. Why wouldn't Wal-Mart love this place. Where else can one go and spend one's entire SSI/Welfare check at one place?

I'm poor myself and not trying to claim that I am better than these people, but I try to have a little dignity. I use mass transit even though I have a car at my disposal. There are a few buses that go by Wal-Marts. On the 1st and the 15th...I do not get on those buses. Imagine all the people described above...except crammed in a metal tube hurdling down the road.

 

[René_Julien]

I've seen one of those in Pennsylvania. It was a discount place...sort of like an end of the line for dent and scratch dry goods, nearly expired perishable items, and questionable produce. Like TJ Maxx, Marshalls, or Ross (If Europeans even know what those are)....for food. Sound about right????

That does not sound about right.

Was that store connected with this: http://www.aldi.com.

Actually, that chain of grocery stores are not that bad.
The food is actually of rather good quality.
All cheap brands in there mostly come from Germany.

For each item there is only one brand they offer.
For example: the cola they sell is River Cola, and that's all of cola you can find there.
While the "high class" grocery stores have a couple of expensive brand names (Coca Cola, Pepsi) and couple more of inexpensive brands... as cheap and "terrible" as Aldis River cola.
Same with potato chips. In Aldis just one kind.
That's why their stores are so small.

And that's what I like about Aldi... you don't need to choose.
Instead of: "should I try this brand of coffee, or that one... this is more expensive than that one...". In an Aldi there is just one brand. Just take the coffee and go.

Aldis over here still have a negative reputation because in the past they were considered stores for poor people. Still today because they don't offer expensive brands.
But the quality of their cheap products is actually better then the cheap "inferior" product at a "high class" store.


I confess I shop at Aldi.
Their gin is good, and their white wine can actually rival with expensive wines. Love the frozen pizzas.
And the Ole chocolate biscuits are the same as Milkas Leo, it comes from the same factory. Only one is in a different package, hasn't got the word Milka on it and is 5 times cheaper.

On topic... an Aldi is nothing like a Walmart.

 

[warwick.hoy]

C'Thulu...I checked the store location and there are several around were my grandparents live in Pennsylvania and the locations are the same. They live on a fixed income and that's were they would go to get certain items.

After reading your description....I'm remembering wrong. There are chains like the one I described here in the states called Grocery Outlet, and I was getting the two confused.

 

[Vorago]

Boecht van den Aldi!

 

[popinfresh]

It's a funny thing with Wal Mart.. I went into one for the first time the other day. The juice I really like here is expensive, 5 bucks canadian for the 2 litres or whatever from Safeway. At Wal Mart, it's $3.50. At the local guy across the street, or 6.50 or 7 dollars.
Where do you think I'm going to get it from? It's not like Safeway is much less evil than Wal Mart, and there's no way i'm paying double the amount for the same product.

As much as I 'hate' Wal Mart, you can't really be too against them. It was most likely some ordinary persons idea to have a giant bulk store so that the general public can save costs (heck, places like cost-co and save on foods here have the same principle). If they get rich at the same time, good for them. They employ a hell of a lot of people as well.

FWIW when Aldi opened in Australia there was a fair bit of backlash, mainly because it was foreign and not 'Australian'. Thing is most of the products in there are at least from Australian companies/farmers, but just made for Aldi, where if you shop at somewhere like Coles (grocery store/supermarket), it's an American owned company which love to say they're Australian because they once were. They also have their own strangling line of products (for virtually everything, 'you'll love coles' chips, drink, hair product, meat, lollies, spices, cleaning products, frozen foods etc etc) which puts money straight back into their own coffers. Hardly anymore Australian than Aldi, but more expensive.
Aldi was definitely a great place when backpacking around Aus when you had to live cheap

 

[Jared Lash]

I can take pictures if you want me to, but let me paint a picture. (The wal-mart bingo card is right on the money). Here in Spokane the median household income is a little over $30,000 a year and 16% of the population live below the poverty line. The population of the region hovers around 450,000 people (200,000 within city limits). The area is 90% (painfully) White. We have (I have to count) 4 Walmarts in the area; 5 if you count the one just into the border of Idaho. In a nutshell...Spokane is an impoverished area.

This town is on the fringe of the midwest and a majority of people are about 5 years behind the times in terms of music, style and culture. There is a hipster scene with people that are "with it", but it's a drama filled joke. The town is full of white boy wannabe ganstas, white makeup wearing juggalos, rednecks and white trash. Lots of fanny packs and denim shorts riding up the front butt. There is also quite a community of sex offenders (I hear shipped in from Seattle, but I don't know for sure) and people in poor mental health, many of them with drug (meth) and alcohol problems. The homeless community is quite large as well. There is a bit of a Military community, but they all live west of here on the AF base. Why wouldn't Wal-Mart love this place. Where else can one go and spend one's entire SSI/Welfare check at one place?

Wow, had no idea about Spokane. My trips to Washington have pretty much all been to Seattle/Bellevue and twice to Tacoma.

As for Wal-mart, I personally refuse to shop there if I can at all help it. Wal-Mart isn't the devil or the worst thing to ever happen to this country as some seem to claim, but it does represent more than any other big box store or chain restaurant this sort of cultural homogeneity that we are drifting inexorably towards.

But besides that, I just don't like going there. I just don't like the vibe at all. The last time I was in Wal-Mart was in December when a friend of mine was going to get a ride home from our gig with another friend on his motorcyle. But she didn't have a sweater so we headed over to the Wal-Mart down the road which was the only place open at 2 am. The cross section of humanity on display at that store at that time was a frightening visage.

On the upside if I ever have kids I know where (and when) to go to show them the effects of meth use up close and in person.

 

[Jim Campbell]

It's a funny thing with Wal Mart.. I went into one for the first time the other day. The juice I really like here is expensive, 5 bucks canadian for the 2 litres or whatever from Safeway. At Wal Mart, it's $3.50. At the local guy across the street, or 6.50 or 7 dollars.
Where do you think I'm going to get it from? It's not like Safeway is much less evil than Wal Mart, and there's no way i'm paying double the amount for the same product.

As much as I 'hate' Wal Mart, you can't really be too against them. It was most likely some ordinary persons idea to have a giant bulk store so that the general public can save costs (heck, places like cost-co and save on foods here have the same principle). If they get rich at the same time, good for them. They employ a hell of a lot of people as well.

FWIW when Aldi opened in Australia there was a fair bit of backlash, mainly because it was foreign and not 'Australian'. Thing is most of the products in there are at least from Australian companies/farmers, but just made for Aldi, where if you shop at somewhere like Coles (grocery store/supermarket), it's an American owned company which love to say they're Australian because they once were. They also have their own strangling line of products (for virtually everything, 'you'll love coles' chips, drink, hair product, meat, lollies, spices, cleaning products, frozen foods etc etc) which puts money straight back into their own coffers. Hardly anymore Australian than Aldi, but more expensive.
Aldi was definitely a great place when backpacking around Aus when you had to live cheap

wallyworld has deep pockets and can afford to undercut anyone until they cry uncle and go chapter 11,but im sure those low prices rise when the competition is dead......

the local big box music stores will save you on the top 40 but its the little guy that will stock those harder to find discs,and while paying more is never fun having those little stores around is more important
than convenience and price

 

[warwick.hoy]

Wow, had no idea about Spokane. My trips to Washington have pretty much all been to Seattle/Bellevue and twice to Tacoma.

It is night and day between the West Side and the Inland Empire. Spokane did well during the tech boom...but that's a bust. Now its mainly medical, retail and food service. We are a little sheltered here during the economic slump...but when you are on the bottom rung...where else is there to go.

That said I like it, it's not all despair. Even though my wife and I fall below the poverty line...we live a good life. We have the the things we need and occasionally get to splurge on things we want. We are able to dress well (we shop at Nordstrom Rack which is like the TJ Maxx for designer jeans). We just spend a little more time hunting out the bargains. It also helps that we don't believe in credit and aren't aspiring home owners.


[/OT about Spokane]


I have a love/hate relationship with wally world. I don't see the savings directly because it seems like every time I leave wal-mart it's not without giving them over $100. I'm sure it adds up though.

I usually go to Wally World for dry goods and paper goods sometimes entertainment stuff. When it comes time to get and LCD TV; it will probably be from Wal-mart. Meat's, dairy and produce I get from the grocery store down the street. I trust the quality a bit better.

[EDITx2] I looked up the poverty line and I guess we are actually not below it.

 

[rustynuts]

We have ab Aldi's here too, but I've only been inside once. It's as you describe, with only house brands, and most of the signs are handmade, the store is clean but very simply laid out, just sort of.....there. Nothing special at all, a place that's easy to forget or overlook in the first place.

And yes, Spokane is a world away from the SeaTac area. Not even remotely alike.

 

[DigMe]

The stereotype of Wal-Mart customers is all no-teeth rednecks and ghetto folks but in reality my experience has been that the clientele in any given Walmart will reflectthe population of the general area. My closest walmart is a mix of all kinds but there are plenty of upper-middle class types in there at any given time.

bc

 

[popinfresh]

wallyworld has deep pockets and can afford to undercut anyone until they cry uncle and go chapter 11,but im sure those low prices rise when the competition is dead......

the local big box music stores will save you on the top 40 but its the little guy that will stock those harder to find discs,and while paying more is never fun having those little stores around is more important
than convenience and price

Well music is different for me. I was just talking about groceries. Although I work in a HMV, back home I got all my music from local shops run by guys in bands or at gigs. As far as basic needs though I don't see much wrong getting them cheaper from a bigger store.

It does frustrate me though when small business' stock very little and are high priced. As much as I want to support them if they simply don't have the product I want then what's the point. This goes for music related or not (ie. instruments).

 

[Jim Campbell]

Well music is different for me. I was just talking about groceries. Although I work in a HMV, back home I got all my music from local shops run by guys in bands or at gigs. As far as basic needs though I don't see much wrong getting them cheaper from a bigger store.

It does frustrate me though when small business' stock very little and are high priced. As much as I want to support them if they simply don't have the product I want then what's the point. This goes for music related or not (ie. instruments).

the point is that once the local guy is gone the hmv feels less need to stock anything that doesn't sell bunches......no competition means higher prices+fewer choices long term

 

[Unrepresented]

It's not like Safeway is much less evil than Wal Mart, and there's no way i'm paying double the amount for the same product.

As much as I 'hate' Wal Mart, you can't really be too against them. It was most likely some ordinary persons idea to have a giant bulk store so that the general public can save costs (heck, places like cost-co and save on foods here have the same principle). If they get rich at the same time, good for them. They employ a hell of a lot of people as well.

But both of the companies you listed as alternatives to Wal-Mart (Safeway and Costco) allow their employees to form unions, and as a result the employees receive reasonable pay, benefits, and protections that are not available to Wal-Mart employees.

I feel much better about protecting middle class jobs by shopping at either of the alternatives you list.

 

[Quadcam]

Link Removed

"welcome to costco, I love you"