Tuesday, December 18, 2007

wal mart

i've been meaning to post about this for awhile so there's no time like the present. most of you who know me in real life (like this isn't real?) know i hate wal mart. why you may ask? why such a strong emotion for a store?

part of it comes from the fact that for so many years, like almost 10, i have written about independent retailers. their loathing has rubbed off some, but i'm not just a lemming willing to follow the pack over the cliff. i have seen the documentaries, i've known people that work there and know that they step in to communities with the full intent of killing the competition. yes, everyone in business is in business to make money and i'm sure my beloved target, bath & body and costco also want to be the leaders, but they don't seem evil.

the evil empire (as i refer to wal mart) notoriously has been horrible to its employees, especially women. i've talked to vendors who've made the mistake of partnering with wal mart only to realize after the initial high it is almost impossible to keep making money selling to wal mart. they realize they've sold their soul to the devil.

do i shop at wal mart? yes i confess i sometimes do. i hate myself every time i walk in the door. and the stores themselves piss me off. i walk in and immediately slump into a bad mood. it's like they recruit the most ignorant, ass-backwards people to work there. occasionally the hubs and i will remark about an exceptionally friendly, competent cashier and before you know it they're gone. most likely hired away by someone else. the stores depress me. it is like 180 degree difference walking into the evil empire as to walking into target.

i have noticed their new ad campaign. i grudgingly give the evil empire credit for hiring a good ad/pr agency. no more bouncing smiley face (i hated that damn thing). now their ads are about image and family. smart move on their part and they may fool some people with them. but i still hate wal mart.

4 comments:

Mrs. A. said...

I am not a huge Wal-mart fan myself.

But I have to grocery shop there (we have a Super-Center) because the prices are sooo much cheaper -- with the one income, the 5 kids, the college tuition, yada, yada, I have no other choice. Plus, the grocery store that is the closest competition is nothing but a big business run by some rich you-know-what who pays his workers crap wages as well, so I have issues with all that. I hear what you're saying about the "Mom&Pops" being driven out by the Wal-marts, but if it's one evil against the other, I have to go with the cheaper evil.

I know what you mean by the "defeated slump" when one walks into the place. It's just such a -- I don't know, rat maze or something. And I can't stand it when parents start yelling at their little kids there, swearing at them and stuff. It's like everyone there decides they don't have to act civilized because it's a Wal-mart. I have to say, in our other grocery store, I've never seen the low-class behavior that I've seen in Wal-mart.
Which is another reason I'd rather shop anywhere but the Wal-mart.

Mrs. A

Anonymous said...

my current fave thing about wal-mart is that they have changed the color scheme from the ra-ra red, white and blue to green. i honestly think they are trying to subconscious push the idea that they are environmentally friendly as well as affordable and family-oriented, blah, blah, blah.

and the new family-centered ads make me gag. i just heard a tagline yesterday (which of course i can't remember now) that was particularly loathsome and offensive.

Anonymous said...

my current fave thing about wal-mart is that they have changed the color scheme from the ra-ra red, white and blue to green. i honestly think they are trying to subconscious push the idea that they are environmentally friendly as well as affordable and family-oriented, blah, blah, blah.

and the new family-centered ads make me gag. i just heard a tagline yesterday (which of course i can't remember now) that was particularly loathsome and offensive.

creative kerfuffle said...

i don't know how to delete comments, eh, who cares, so i can't delete the double post.

thankfully i have other convenient choices for groceries but admit we probably darken the doors of the evil empire once a week. i am brainwashing my kids though. they know how i feel about that place and they know how much i prefer target. and dammit to hell but there is a 9 ft slim, white light artificial tree there that i want when they are ridiculously cheap after christmas. the hubs laughed and said if we got it then every year i could remember i bought our christmas tree from the evil empire.