You people really don't get it at all.

How much are they paying you?

Signatures are for punks. Oh, son of a...

[deleted]

Nice post, shey n lilithsmom. I agree with what you are saying.

I would like to add that not only are they cheaper, but they will do price matching for the competition's prices, whithin a certain mile radius. So if something is cheaper someplace else, it is because the department manager (or whoever is responsible for the task), sometimes can't make it around to check every price in every store. But I would be willing to bet that if you brought them proof that the same item is cheaper elsewhere, they would lower that price. When I used to work for them, I was a department manager. I kept all of the local stores numbers in my phone. If somebody came to me and told me something was cheaper someplace else, I would call that store and ask the price. If they really were cheaper, I would drop my price.

Also, I would like to talk about the stores in the same town as the Walmart I worked for. Were there some mom & pop's who closed down? Sure. But there are still plenty of places open, and plenty that have since opened. I was the department manager over Hardware, Paint, and Pets. Right next door, we had Family Center, a farm and home type hardware store. Now, right there, if you think about it, most hardware stores are going to be larger than my hardware department. So I couldn't compete with their selection. I could only compete on prices for like items. But Family Center wasn't my only competition. There were also two other hardware stores, a lumber yard, and a feed store. They were all able to keep going strong. Oh, by the way, this is all in a small town of around 4,000 people. The fact that they had many, many items that I didn't have the room for kept them in business. Not only that, but I was less competition than they were to each other. So the trick was for Walmart to carry basic everyday, high moving items and have the lowest price. But that is hardly enough to force anyone out of business.

Now, I could see a problem if your store didn't carry anything, or many items you couldn't get at Walmart, but at the same time, you could be hurt in the same way if another small business selling the same stuff were to open up with competitive/cheaper prices.

Now, one last thing. I want to address OP's idea that you don't save that much at Walmart. Consider the fact that even if prices were slightly cheaper elsewhere, if you had a large shopping list, you may have to drive to several stores, who may not be close to one another, to get all of your items. You may actually save money and time shopping at Walmart simply due to the cost of driving and driving time. And don't use Target as an excuse for an alternative shopping source. Don't you think that if Walmart closed it's doors that Target would move right in to fill that void? Also, Target uses the same tactics as Walmart and hurts small business in a similar way. Now, if you are just talking about price and quality, well, remember, Walmart price matches. As far as quality goes, you may be right about that. But that is only if you are buying store brands. If you are talking name brands, it will be cheaper at Walmart, and the quality will be the same.

OP, maybe the prices in your Target for h&b is cheaper than your Walmart, but in my area, every other store that I go into for medication is consistently higher than Walmart. A bottle of store brand multivitamins at our Walmart is around $3.00, at every other grocery store and drugstore, it is twice that much for their store brands. I've tried shopping at Target in my town and everything I've looked at is consistently higher than Walmart. I usually end up leaving there thinking 'why did I bother again?'. You go into a Walmart and can get a bottle of vitamin E for a couple bucks and at other groceries where I live, they are charging $8-$10 for the same item. You have to take into account that pricing differs from one region to another. The Walmart in my town opened maybe 13 years ago and so far, I've only seen one Mom&Pop go out of business and most other businesses have not been adversley affected to the point of being forced out of business. There was one grocery store across the street from it that closed down (and that happened about two years ago) but it was part of a tri-state chain and the three other chains in our area of that store are still going strong. Even the little privately owned hardware store downtown that must be almost 100 years old is still running.

When I do grocery shopping, I will go to Walmart, but I also shop at the other major chains in my area and look for their sales. People in my area must be doing the same thing because whenever I go into those stoeres, they are packed with people. Some things I won't even buy at Walmart (like their meats mostly) but I do a significant amount of shopping at Walmart and I'm not going to stop shopping there completely.

Do ya love him Loretta?
Ah Ma I love im awful.
Oh God, you poor thing.