What do you think about Walmart?

43 comments

1. Despite what Reddit may tell you politics affect people’s lives way less than you’d think. Then being conservative have nothing to do with how successful or not successful they are. Most experiences are normal, but the sheer scale of them and the fact they have cheap prices even for low income learners lend themselves to questionable experiences every once in a blue moon.

2. Most of what you see and hear is memes.

   It’s a store that sells mostly low quality goods at bargain prices.

   I avoid shopping there because I do not approve of their corporate practices.

3. Walmart is a one-stop-shop where people who don’t necessarily have a lot of money can get everything they need, and perhaps a few things they don’t. As such, there are a wide variety of people there (everything from junkies to recent immigrants to farmers to people who just want a deal), and interesting things happen — especially late at night. As always, it’s less extreme than the internet would have you believe.

   The Walton family (who own Walmart) have historically funded right wing causes, though they’ve been moving more to the center as of late. That said, you never really see evidence of this in the stores themselves. They’re a lot more interested in the cheap TV you might purchase.

   The big differences between Walmart and Target are that Target is smaller, slightly more expensive, and has fewer items/options.

4. Walmart may be marginally more conservative than Target, but that doesn’t make them right wing. They sell cheap, mass produced products that were largely imported from China. You can find strange people there, but you can also find them at Whole Foods.

   Besides all that they don’t pay their people very well, have turned their back on the customer service they used to pride themselves on, and typically kill small businesses in any area they move into.

5. Most of the online/media stuff about Walmart is overplayed and frankly classist. It’s a discount retailer that often caters to working class people (though by no means exclusively). That’s not to say there aren’t problems with Walmart as a corporation (like low wages or pricing out competitors), but these issues aren’t unique to them.

   Target is slightly more up-market with a core customer base of middle- to upper-middle-class women (or at least that’s how their customers were portrayed in company newsletters when I worked at a Target store years ago). Target positions itself as more progressive, but it’s mostly on cultural/inclusion issues and not anything that would actually cost them money (like paying a living wage).

6. Walmart was my first job back in the day. The customers that came in were largely reflective of the community where the store is located. I worked at a store in a middle/upper middle class area and I rarely saw anyone like you’d see on PeopleOfWalmart.com. It was mostly just normal families doing their weekly grocery shopping

7. Wal-Mart grew by building in rural areas and far fringes of metro areas initially. They draw a lower end/working class clientele and focus more on low prices.

   to differentiate themselves, Target chose to go more upscale/design forward, focus more on urban and upper-middle class suburban areas where consumers are willing to pay a little more for more design-focused products, etc.

   Personally, I find Wal-Mart stores depressing and junky, and very rarely shop them… There were weeks where I went to Target more than I’ve set foot inside a Wal-Mart in my life (maybe 7-8 times ever). And most of those were because we desperately needed something or there were no other options while traveling.

8. Walmart became very popular because they would build stores with everything from groceries to clothing to home goods to auto parts in primarily rural and small town areas or low income areas. It was both convenient to get everything you need in one place and to get cheap items, often knock off store brand items.

   Because they built in primarily poorer areas and very rural areas, culturally it became trendy to make fun of people who shop there as a way of making fun of rural or poorer people, even if seeing weird looking or strongly dressed people at Walmart wasn’t a common occurrence.

9. Walmart is similar to your country’s symbol, Netto. Walmart isn’t right wing, however. It’s just a chain of stores. AfD are right wing, if you’re interested in what that looks like.

10. It’s our nation’s largest retailer. They don’t “attract a strange crowd”, people just film things they see as unusual and it’s more interesting to watch videos of things that are unusual. You certainly wouldn’t watch a video of me walking through my local WalMart where nothing interesting is occurring, just people getting groceries and stuff, but that’s what happens most of the time in most of their stores.

    Their brands are exactly what they’re supposed to be, inexpensive goods at low prices. Their have always emphasized low prices, not high quality. That doesn’t mean that these goods are bad quality, it just means they’re cheap. Sure, some things aren’t good quality…you’re getting exactly what you pay for.

    Lots of major corporations have conservative policies, it’s the nature of corporations to return high yields to shareholders. That often comes with policies that follow right wing economics. They’re no different than many of their competitors in this.

    It’s just a store, you’re over politicizing it and placing way too much cultural currency on it. In many areas, it’s the only market of that kind. I live in one of these areas. Rural areas can’t often support multiple hypermarkets, and that’s always been WalMart’s market. They served rural communities and small towns before spreading to suburbs.

11. Walmart sucks for many reasons so I don’t like them. They historically have caused lots of smaller local retailers to go out of business, they treat their employees badly, and they carry lower quality products than most places.

    The political aspect is bad, but that’s pretty much any large corporation.

12. It’s a big store where you can get a bunch of stuff. To me it’s interchangeable with Target, I’ll go to whichever one is closer.

13. The only thing more depressing than shopping at a Walmart are the people in a casino at Atlantic City.

    Avoid both if you can.

14. It’s fine, I guess. People have their thoughts on their labor practices, but as for the stores themselves, they’re fine in my opinion.

    I don’t have the massive hard-on for shittalking the store like most people online seem to. They have a cheap and massively varied selection, the layout is clear, I can get in and out fast, and they’re the only store open after 10 when I can actually get there after work. If I’m just grabbing some stuff for the house, they’re fine. The Walmart people are real, but I have to tell you, those people exist in every supermarket in my experience. At least at Walmart those people are acting like themselves. Every thread on Walmart on Reddit you see people hyping up target as “Walmart without the shoppers”, but in my experience in my local target, it’s the same people, only now they’re rude and entitled. Target’s the only store I’ve ever seen an actual fight at. I’m not even sure if it was related to the store itself.

15. Walmart does attract a certain crowd, but everyone and anyone still goes there. But when you have a cheap(er) store, locally in the most accommodating area, with lackadaisical employees, you’re going to get a reputation.

    Also, it’s a store that is in most cities, meaning that it also has one of the highest customer traffic. With that many people, you’re going to get more incidents worth recording, uploading and you watching.

    >Also it’s more conservative and right wing compared to like Target?

    For others who may be confused by this. Despite the fact that Walmart sells LGBT themed merchandise, that plays Korean and Spanish songs on their in store radio stations and supports (some) community shared programs, they donate 54% of it’s total donated dollars to Republican candidates. They also donate to Democratic candidates though. They play both sides.

    [https://www.yahoo.com/video/does-walmart-political-donations-155416979.html](https://www.yahoo.com/video/does-walmart-political-donations-155416979.html)

16. > media tells me that the stores attract a strange crowd

    Well yeah they have the lowest prices so the poorest demographic is going to shop there. People who are especially trashy or gross don’t tend to be rich.

    > Walmart brands are far behind the ones of other chains

    I never buy food that is walmart brand. But craft supplies and furniture? Hell yeah walmart brand. Just don’t have any reasonable expectation of quality control. Consider everything to be “irregular” and you’ll never be disappointed.

    > Also it’s more conservative and right wing compared to like Target?

    I don’t get the impression that the business caters to customers of one political party over the other.

    > Please help me to understand this symbol of the US.

    They are a company whose whole gimmick is low prices. They are not a “symbol of the US” or anything we take pride in. Lots of Americans would prefer if Walmart went away.

17. The only time I ever shoplifted was once when I was a teenager. I went to walmart disguised as a woman, acted like I was shopping for what teenage me imagined a 30 year old woman would buy for a superbowl party, while slipping bottles into my cart everytime I “happened” to pass the liquor aisle. Then I just casually walked out the door with my cart full of liquor and no one working there even noticed. I think that about sums up walmart. Granted this was like 10 years ago, but still, it’s just kind of a weird place lol. No one even looked twice at me and my ridiculous disguise 😂

18. They know their market and they completely own it.

19. It’s fine for a lot of day to day stuff, it was my go-to for weekly shopping for years, but I generally shop late so I’ve only been a few times since the ones around here stopped being 24hr at the start of the pandemic.

    Most of what you see is memes, ultimately you’ll fill your cart and GTFO like any other store.

20. idk why you would call it right wing, I’m currently working there and they have pride month events and all

21. It’s the main store I use for buying general goods and groceries. I like it because it’s a convenient one stop shop and since all the stores are fairy similar, I generally know what I can expect to find there.

    The stuff there isn’t the highest quality, but it’s generally good enough for most things. I could pay more to go to a store like Target, but realistically I’d still be buying a lot of the same brands and items that I would have gotten from Walmart anyway

22. The difference between Walmart and (Super)Target is marketing (and the fact that Walmart still sells fishing and hunting gear). Target figured out how to appeal to middle-class women. So now it’s totally ok for ladies to brag about spending all their money on home décor at Target while turning up their noses at the people who shop at Walmart.

    Store brand wise, quality is the same against any other store brands. There might be a particular cereal or something that you even prefer to the name brands.

    It is true though that you can tell how a county is going to vote in an election if it has more Walmart or Whole Foods.

23. I avoid it if at all possible.

24. Really the only choice here: it’s either Walmart or drive all the way to Knoxville for a Target

25. Love the prices, dislike going there.

    Target often has a Starbucks inside the store, and they’ve tried to cultivate a very Mom will spend $200 without realizing it vibe. Walmart is a bit more rough and ready- much better prices and a bit more for everyone re: what they stock.

26. My upper middle class family shops weekly at Walmart for a part of their groceries and so do I, a recent immigrant with a low paying job. It’s honestly a good supermarket, has low prices and reasonable product variety and quality. Plus, the Supercenters carry almost any product you can think of, and having one within walking distance while you make low wages and don’t own a car is pretty awesome. I almost never see the crazy people that is famous for, just regular working class folk trying to get their groceries and leave. I think a gas station at night is somewhere you might find that kind of strange crowd more often. Trust me, I work in one and see crazy shit almost daily, even though 95% of the customers are just regular people too.

27. It’s the place to go when you want to buy Made in China.

28. It’s fine I guess. The targets in my area are cleaner and better maintained but I’ve been to areas where the Walmarts are pretty well maintained.

29. A blight.

30. It’s the cheapest place to buy virtually anything in the US.

    Quality may not be as high as target. Just really depends on what you need and how much money you have.

31. They’re good at running other businesses to the ground. Commonly seen in small(ish) towns, they’re a one-stop for all things you really need for relatively cheap prices and with that, they can create a monopoly in the general area. They run mom and pop shops out of business and either force you to shop at their store, or go somewhere that’s more expensive. And because most people in small towns aren’t loaded, they’re forced to shop at the Walmart. If it weren’t for finances, I’d 100% avoid Walmart like the plague.

32. It’s so much cheaper the target in experience. I also much prefer h
    Shopping there. More selection. Less shoppers also (at least more spread out due to bigger store).
    I avoid shopping dt target as much as possible.

33. I think walmart is nasty. Haven’t been inside one in 21 years.

34. Not the same since Sam died. He rescued many American manufacturing businesses when he was at the helm. Too bad his successors didn’t share his ‘buy American’ philosophy.

35. I have never had a good shopping experience at Walmart. Every time I had unruly customers, incompetent employees, and an incompetent layout working against me. The same thing still happened after it was recommended that I go to one of the “good” Walmarts instead. And that’s not including the poor treatment of their suppliers and workers.

    I won’t ever set foot in a Walmart again unless it’s my only remaining option.

36. One of the biggest differences between Walmart and Target is that Target curates their inventory more.

    Where Target may have 1 or two options from maybe a brand or two, Walmart may have 4 or 5 different brands that all have multiple options.

37. I can usually find a made in USA version of most products I need to get. I don’t get that at any store anywhere else.

    Wal-mart has its labor issues but so does many other retailers people think are good – Starbucks and target are non-union too as are most tech companies. Want union? Usually your local supermarket has a union at least in the northeast.

38. The reason it comes across as more “conservative” is mostly due to the fact that it’s often the only major store in tiny rural towns, which tend to be more conservative.

    The main reason you hear about the strange people of Walmart is just that their stores are just fucking everywhere. They have almost 3000 more US stores than Target. So the likelihood of weird stuff (or any kind of stuff) happening there will always be higher.

    Also I have seen some of the more egregious “Walmart” videos online and sometimes if you pay attention they’re clearly not actually at Walmart so maybe don’t believe everything you see online.

39. Ummm its an all you can get grocery store. In a lot of rural areas, it is the only place to get every thing you may need. The “strange” crowd is a trope. Walmarts located in wealthier areas have a different crowd visiting them vs. those in a poorer area. There is nothing political about who visits them. A hardcore progressive will run to walmart if he gets a good deal on a TV.

40. I started shopping at Walmart because they were open 24 hours. And at 4am it was so quite and slow. I also buy their ONN brand wireless earbuds because they sound decent and cost $20.

41. I think its not only a good place to shop BUT a great place to see some crazy shit.

42. Walmart is the best place for groceries. I exclusively shop there. Best price. Best app by far. Not to mention the free grocery pickup. I do it every single week. Literally the best. Can’t complain. I cut grocery shopping down from a 3 hour ordeal to a 5 minute pickup.

    I save so much time. It’s fantastic.

43. My dad is right: It’s an alien drop zone.