Walmart no longer cheap!!!
at one point in time, say roughly 20-25 yrs ago, walmart was indeed a place where one could go to find great values on everyday items.
this was in an era long before their dreaded supercenter concept stores that are everywhere now.
this was long before mcdonalds formed a partnership with walmart to have a mcd's inside every walmart
it was a small store in comparison to todays mammoth supercenter.
this walmart of yore promoted "made in america" and advertised that it tried to buy from american suppliers whenever possible.
and last but not least, you could honestly walk down any aisle and find prices that hardly any other retailer could match.
top all of this off with an outstanding return policy that was genuinely enforced with large signs that read "you must be 100% satisfied-our policy guarantees it" and it was no wonder that walmart has rose to become the world's largest retailer.
today, walmart has sadly shed this sort of honest and humble "american pride" image. it no longer touts the "buy american" image. gone is the flying smiley face. even the american star that served as a hypen between "wal" & "mart" has been eliminated.
walmart has turned itself a complete 180 into something of a sinister conglomerate. it practices sneaky advertising gimmicks like having specials on certain items and calling it "an everyday low price" then a few weeks later, that same item you bought has now been marked-up.
if they are touting a "rollback" on a product one week, its only because the week before the rollback it was marked up., and one week from now, that same item will be marked back up again. its a little game they like to play to get you into the practice of simply throwing an item into your shopping cart without even noticing what the current price is...you know, those everyday items that you just toss into your cart, without really caring to see how much it actually is.
the most noticeable aisle for such mark-ups would be the beverage aisle. at least, this where i notice them. the walmart brand of soda will remain at their consistent low prices of around 60 cents, but dr. pepper, 7-up, pepsi, and others will continue to have their prices consistently fluctuate week after week. one week its a $1.00, then next week its $1.45.
its the pricing game they like to play.
walmart also knows that consumers shop there for convienence matters. they are open 24 hrs and they stock almost anything you can imagine.
this is where they REALLY GET YOU.
cause if youre someone who stuffs your cart to the overflowing max with goods, theres a good chance youre about to buy something with a ridiculous mark-up. especially in the electronics department & housewares.
their clothes plainly suck. tshirts especially. they feel tissue paper thin, and have a barely inked upon silk screening. anything namebrand like Dickies, OP, Starter, etc is going to be way high and is sure to never reach the clearance racks because foolish customers will see the item and stuff it in their cart at the higher price just because they dont want to have to deal with looking around town or on the internet for the same item for less.
yes, convienence is nice, but its something that eats your wallet or purse later. walmart has basically followed the trend of 7-11, being that 7-11 is the last place youd want to buy medicine because of the ridiculously high prices as well, even though pumping your gas while buying other goods at the same place is a nice concept.
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Originally Posted by mugofbeer
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