Going to Walmart proves there is a shortage of full length mirrors.
Walmart observations
- Thread starter glenwolde
- Start date
Reading these threads I'm seeing the problem as less with WalMart than where these posters live.
BLACKHAWKNJ
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Things seem to have come full circle, in the 1920s with the suburbanization of America the mail order stores opened brick and mortar stores.
My mother told me the first self service market she saw was in NYC in 1933, a Piggly Wiggly (?). Before then you went to your local grocer with your shopping list, gave it to the counterman, he or the stock boy got the items off the shelves, you paid the cashier,maybe had your order delivered.
Here in Central NJ, not exactly a poor area, the German discount grocers Aldi and Lidl have opened stores, doing a good business.
I note that Walmart and other retailers/grocers have closed in some areas, citing the cost of doing business.
My mother told me the first self service market she saw was in NYC in 1933, a Piggly Wiggly (?). Before then you went to your local grocer with your shopping list, gave it to the counterman, he or the stock boy got the items off the shelves, you paid the cashier,maybe had your order delivered.
Here in Central NJ, not exactly a poor area, the German discount grocers Aldi and Lidl have opened stores, doing a good business.
I note that Walmart and other retailers/grocers have closed in some areas, citing the cost of doing business.
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In the early 1980's Wal-Mart opened in Enterprise, AL. We had a neighborhood investment club that decided their stock might be a good buy. How right they were.
Here is my recent Walmart observation.
I handle a lot of dirty tools at the job. So was looking for a small scrub brush to clean my finger nails etc. Asked a couple
sales associates" both drug out their cell phones and went to pecking. Then they sent me to the the same area where there was soap hair brushes bath accessories etc. I found what I wanted myself in the area with mops and scrub brushes.
1. Most of them are not high horsepower units. 2 Another example of an attempt intelligence and actually thinking is being replaced by a electronic device
I handle a lot of dirty tools at the job. So was looking for a small scrub brush to clean my finger nails etc. Asked a couple
sales associates" both drug out their cell phones and went to pecking. Then they sent me to the the same area where there was soap hair brushes bath accessories etc. I found what I wanted myself in the area with mops and scrub brushes.
1. Most of them are not high horsepower units. 2 Another example of an attempt intelligence and actually thinking is being replaced by a electronic device
I haven't been in a "Super" in years. I have a "Neighborhood market" .9 miles from the house. Manager says it's a "model" store, one of the busiest in the country. If'n you go between 6:30 am and 8:30pm expect a crowd. I usually go around 9; nobody at the gas pumps where you can get killed over saving $.06/gal during the day. I make a short list of "gottagets" and keep an eye out for "surplus" (box Spring Mix, Coffee creamer and Dairy Whip that are always out). Day shift restocks before leaving so I'm in and out (self-check always) in half an hour. I really don't care about their politics, hiring practices and the fact no employee speaks English. "Getting it done" is the modern equivalent of "bushcraft." Joe
re WM employees; we seldom need assistance as we have the entire store mapped out in our heads. When we do ask for help we are met with courtesy and have no problem communicating.
In fact we have gotten to know many of the workers as we see them so often. We give them major props as they show up every day willing to work with smiles planted on their faces.
Put us down as satisfied customers.
In fact we have gotten to know many of the workers as we see them so often. We give them major props as they show up every day willing to work with smiles planted on their faces.
Put us down as satisfied customers.
Next door neighbor worked at Lowes Hardware and the standing joke with employees was that if anyone asked for nuts, bolts, screws, or other fasteners tell them Isle 18 and then take off to the appliance section for about 15 minutes
DWalt
Member
Supermarkets, primitive as they were, didn’t come into existence on any scale until the mid-1930s. And they bore little resemblance to those of today. The selection was very limited, and most stores had nothing like in-store bakeries, frozen and refrigerated food, prepackaged meat, and dairy products. The main innovation was roll-around carts you filled yourself and checkout stations.
sigp220.45
US Veteran
My WalMart has replaced keys to everything (ammo, jewelry etc) with a Smartphone app. Now if you need ammo no more searching for the guy with the keys. I needed 2 boxes of .270s a couple of weeks ago and asked the nearest associate if she could find the fella with the keys. She said “I can do do that now!” She zapped the case with her WallyPhone, rang up the ammo, and it was off to the car.
sigp220.45
US Veteran
I wonder if people complained then like they do now about self-checkout: “Get a cart!? Pick my own groceries!? Humbug and harrumph! I DON’T WORK HERE!”
charlie sherrill
Member
Walmart is taking a second look at self checkout for two reasons. 1-A lot of folks, especially older ones like me, just don't like it. 2-Some Walmarts would watch customers at the self check out. If they missed scanning an item Walmart would file charges against them for shoplifting. Walmart lost most of those cases in court and the resulting law suits that followed that. We have a local lawyer that is making a very good living suing Walmart.
I'm waiting for the day our local Walmarts yank those machines.
DWalt
Member
At least here, self checkout stations seem to be going strong at WalMart, Sam’s Club, and H-E-B. Also Home Depot.
Some of the St Louis area Wal Marts make you be a Wal Mart Plus member to use self check. I figure that’s the wave of the future . . .
BLACKHAWKNJ
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Also the markets and other stores back then pretty much closed by 6PM, recall stores would be open late Fridays, longer hours during the Christmas
season. Also longer hours during WWII with the factories operating 24/7, three shifts.
The self checkouts at the Shoprite I usually go to are limited to 20 items, with an employee stationed there to deal with the inevitable glitches, place PAID stickers on bulk items.
season. Also longer hours during WWII with the factories operating 24/7, three shifts.
The self checkouts at the Shoprite I usually go to are limited to 20 items, with an employee stationed there to deal with the inevitable glitches, place PAID stickers on bulk items.
Yeah, in southern Arizona where my mom lives, speaking English isn't required.Some WM are nicer than others
We went to one up in MN and it was like a different world.
Employees actually came up to you and asked how the could help. They even spoke English!
My nephew would LOVE to get a job at Walmart - even though it would require a 50-mile round trip commute to work there.
But they won't hire him, because he isn't bi-lingual, he isn't fluent in Spanish.
I've shopped that Walmart. Over half of their employees speak Spanish ONLY - no Habla Englis.
So, you can get a job there without speaking both English AND Spanish, but ONLY if you exclusively speak Spanish. If you only speak English, you're SOL.
Another issue I have with Walmart is the way they treat employees.
My son worked summers at a local Walmart his sophomore-junior and junior-senior years of high school. After graduating high school, he continued working there part-time for 2 years while attending community college.
After that he worked there full-time for around 9 months, so he had well over a 4 year work history with the company.
One of the carrots they dangle to get young people to work there is their programs to support college students. One of these supposed "benefits", that they promote as being an "advantage" of working for Walmart, is educational leave.
This benefit is supposed to guarantee anyone who has worked there full time for 6 months or more, that they can take up to 9 months of unpaid leave to go to school - and be able to go back to work there without a loss of pay rate, or seniority.
So, after having worked at the local Walmart for over 4 years, including 9 months full time, my son gave them notice that he was going to be taking an "educational leave" to go to college full time.
Guess what? The very next day they FIRED him. Their reason? They said that he "wasn't a good enough worker".
Apparently he was a good enough worker that they kept him on the payroll for over 4 years - until he decided to take advantage of one of their "educational benefits". Then, suddenly, they decided he "WASN'T a good enough worker"?!?
What a bunch of bovine feces!
Needless to say, I don't patronize Walmart for ANYTHING that I can get ANYWHERE else anymore, and I NEVER will.
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DWalt
Member
When we lived in Cleveland in the late 1960’s, the big supermarket chain there, name I can’t remember, closed at six every day and all day Sunday. Highly inconvenient if you worked. We had to do our grocery shopping on Saturday along with most everyone else. Another reason I was deleriously happy to make Cleveland a spot in my rear view mirror. Left in 1968, never went back again.
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