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Does anyone know what is going on with that store? I went in a few days ago to buy the hairspray I have used for ten years and was told they no longer carry it. I went in today to buy the deoderant I have used for longer than ten years - you guessed it. They no longer carry it. I had grocery ads with me and wanted to buy a soft drink that another store had on sale. I had eight in my cart and was told I could only have 6. I was buying sugar (selected the store brand) and was told I had to buy the brand the other store was advertising. Why is Wal Mart driving shoppers away to other stores? I am getting to where I'd rather pay a little more and go somewhere that values me as a customer. Am I being unreasonable??
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There are several food items that I loved that Wal Mart quit carrying and they were the only store to have those items! I have to eat extremely healthy and low fat, so when I find something I like and can eat I want to be able to buy it. Not buy it for 6 months and then not! I hardly ever buy at Wal Mart anymore due to this and their poor customer service. I buy at other local stores like Foodland and have learned that I actually spend less than what I did at Wal Mart. I don't know how but I do, maybe it's because I don't have all the other distractions.
I can't remember where the conversation occurred -- if it was on here or somewhere else -- how Wal-mart hooks you with a product and then stops carrying it replacing it with a Sam's Choice or their "company brand" etc. That is very annoying. I agree -- try Target. I avoid Wal-mart like the plague. You might even try the local Rite Aid/Walgreen's and see if they can carry the item for you. not sure how much flexibility they have with what they stock, but it might work.
The greed-infe$ted, botom line-wor$hipping scuzzbutts who run Walmart do not care whether you or I have a preference for some particular product or not. Their sole goal is to maximize movement of products from the shelves. That is why the total number of different kinds of items sold by Walmart grocery operations is much smaller than the number sold by Publix or other large chains. Call it capitalism and the profit motive if you wish, but that is what is going on at Walmart.
Hi all,

Believe me, it is not just the Walmart in Alabama. The ones in California are even worse. I moved to Riverside County in Southern California about ten years ago. At first the local Walmart was okay; but, then, they had a change in management -- and the store totally changed. I have had the same experience as you; products which they carried for years -- all of a sudden disappear, for no apparent reason -- and for products they still carry, half the time all I see are empty shelf spaces.

I have been buying the gallon bottled drinking water there for a long time -- and most of the time when I go to the store, regardless of the time of day or night -- the shelf is empty. They will have 30+ bottles of distilled water; but, no drinking water. I have talked to management many times, asking why they do not stock more drinking water and less distilled, since drinking water moves fast -- and distilled just sits there occupying shelf space. Marketing common sense tells one that if you have two products sitting side by side -- and one always sells out as soon as you put it on the shelf -- and the other hardly moves at all; you reallocate shelf space to the product which sells. But, they have never been able to figure that out.

If I go to Walmart with a shopping list of say, ten items -- I can promise you that at least four of the items will be sold out -- empty shelves.

A couple of years ago, at Bible study, I told my wife we had to leave a little early so I could stop by Walmart. A friend asked, [i]"Do you mean that Walmart on McKinley?"[/i] I said yes and he told me, [i]"I hate that store. They are always out of stock."[/i] And, I had not mentioned my problem to him. So, obviously I am not the only one who has noticed.

About five years ago, I had a problem with the local Walmart and, at the same time, had a problem with products purchased at JCPenneys. I sent an e-mail letter to the corporate office of both companies. Two days later, I received a call from the local JCPenneys store manager. He told me, [i]"Bill, come to the store and ask for me. We will take care of your problem."[/i] And, he did exactly that.

The same day, I received a call from the local Walmart. The lady identified herself as the Assistant Manager -- and she arrogantly told me, [i]"Mr. Gray, I am just calling to tell you that anytime you send a complaint to corporate; they will just send it back to me."[/i] And, she made no offer to correct the problem. In other words, she just wanted to let me know that it did no good to complain to Walmart corporate office -- because they would just send it to her -- and she would trash the complaint. The personality of the local Walmart has not changed; nor will it as long as corporate allows this kind of local management. This tells me that Walmart corporate thinks they are too big to fail -- and could care less about the customers or our needs.

It seems to me that a few other companies recently thought they were too big to fail -- until the bottom began to fall out -- and the government decided that "we the people" should bail them out. Maybe we should let a few more fail -- so that they all will know they are not bigger than the customers who buy their products.

Personally, like you, I have been going to Target a lot more lately.

Just my thoughts.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill
I noticed a problem this past weekend at Muscle Shoals Wal Mart, I had Nathan's Hot Dogs on my list but every pack they had was expired on May 8th (it was May 16th that I was there), I was going to buy sausage but all the packages were lukewarm and bloated as if they had ruined so I left that off the list too. I bought milk but it was also lukewarm. I was wondering if they are trying to cut corners on keeping food cold or something and I would think that after 8 days that someone there might have noticed a whole shelf of out of date hot dogs.
Maybe this sounds a little nit-picky but the last few times I have been in there it has seemed something was out of whack with the place such as the week before I some of the bread I bought was molded when I got home. Otherwise than the past few weeks, I love Wal-Mart Smiler
Walmart tried a new strategy in an attempt to compete with Target. They 'decluttered' their shelves and widened the aisles. That's where our favorite products went. And while they were at it, they did exactly what someone else on this thread has mentioned.,,,in some cases they made sure that the only alternative for the discontinued item was their own store brand items.

two things I had been buying forever...Alligator Baggies..the old timey ones with the twisty ties, and Frito Lay cheese crackers with peanut butter. These things were just suddenly gone. I found the crackers at kroger but no one has sandwich size twist tie bags. I am buying those hateful flappy ones and using spare twist ties. My Mother asked a store employee why she couldn't get a certain type of saltine crackers anymore. He said, "We have them in the store room but they won't let me put them on the shelves."

I don't know if the pushing of the store brands was planned or if they just are taking advantage of the 'uncluttered' shelves.

My mother told me today that she heard or read that they are going back to the wider selection. I guess it didn't work?

And prices that had crept up are creeping back down at Walmart.

I continue to be thankful that I have access to a Kroger. I try to shop there as much as I can for items with decent prices. Some of their things are way overpriced, but they have good sales and friendly employees and Shell gives a gas discount with the Kroger card now.

Has anyone's Walmart changed the configuration of the check out lanes? At my Walmart, they have extended the lanes by adding an extra pair of modular shelves with magazines and junk food. This causes you to think that a line is not very long, because now the actual checkout lane is longer. You go to get in a line and you realize there are several people ahead of you even though the line is not extended out into the main aisle. I guess someone did a psychological study and decided we'd wait more docilely if the people in front of us were all inside the gauntlet of impulse items, and not sticking out past it.

and of course, longer aisles do mean more room for items with which to torture small children and their parents.
I have this policy for any perishables which are way past their eat or freeze date. I go through every package and just place the out of date ones it on the floor hoping that I can tell an employee that I am helping them! There is probably a lot of material which explains Walmart's policies on the internet! My kingdom for a Publix
I have to disagree about the prices being lower. If you buy the same EXACT item they are higher. If the price is lower- look at the amount you get per package. I needed some Tortilla wraps and bought a package (name brand) that looked EXACTLY like the one I had gotten at a local grocery store. (Size, colors, design, # per package and size of the wraps which was large.) Got them home to make Quesedillas and the ones I got at Walmart were easily smaller- 3/4 of an inch of the one I got from the grocery store hung over the Walmart shell all the way around. I looked at the ounces and found that I had bought a much smaller weight package even though the packaging was exactly the same except for the weight. So- I paid the same or more for the Walmart item. They have such buying power they can force a manufacturer to meet a price break, or not carry their items, which means that the manufacturer makes them smaller and cheaper.

I have not been back to Walmart in 2 years.
walmart being cheaper is definitely a myth. example, yesterday i had to buy cream because i was making an italian dish. well i was forced to buy the purity cream for $1.70 since they only had pints of the store brand. foodland has 8 ounce heavy cream for $1.48. so yea you could say that if walmart had 8 ounce store brand it would be cheaper, which might hold true, but they dont so it was more expensive for me to go there. foodland definitely has a better price on Luvs diapers though, by far. plus they cut all of their meat in house, unlike the prepackaged chemical added beef at walmart, which is more expensive by the way.
Most people don't know walmart doesnt cut its own meat. They don't even have a meat cutter. The meat "workers" wear the white coats simply for show. Look next time, they are never dirty. They get the meat from mass producing farms (mainly in canada). Its packed in North Dokota. They rewrap it at each store to give it a fresh look. They may not even do that anymore.
"Most people don't know walmart doesnt cut its own meat. They don't even have a meat cutter. The meat "workers" wear the white coats simply for show. Look next time, they are never dirty. They get the meat from mass producing farms (mainly in canada). Its packed in North Dokota. They rewrap it at each store to give it a fresh look. They may not even do that anymore."

This was done to keep the union out of Wal-Mart. The end result...Higher prices and lower quality.
earthmomma wrote:[

[QUOTE]I have this policy for any perishables which are way past their eat or freeze date. I go through every package and just place the out of date ones it on the floor hoping that I can tell an employee that I am helping them! There is probably a lot of material which explains Walmart's policies on the internet! My kingdom for a Publix[QUOTE]

Bravo! Great tactic! Surely the store staff greatly appreciates your kind volunteerism.

Seriously, what kind of response have you gotten when one of the "associates" discovers your helpful activity?
Originally posted by earthmomma: I have this policy for any perishables which are way past their eat or freeze date. I go through every package and just place the out of date ones on the floor.

Originally posted by earthmomma: I was laying them aside- still in cold area- at Ssouthern Family Market- several years ago.

Ok.....which was it? The floor or the cold area? Big Grin
Originally posted by earthmomma:
I told about one particular instance. Yes, I have also placed them on the floor! Don't forget your Nitpickers meeting! BTW, I can create a post which will drive you mad in you nit seach - don't tempt me! How do you ever carry on a conversation with others?

Nitpicky??? How do I ever carry on a conversation with others???
I was only joking & you have to be rude/mean?
There must be only certain people that can joke with you. I won't make that mistake again.
I know that individual mgrs have the right to decide what products their departments carry. I'm guessing it was a personnel change. If there is a product you really like, you can probably find it on Amazon. Order at least $25.00 from them, and shipping is usually free.

Once you get your Amazon account set up, it's really easy to order from them and you never have to leave your home.
I am not 80. Semi has baitd me twice in one week. Sometimes old ladies have to defend them selves. The implication of semi's original remark was that I was lying which T was not! It was not a joke. Since I probably shall never know semi or Matted Down in person I feel that I am a very lucky old lady! Get your facts straight! Have I wandered into an old feud?

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