Walmart vs Target question

[wyliec]

In NYS we have Target and Walmart stores. I've noticed a number of threads on SL's poking fun at the Walmart employees and patrons, but no comments related to Target. To me both stores carry similar merchandise. I'm just curious as to why it seems Walmart gets all the negative comments.

[Dan McNally]

Unions love to hate WalMart, since it is very successful and is non-union . . . lower prices tend to bring in poorer customers, as well, and for some reason, people like to belittle others to feel superior . . . My wife worked at WalMart for 22 years. She speaks English with a strong accent, but was very successful, there. They were very good to her . . . but then, she worked her ass off and made herself valuable to them . . .

[Blue Star]

In NYS we have Target and Walmart stores. I've noticed a number of threads on SL's poking fun at the Walmart employees and patrons, but no comments related to Target. To me both stores carry similar merchandise. I'm just curious as to why it seems Walmart gets all the negative comments.

I have shopped in both, but prefer Target. The Target is cleaner, further from my house, so I shop Walmart more.

A long time ago I read the unauthorized biography of Sam Walton (good book), and he wanted the isles wide enough for customers to get around, but his advisers said that he was losing money with empty space. Two months after I read the book Sam Walton died (I was inside a store when they announced it), and two days later they had racks with product in the isles.

Interesting thing about Sam Walton was he had a pilots license (and would I assume his own plane too), would fly around, and do surprise visits to his stores. He fired one manager when he walked into a store, found something wrong that needed to be fixed, pointed it out to a manager to fix it. The manager told him "yeah sure, who do you think you are; Sam Walton".

[shelbydave]

I prefer Target. It's a much nicer experience. I haven't noticed a huge difference in the staff of either store - they both have some good and bad, like every other place, however, the customers make the difference for me. The target experience is quite relaxed, whereas Wal Mart has some very aggressive, selfish, pushy, and otherwise unacceptable folks that shop there. I have my opinion as to WHY that is, at least in our area, but I'll leave it at that so I don't start a war...

[Bob Denman]

Because when you're the biggest; you've got the biggest "Target", on your back!

[Cruzr Joe]

I have shopped in both, but prefer Target. The Target is cleaner, further from my house, so I shop Walmart more.

A long time ago I read the unauthorized biography of Sam Walton (good book), and he wanted the isles wide enough for customers to get around, but his advisers said that he was losing money with empty space. Two months after I read the book Sam Walton died (I was inside a store when they announced it), and two days later they had racks with product in the isles.

Interesting thing about Sam Walton was he had a pilots license (and would I assume his own plane too), would fly around, and do surprise visits to his stores. He fired one manager when he walked into a store, found something wrong that needed to be fixed, pointed it out to a manager to fix it. The manager told him "yeah sure, who do you think you are; Sam Walton".

I had the pleasure to meet and assist Mr. & Mrs. Sam Walton during my affiliation with The Stephens family, I assure you that Mr. & Mrs. Walton were very honest, fair and humble people that took care of their employees, as i have witnessed several older people that started with Walmart back in the day and are now retired and leading an enjoyable life. When you are on top, people will look at you as a target (no pun intended). I have worked with Walmart's Security teams and assure you they are top notch people. I am proud to have known these people.

Cruzr Joe

[Sarge707]

I Don,t Like (Hate) the Target Moon Carriages so I rarely go there.

[Dan_Ashley]

I don't know about now but back when I was teaching business strategy at the university, Wal-Mart had a target of putting 83 local businesses out of business whenever they opened a new store. If they couldn't do this, they would not open a store in that area. Consequently, I never shop at Wal-Mart.

[MarkLawson]

Target lost my business in 2004 when they told the Salvation Army bell ringers they were no longer welcome at their stores @ Christmas time. I wrote Target a letter and told them that when I make a list of things I think about at Christmas time, the Salvation Army is much higher on that list than Target & that I would be doing my shopping at their competitor's stores that welcome them.

[Dan_Ashley]

Target lost my business in 2004 when they told the Salvation Army bell ringers they were no longer welcome at their stores @ Christmas time. I wrote Target a letter and told them that when I make a list of things I think about at Christmas time, the Salvation Army is much higher on that list than Target & that I would be doing my shopping at their competitor's stores that welcome them.

I guess neither one of those two outfits can claim the moral high ground.

[mindman]

I prefer Target. It's a much nicer experience. I haven't noticed a huge difference in the staff of either store - they both have some good and bad, like every other place, however, the customers make the difference for me. The target experience is quite relaxed, whereas Wal Mart has some very aggressive, selfish, pushy, and otherwise unacceptable folks that shop there. I have my opinion as to WHY that is, at least in our area, but I'll leave it at that so I don't start a war...

It's the same where we are. There's a huge difference in the customer base. Don't know why, but it's obvious and our Wal-Mart and Target are within 1/4 mile of each other.

[USAFE7RET]

For a better understanding, check out http://www.peopleofwalmart.com


Not saying either store is better, one just has some interesting clientele....

[Blue Star]

I had the pleasure to meet and assist Mr. & Mrs. Sam Walton during my affiliation with The Stephens family, I assure you that Mr. & Mrs. Walton were very honest, fair and humble people that took care of their employees, as i have witnessed several older people that started with Walmart back in the day and are now retired and leading an enjoyable life. When you are on top, people will look at you as a target (no pun intended). I have worked with Walmart's Security teams and assure you they are top notch people. I am proud to have known these people.

Cruzr Joe

From what I remember about the book, it said the same as what you just wrote. Mr & Mrs Walton were nice people, but strict on following rules of how the store looked.

I don't know about now but back when I was teaching business strategy at the university, Wal-Mart had a target of putting 83 local businesses out of business whenever they opened a new store. If they couldn't do this, they would not open a store in that area. Consequently, I never shop at Wal-Mart.

Back in 1991 when my oldest was on formula we would buy it at Walmart. Every two weeks when I got paid I would go and get it there since it was the lowest price compared to K-Mart. Then the price jumped up, and two weeks later went up again. I asked an associate about this, and was told that K-Mart told Walmart that they were going to have to close three stores if something was not done. So Walmart told K-Mart to lower their prices, and Walmart would raise theirs. K-Mart lowered their price, Walmart raised theirs, but K-Mart was still higher than Walmart. The associate said we (Walmart) brought K-Mart to their knees, and that is what they wanted (might have only been the associates view). I can't say anything for the other prices as I did not keep track, or buy much of other items.

Another thing I have noticed is how different the stores are compared to where they are. The first Walmart I went to when first opened in 1990 was clean, and a nice place to shop. Then after Sam Walton passed away it became congested, and dirty. It got so bad I refused to shop there any longer. Then When I moved in 2008 there was a Walmart close by that was big and clean, so I would shop there. I have a friend that works there, and she says they treat her good. Then they tried to get city approval to expand the store to become both a department and grocery store, but were turned down. They tried to get a law passed to let them expand so they could be both, but lost that too. In exchange they cleared out an area to have food, but had to crowd out the isles to make up for the food area. Thus it became more of a pain to shop there than the few cents I would save. The third Walmart by were I now live (2013) is huge, and is both a department and grocery store. I do not use their grocery side (I like Stater Bros.), I do shop in their department side, as it is roomy, and clean. They have an urgent care, hair Solon, nail, Solon, a McDonald's in this Walmart, and a visit from the Police at least once a week (I assume for shop lifting).

[Pennyrick]

In NYS we have Target and Walmart stores. I've noticed a number of threads on SL's poking fun at the Walmart employees and patrons, but no comments related to Target. To me both stores carry similar merchandise. I'm just curious as to why it seems Walmart gets all the negative comments.

Target started out as a division of the Dayton-Hudson Corporation. Dayton Department stores dated back to the 20's and was a bit of an upscale mid-west department store. The J.L. Hudson company also dated back to the 20's and was founded by the family that began the Hudson Car company. It was the upscale department store in the Michigan market. After Dayton and Hudson merged, Target sprung out of that heritage with a few larger stores in the early 60's and became so successful the company eventually changed it's name to Target.

WalMart always went after a down scale market beginning with Sam's acquisition of his first store in 1950. He stayed with the low price concept and it continued after his death.

Although today's merchandise lines are very similar there is still a carry-over image in some (older) folks minds that Target provides quality while WalMart focuses on price.

[Woody]

Target feels better inside, seems cleaner and the employees are more helpful. Walmart employees (except cashiers) seem to be trained to avoid eye contact with customers at all costs! That having been said, the nearest Target is 45 miles away, so, we end up at Wal Mart weekly. I dont have to like it, just tolerate it.

Amazon Prime is the way to go!

[Dan_Ashley]

Target feels better inside, seems cleaner and the employees are more helpful. Walmart employees (except cashiers) seem to be trained to avoid eye contact with customers at all costs! That having been said, the nearest Target is 45 miles away, so, we end up at Wal Mart weekly. I dont have to like it, just tolerate it.

Amazon Prime is the way to go!

Wal mart wanted to expand the store here in town into a super Wal mart. Citizens complained to the city council that the existing store is dirty and the parking lot is littered. Request to expand was denied.

[Bob Denman]

I'm not a fan of stores so big; that I can starve to death, before being able to set up a tent and get a fire started, in the Camping Section.

[Dan_Ashley]

I'm not a fan of stores so big; that I can starve to death, before being able to set up a tent and get a fire started, in the Camping Section.

...or that are so big I gotta Ryde my Spyder to go from the cookie aisle to the bed sheets gondola...

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

In NYS we have Target and Walmart stores. I've noticed a number of threads on SL's poking fun at the Walmart employees and patrons, but no comments related to Target. To me both stores carry similar merchandise. I'm just curious as to why it seems Walmart gets all the negative comments.

Walmart has a history of driving suppliers to keep lowering prices, sometimes to the point of breaking them. One pickle company nearly went broke because of WM's push for lower prices. IIRC, they survived only by dropping WM as a customer.

Low prices is also a marketing ploy. Many of their prices are not lower than elsewhere. The image of WM is that of a ruthless corporate entity when it comes to money. Sell cheap, and support that by buying cheap and paying cheap. And don't hang on to slow moving stock. If it doesn't turn over fast enough they stop carrying it.

They do tailor there inventory to local tastes. A manager of a K-Mart that was closing years ago said that was a big problem with K-Mart. Inventory mixture was dictated by headquarters without regard to local preferences. K-Mart's biggest problem was bad management.

There was a time, about 30 years ago, when you saw all kinds of "Proudly Made In The USA" signs, banners, and labels in Walmart. Not anymore. But of course they are not alone in that respect.

[bruiser]

We have three Wal Marts within 10 miles. East, west, and south. I refuse to go to the original store (east) unless I'm armed,(which I usually am anyway) have a haz mat suit and am stark raving mad. I only frequent the southern store on limited occasion. I won't say why we don't care for that store. We go to the western store. It's newer, cleaner, safer and better stocked. There is a Wal Mart express in the small town 15 miles north of us. Never been there. We have a Target. We like it. It's cleaner, brighter, well stocked and has a Starbucks.

Did you know, Vermont is the only state that doesn't have a Target?
Target also operates two forensics labs.

When I was working, our company supplied equipment to Wal Mart and we serviced it. If we didn't follow Wal Mart protocol to the letter, we didn't get paid. What a PIA.

[Woody]

I our town, they built a new Super Wal Mart literally 30 feet behind the 10 year old regular Wal Mart, tore it down, paved it and were open a week later.


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[Gray Ghost]

...Wal-Mart had a target of putting 83 local businesses out of business whenever they opened a new store. If they couldn't do this, they would not open a store in that area...

I don't doubt that Wal-Mart is very competitive, but I also know of small towns that didn't have 83 local businesses where Wal-Mart has opened. And some of the local businesses that were endangered by Wal-Mart in the area i grew up in were the same ones who used aggressive business practices to grab business from the small mom-and-pop stores in surrounding small towns.

[Dan McNally]

"Walmart kills small businesses" was not the case in Rutland VT. There was a K-Mart in a strip mall, down town . . . it closed, and so did just about every small business in that mall . . . a few years later, Walmart took over the abandoned K-Mart, and within a year of opening, every store front in the mall was open and doing business again. Big stores like Walmart bring people . . . small businesses in the same vicinity frequently profit from the people who come to WalMart . . .

[Dan_Ashley]

"Walmart kills small businesses" was not the case in Rutland VT. There was a K-Mart in a strip mall, down town . . . it closed, and so did just about every small business in that mall . . . a few years later, Walmart took over the abandoned K-Mart, and within a year of opening, every store front in the mall was open and doing business again. Big stores like Walmart bring people . . . small businesses in the same vicinity frequently profit from the people who come to WalMart . . .

hey, this is really cool. This is the first I've ever heard of Wal mart helping out other small businesses. When was this? I want to research it further than a forum thread allows.

[crazyspyder]

I try to avoid wal-mart - like the plague ! they treat their workers like SLAVES. my wife worked for them for 10yrs. and they would always
nickel and dime her to death on pay raises - no matter how good her stats were. TARGET just seem a lot more cleaner and very professional
atmosphere.