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Fog/Mist ~ High: 32°F ~ Low: 27°F Friday, Feb. 10, 2012 |
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Warning! Grouch Alert!Posted Tuesday, August 7, 2007, at 6:50 AM
Let's talk about something that we all have to do.
Personally, I hate it, but my husband would say that I am lying.
See if you can guess what I am talking about- If you live in Shelbyville, you have do it. It's terrible on the weekends It's bad in the morning It's worse in the afternoon. It might be ok at 4 a.m. If you haven't guessed already, I hate going to Wal-Mart! I go to Wal-Mart at the very least twice a week. You might wonder why I go so much if I hate it so badly. Well, I'll tell you why. I forget the things that I am supposed to get the first time I go. OR they didn't have what I wanted when I went for it the first time. Now in no way is this blog critical of the people that work at Wal-Mart..I'm sure they hate it as well. Let's discuss waiting in line. I'm not exactly positive how many registers they have in the store, but I'm assuming it's around 15-20. Why oh why don't they utilize more than 4 registers at on time? I can be in a line of 7 people with buggies filled to the top and lined up into the women's clothing department. I understand that Wal-Mart would have to pay extra cashiers to work those registers, but c'mon! It's Wal-Mart! They should have enough money to pay them! I hate to say it, but my monthly Wal-Mart bill is probably enough to pay one cashier. One might ask me why I go to Wal-Mart if I hate it so much. Well, where else am I going to go? It's so darn convenient! Where else can I get chicken breast, a hot glue gun, and a Dora DVD? Don't let me forget to mention that the prices aren't too bad as well. Like I said, I hate Wal-Mart. but in my life, it's a necessary evil. If I could I would drive all the way to Target to get the things that I need, but even my beloved Target doesn't have most of the items I need on a daily basis. So, I guess I will survive with Wal-Mart. Thanks to all of those employees that put up with the spoiled customers like myself. Comments Showing most recent comments first [Show in chronological order instead] |
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I agree with you...I hate shopping at Wal-Mart! I just hate to shop and Wal-Mart just adds salt to the wound. I go there as little as possible.
Back to school shopping was the worst. Why can't they take the school lists that they so conveniently place up front for the shoppers and use that to order their stock?? They had all kinds of school supplies that wasn't on my list? But finding a folder with brads and two pockets....well....that was no where to be found!
In the grocery section, I have seen on more than one occasion, molded cheese or opened products. Not to mention the injected meat that they sell.
And four checkout lanes? When? The last time I was in there was a Sunday afternoon and there was two! Yes, two checkout lanes! I spend more time in line than I do filling an entire cart.
Shelbyville definately needs a few more options. And to think...I grew up in a town with no shopping centers, no clothing stores, and no shoe stores. We had a grocery, a J's Restaurant and a Pizza King.
LOL, more than likely since they have monopolized Shelbyville, they won't....
I had it told to me today, when you say your biggest shopping center in town is Wal-Mart, you're in HUGE trouble.
I agree. I usually go to Walmart in Murfreesboro if I'm over there, just to avoid the same problems as everyone else. I would like to see at least a couple of self checkout lanes. The other night I had 2 items and the lines were in the center aisle across the store. Not a single express lane open. I laid down my stuff and walked out. Maybe Walmart will read this blog and try to change. Probably not.
Well perhaps since WE demanded all of these things then maybe they should listen when WE demand they USE The 20+ registers in the store!!
If they are doing what is always best for the customer one would assume they could make the lines a little shorter... But when your reading the gossip magazines while standing in the Jewelry line... you are no longer in line.
Why pay 10+ CSM's to just stand there and 'watch' what's happening? I don't shop at WalMart so I can rightfully speak against it. I most certainly don't shop for convenience, because heaven forbid you forgot the dog food, and you are now in the produce section... Not really convenient!
Guys, come on! We love convenience but nothing is ever convenient enough. We love one-stop shopping but complain about the lines being too long. You need a chicken breast, hot glue gun and a Dora DVD? Try driving (in Shelbyville traffic) to an actual grocery store, a hardware store and a video store. I bet you wouldn't be complaining about the lines then. AND if we feel that Wal-Mart is becoming a monopoly...then maybe we should just patronize those other stores.
The bottom line is Wal-Mart has become what we've asked from it. Sam Walton had a great idea many years ago and it has expanded from his original stores because WE demanded it...we demanded lower prices and convenience.
No matter how long the lines are, Wal-Mart saves all of us time and money.
disclaimer- I am not an employee of Wal-Mart, just a mother of 3 small children that loves not having to pull 3 kids out of the car 3-4 times just to get the supplies I need.
Kelley, I feel your pain!
Today I went to Wal-Mart around noon. When I went to check out with only $30 worth of merchandise, I was the fifth in my line. By the time I got to the register, there were 7 carts behind me.
In Nashville we lived 2 miles from a Target. Target used to have a policy that if there were 2 people waiting in a line, they called someone to open another register. I'm not sure they still follow that policy today.
Why doesn't Shelbyville's Wal-Mart have self check-out registers like they have at Kroger & at most of the Wal-Marts in larger cities? They are quite convenient and fast when you purchase just a few items.
I still say it's not city regulation keeping businesses out. That was my main point; I was scoffing at the ridiculous idea that K-Mart or Target hadn't shown up because the city wasn't "allowing" them to.
I wrote a column on this a month or two ago; there is no secret city cabal deciding what retailers to allow. The city wants as much retail as it can get, because the city is funded largely by sales tax revenue!
You can't compare Shelbyville's retail situation to Manchester because of the interstate. (Those business plans I talked about also take traffic into account.)
And you're also assuming that every time you heard a rumor about some restaurant coming to town, the rumor was legitimate. I've heard all kinds of rumors in my 22 years of working here, some of them ridiculous. (I must have heard four different times over the years that Target was buying Big Springs Shopping Center, even though Target seldom locates in small towns and usually builds its stores from scratch.) Even if a rumor was legitimate, why would you automatically blame the city -- unless the restaurant asked for a zoning change or site plan variance and got turned down? I can only think of one recent case where there was a serious question about granting a site plan for a major chain, and that one finally did get approved.
Even in cases where there was something to the original rumor, the restaurant may have been trying to get a particular piece of property and just couldn't come to terms with the landowner. Or the restaurant may have only been doing some preliminary research and ultimately decided that the city didn't fit its business plan.
I stand by my original contention that the city government has not been a major obstacle in retailers locating here.
Starbucks also builds based on demand and population Jicarney, yet Manchester has one. Check the population difference between Shelbyville and Mancehster...
I do agree though, and it is obvious that retailers would only locate where the business is going to be there.. But there are too many people who don't like a variey of choices. That is the problem. A business can locate here, we know that.. but city government has to approve a conglomerate of regualtions first. I remember Applebee's was going to locate here, and I have head Red Lobster, O'Charley's, and Zaxby's...
There are plenty of people in the entire COUNTY, not just the city who can support this!
You said that retailers base their location on population-correct as you are, this also means that a store as massive as Wal-Mart leaves no room for another "one-stop shopping store". And I say that because of the population in Shelbyville. Although it is growing rather fast, this town has no room to grow into a city the size of Tullahoma or even Murfreesboro. We may be a little bigger than Manchester, and that county has a single Wal-Mart. Why do you think that is? Although Manchester is growing at a rapid rate due to the publicity of Bonnaroo, they've yet to add another K-Mart, just a small strip mall with 4 or 5 stores. I agree that Wal-Mart thrives on basing their location in small towns, because that is where they can make the most profits. Only in towns big enough for one.
Until Shelbyville "allows" other things in? That's pretty ridiculous. Retailers decide where to locate based on population and demographics. It's true that Shelbyville, back in the 1970s, chased off a mall (which became Northgate Mall in Tullahoma), but there's no question today of anyone not "allowing" Target, or K-Mart or whoever. Target, in their case, doesn't locate in small towns. K-Mart used to have a store here but closed it during their restructuring. Perhaps they'll be back some day, perhaps not. But it's not a case of "allowing" retailers in. The retailers go where they think they can make the most money. In many cases, they have specific business plans calling for such-and-such a population within a certain number of miles.
The last city administration did what they could to encourage retailers, and I'm sure the new administration will as well. But you can't be as pro-active in recruiting retail as you are in recruiting industry.
Wal-Mart is slowly becoming a monopoly.. Their phrase "One stop shopping" is what they thrive on. They thrive on coming into smaller towns and eating up market share... They also put other grocery stores out of business because people, LOVE convenience.... For groceries Kroger or Food Lion will suffice, usually their meats and dairy products are cheaper...
THINK ABOUT IT... Most LARGE corporations only think about profit... (after taxes, fees, etc..) even at the expense of POOR customer service... and the customer service line, can take 30 minutes to get through, meanwhile you got the "Customer Service Mangers" standing at their podiums instead of opening a register or two... In Murfreesboro at the Old Fort Pkwy store, there lines are long but they usually have about 15-20 open and my family has personally been checked out, made payment, and had our items bagged by the STORE MANAGER on more than two occasions!!!!!!!!!!
Even if their once valued "How may I help you?" On the back of their vests was a crucial role, it is no longer that... They have switched employee outfits to honestly, look like customers... They wear the navy blue shirts with tan pants... most don't have a nametag on anymore either ;)
About the lines, they have.. i think 26 registers, and even on the Day after Thanksgiving, and Day after Christmas, they would only use about 15-18.. it is all part of cost-cutting, and they can do it in cities like Shelbyville, which have no other "one-stop" options...
Try Kroger and Food Lion for your grocery needs... Cuz you usually don't go into Kroger and Food Lion wanting to get a few things and coming out with a sky high buggy full of "impulse" items (impulse is a Marketers term for items you do not need, but gotta have... and were not part of your shopping plan)
I DO HATE wal-mart, and I only go about once a month for my own needs...
(these are my opinions and views, which is the purpose of a blog....and I am a Senior Marketing major at MTSU)
I have to agree I hate Wal Mart. You fight the traffic to get there (which BTW is going to get unabearable when construction on 231 begins) then hunt for the items you need because you knew where they were last week but they have decide to move them to another part of the store this week,stand in line waiting behind people with buggys full of items (and wouldn't you know I have just over the 20 item limit for quick check) when I finally get to the cashier she needs change so we wait for someone to come give her change (even though I am writing a check) you either get the cashier who wants to ask you were you got everything in your basket because she has been looking for one of those or the cashier who acts like she is the Queen of Walmart and you are her slave (not sure which one I dislike more). I have decided I can drive to Tullahoma go to Kmart and be home with less time and less trouble.
I also hate Wal-Mart with a passion. Other than the long lines you have to wait in for hours (well I don't even have to buy the gossip mags, I can just read them in line) You also can't find ANYBODY who knows where anything is, even if they work in that department and they are rude and act like you should be honored to shop there. And I don't go for convenience, I go because it's the only store you can go to. We don't have the luxury of choosing between Targets, Wal-Mart, or K-Mart like the more sophisticated towns that allow growth. So until Shelbyville allows other things in, I will be sharing my hatred of Wal-Mart with you...and it's not much better at 4 in the morning either, you have to fight with the overnight stockers just to get down an aisle.