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My post on why I broke up with Walmart really hit a nerve. A lot of people, however, are saying that they only shop there because it is cheaper.
I don’t think that’s true, and I have a challenge for you.
I’ll make you a deal. Leave me a list of the top 20 food items you buy at Walmart. I’ll shop around and find out if Walmart actually is cheaper or the same price.
My plan is to hit Kroger, Randalls/Safeway, HEB, Sam’s Club, and Target for a comparison. I don’t live near a SuperTarget, so I’ll use my regular Target that also carries a limited supply of groceries for comparison. If anyone has a Costco membership and would like to take this list to get prices, that would be awesome and I’ll link to your post!
(Try to keep it to ingredients and basic foodstuffs – I can’t buy a lot of highly processed foods because my son can’t eat it. So, no, I won’t be comparison shopping for Crunchberries.) Because we’re looking at the money saving aspects of WalMart vs. Competitors, I will compare store brands whenever possible.
UPDATE:
So far the grocery list is:
butter
gallon milk (hormone free)
1 doz. eggs
cheddar cheese
frozen broccoli
flash frozen boneless chicken breasts
presliced turkey lunchmeat
brown rice
spaghetti noodles (white and whole grain)
rotini noodles (white and whole grain)
bread (store brand whole wheat, and national brand HFCS free)
pinto beans, red beans
oatmeal
bananas
Disposable Diapers
Toilet Paper (1000 ct., Scott or store brand)
Dish soap
Dishwasher detergent
Tide
100 ct. acetaminophen, 500 mg. (Tylenol generic)
100 ct. ibuprofen, 200 mg. (Motrin/Advil generic)
Let’s have a Walmart challenge! Maybe they are cheaper, maybe they’re not. Let’s find out!
Karen (1)
Raso @ lasagnarec... (1)
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on my way to work at a rival of WM but real quick…
You just made my point—> “through a webpost”. Not directly, but ambushing from behind a public blog.
Hmm. And your criticism didn’t remain private, but was put on a blog post because…
Dorn Permenter,
You have some funny standards (not “ha-ha” funny)… you feel it is unethical and bad manners to publicly criticize a corporation, but quite all right to publicly criticize a person? Because you wrote this:
What upset me and got me on this soapbox was your need to boost your popularity at the expense of a company that you have the choice not to deal with.
Why did you feel the need to denigrate and belittle Wal-Mart and by extension it’s hard working, and for the greater part, dedicated associates, when all you had to do was go shop somewhere else. … I don’t plaster hate blogs or comments all over the internet, I simply chose a different store and shopped there.
… a screed which is quite obviously an attempt at character assassination of MHM… and then you follow it up with this comment:
Niceness vs. Bullying — Try it.
Do you have such a highly developed sense of irony that we plebians all missed the punchline, or are you just mean people?
I am happy that your local Walmart meets all your needs. What the comments to MHM’s posts is revealing is that most Walmarts do not meet the needs of many middle-class people. Since most Walmart associates have little to no control over the issues MHM’s readers have mentioned, it’s not reasonable to interpret this criticism as directed personally towards them.
So I took my list and went a shopping,
Everything there except 1 prodcut was cheaper at Target. Also Harris Teeter, Bloom and Lowes’ base price was higher but most of the items were on a sale( i got meat on clearance) so they came out cheaper than Walmart with less hassel and better quality.
Thank you Milehi.
I’m doing the comparison shop, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that hormone-free butter is the CHEAPEST at Target. My Target is a regular one with a couple of grocery aisles, so that was surprising. Cheese was more expensive, though.
Glad you took the time to really check on where to get the best deals!
So, Milehimama, if you dont like walmart…DONT GO THERE!!! stop crying and whining because majority of the people dont care! my dad has worked at walmart my whole freakin life…and never once have i had a problem with shopping for cheaper stuff! if u want your hormone free butter go churn your own! so stop making this idiotic blog and just go to another store where you can get your expensive organic food!
Walmart challange
Beyond the shelf price – there are the other costs – like the cost of poor customer service to the consumer. EXAMPLE: The day before Memorial Day this year, I was in a local Walmart looking for an American Flag. I approached a Walmart employee in the aisle, asking where I could find an American Flag and this is what they said: “I really don’t know where those are – I only work at the front end registers and don’t know where things are located in the aisles.” They smiled and went to the front of the store. When I checked out, I asked to speak with a supervisor. When I told the supervisor what had happened, they apologized and said that they no longer hold employee meetings to save money and there was no way to speak to this with employees. Over the past 18 months, I, too, have reduced my shopping trips to Walmart – because of the high cost of poor service.
My nearest WalMart is right down the street from an HEB, and I frequently see WalMart employees buying produce and groceries at HEB. Makes one wonder why…
samsclub and walmart are the same thing
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