Just watched the Wal Mart documentary.

[volinbham]

I just now tripped into this thread. Haven't read through but....

How many of you are old enough to remember when the big shopping malls were being built for the first time right outside of everyone's town. The cries all those years ago were the same. Mom and Pop are ruined. Mom and Pop(some of them) adapted.
The point, this is not terribly unusual and the marketplace adapts. K-Mart is gone for Pete's sake, who would've thought that 30 years ago?

Yep - I even remember the downtown department stores that were multi-stories tall. New stores come in to fill the niches that others can't fill. As was mentioned earlier, the upscale grocery stores are thriving because Wal-mart/SuperTarget can cover the staples and traditional grocery stores don't have enough gourmet variety. Come back in 10 years and it will be quite different.

 

[volinbham]

They are supposedly about to add banking to their repetoire.

They have it in a few places but the regulators (cough cough - bank lobbyists) are holding them back. My guess is that there will be considerable delays on this front.

On the otherhand, they are a pseudo-bank. For example, my dad never uses an ATM. He goes to Wal-Mart and pays with a debit card and gets cash back up to $100. No ATM fees!

 

[milohimself]

Has anybody seen the new WalMart HDTV commercials? Where that couple walks in to the Bang & Olufsen? I was like yeah right... I doubt two people that good-looking have ever set foot in Wally World.

 

[volsgal03]

My sister and I were shopping at Walmart the other day for baby formula and wouldn't you know the grocery store next to it was cheaper by 3$. I moved out of TN in 86 to Ohio and I first saw Meijer a super big grocery store that was like a walmart and a grocery store under one roof and I was like wow this is so cool ended up working their for 12 years, it wasn't long after that it went to 24 hours every day of the year except Christmas day, and Walmart followed soon with their big supercenter and I do shop their because now that I'm in the Burgh Giant Eagle is so expensive, though it is more convenient.

 

[OrangeEmpire]

GOD BLESS WAL-MART AND GOD BLESS SAM WALTON!

Well lets see, our a personal level we save a heck of a lot of money on baby food and clothes, on the other hand do I really care that Wal-mart destroyed rubbermaid because they would not seel to them at a lower price? Yeah Capitalism!

We have a new supercenter coming into Delaware, the city in Ohio, not the state, but it took almost two years to get it approved.

It was going to be one of the largest in the country, Delaware County is the 15th fastest growing county in the U.S.A., but the city fought against it.

It will now be a scaled down version that will keep the "City" identity.

 

[GVF]

Yep . . . That's what my deductible is. The days of a $500 deductible in an indemnity plan are over.

Thank goodness for ye olde Flexible Spending Account.

My deductible is only $300/person, and I only pay $200/mo for family. But, i'm on a company group plan. I had private on my wife and son while I was "taking a break", and found out my sons de. was actually $1500. Luckily I was double insured at hte time. I can't believe my wife signed up for a 1500.