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Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

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Re: Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

#11

Post by rubyn00bie »

throwawaysleep wrote: post #6

It’s price and the ease the price enables. Low price demonstratably rules in everything from plane tickets to groceries to basic services to clothing as it enables a life of abundance and mental ease. A friend loves Walmart as it means he no longer has to maintain his lawnmower. He just throws it away and buys a new one annually at the start of the season. He can still mow his lawn while abandoning the need to mainta…

Tangential: but I’d really like to call out what a life hack, lots of cheap socks are. I got the idea myself long ago, as a kid, from the South Park creators, as they demanded unlimited new socks while making the movie.

Once a year I buy like a 50 pack on Amazon and it’s great. 10/10 would recommend.

Re: Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

#12

Post by jarofghosts »

throwawaysleep wrote: post #6

It’s price and the ease the price enables. Low price demonstratably rules in everything from plane tickets to groceries to basic services to clothing as it enables a life of abundance and mental ease. A friend loves Walmart as it means he no longer has to maintain his lawnmower. He just throws it away and buys a new one annually at the start of the season. He can still mow his lawn while abandoning the need to mainta…

And certainly there is no price to be paid for this accelerated garbage-production loop!

Re: Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

#13

Post by tantalor »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #7
no_wizard wrote: post #5

The layout is entirely by design to feel like you’re strolling down “Main Street” Americana. I learned this decades ago when I worked for Walmart setting up stores and training folks. It was explicitly made clear to us this is what the layout was designed to elicit

I would be surprised if most people under 60 or even 50 know what strolling down “Main Street” means. In my 30+ years, I have never once strolled down a Main Street. I have always gone to big stores and malls (and now online shopping).

> I have never once strolled down a Main Street

You know it doesn't have to be named "Main Street" to be a Main Street

Re: Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

#14

Post by no_wizard »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #7
no_wizard wrote: post #5

The layout is entirely by design to feel like you’re strolling down “Main Street” Americana. I learned this decades ago when I worked for Walmart setting up stores and training folks. It was explicitly made clear to us this is what the layout was designed to elicit

I would be surprised if most people under 60 or even 50 know what strolling down “Main Street” means. In my 30+ years, I have never once strolled down a Main Street. I have always gone to big stores and malls (and now online shopping).

I consider it the fact that Walmart for a long time had a mostly rural and suburban strategy that skews demographics to people 40+. It’s a Sam Walton hold over that I think is being slowly replaced.

What WalMart hates the most is that they can’t get people of affluence who want to save money to shop at one though. When I worked there the complaint out of HQ I heard the most is that Michelle Obama and Oprah would shop at a Target but never step foot in a Walmart despite having identical goods but Walmart has better prices

Re: Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

#16

Post by FrustratedMonky »

throwawaysleep wrote: post #8
ilyt wrote: post #4

Author is delusional. A bunch of small stores close is nowhere near similar. I just want to go to one shop, get the stuff, and leave, not to go to 8 shops, pay 8 times, pack groceries 8 times and overall walk more edit: that is not to say opening big supermarkets is great, just that once they are there that's why people skip local stores and go to the big supermarket

Deal with 8 different potential return policies. Have 8 different conversations. Deal with whether all 8 take Amex or not.

So you are advocating for large monolithic monopolies? Reduce the complexity by reducing choice?

Re: Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

#17

Post by cykotic »

throwawaysleep wrote: post #6

It’s price and the ease the price enables. Low price demonstratably rules in everything from plane tickets to groceries to basic services to clothing as it enables a life of abundance and mental ease. A friend loves Walmart as it means he no longer has to maintain his lawnmower. He just throws it away and buys a new one annually at the start of the season. He can still mow his lawn while abandoning the need to mainta…

That is one of the problems with Walmart. It facilitates overconsumption. The world can’t sustain such a lifestyle for everyone. We end up paying for the negative externalities partially by living in a world we have poisoned. Whilst we drink water containing micro plastics we will be able to relish the fact that we were able to buy many more socks than we needed.

Re: Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

#18

Post by lotsofpulp »

tantalor wrote: post #13
lotsofpulp wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be surprised if most people under 60 or even 50 know what strolling down “Main Street” means. In my 30+ years, I have never once strolled down a Main Street. I have always gone to big stores and malls (and now online shopping).

> I have never once strolled down a Main Street You know it doesn't have to be named "Main Street" to be a Main Street

Yes, I meant shopping while walking around an old school downtown with a clothing store next to a grocer next to a shoe store next to a diner next to hardware store etc.

I only ever remember going to Walmart, Home Depot, Costco, Best Buy, malls, Kroger, etc.

Re: Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

#19

Post by JimtheCoder »

no_wizard wrote: post #14
lotsofpulp wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be surprised if most people under 60 or even 50 know what strolling down “Main Street” means. In my 30+ years, I have never once strolled down a Main Street. I have always gone to big stores and malls (and now online shopping).

I consider it the fact that Walmart for a long time had a mostly rural and suburban strategy that skews demographics to people 40+. It’s a Sam Walton hold over that I think is being slowly replaced. What WalMart hates the most is that they can’t get people of affluence who want to save money to shop at one though. When I worked there the complaint out of HQ I heard the most is that Michelle Obama and Oprah would shop…

"What WalMart hates the most is that they can’t get people of affluence who want to save money to shop at one though"

I guess you can't be everything to everybody...

Re: Walmart didn’t kill the small town, it is the small town

#20

Post by mrits »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #7
no_wizard wrote: post #5

The layout is entirely by design to feel like you’re strolling down “Main Street” Americana. I learned this decades ago when I worked for Walmart setting up stores and training folks. It was explicitly made clear to us this is what the layout was designed to elicit

I would be surprised if most people under 60 or even 50 know what strolling down “Main Street” means. In my 30+ years, I have never once strolled down a Main Street. I have always gone to big stores and malls (and now online shopping).

If you name a large city in the US I can probably tell you the name of the main street that is packed with locals
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