Comments on: Why I Don’t Shop At Walmart (and why I prefer Aldi)

By: Roy

Roy — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 04:33:34 +0000

I tried ALDI for the first time and found it to be too limited with stocked items and quanity of items due to the lack of store space. I didn’t find them that much cheaper then Walmart since you have to buy bags and do all the baging yourself. Conclusion I prefer a multitude of items and the checkout convenience Walmart provides.

By: Ken

Ken — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 11:12:07 +0000

Not sure if anyone reads these articles anymore since the date is from Feb. of last year. As a father of 2 girls, and primary (95%) of the time main dinner preparer. I enjoy cooking. I’m very frugal and enjoy taste. I’ve shopped everywhere: Cub, Rainbow, Target, Wal-Mart,. If Minnesota has it I’ve tried it. I recently, about 6 weeks ago, started going to Aldi. The cost saving is fantastic. Almost $80 every 2 weeks different. For instance $1.69 for a loaf of bread at Aldi it’s $.89. Albeit the loaf is slightly smaller by 4 oz I think still that’s only 6 slices different. Yes I counted. you still save if you buy 2 loaves . Canned food and the likes are .15 cheaper even when they are on sale at other stores. For me this was a big change. As far as taste goes, I wouldn’t say it’s great but just the same as the other generic brands or better.

By: Lilypad

Lilypad — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 04:03:53 +0000

Great comment, Joe. Thanks for providing those statistics. I hope it will open the eyes of some Walmart shoppers.

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 14:27:38 +0000

As large crowds and long lines are on most people’s NOT-WANT-TO-DEAL-WITH list, there is one other overriding reason that I don’t shop at Walmart. The current CEO of Walmart (Michael Duke) made $35-million last year… the lowest paid employee at Walmart makes 8.75/hr and that is typically not a 40 hour week. It’s 30 hours or less per week, so then health benefits are not required.
In 1970 the average CEO made 30 times more than the lowest paid employee. So, the lowest paid employee at Walmart will have to work 2000 years to make what Michael Duke made in one year. Walmart made $13.2-billion in profits and when Michael Duke was asked why some of that profit couldn’t be put into increased wages for employees, his response was “Then we’d have to raise prices”… and that is greed at it’s worst.
And if Sam Walton were alive, I doubt any of these (non-founder) gunslinger Walmart CEO’s would be making these obscene salaries and bonuses.
As a concerned (conservative) American I’m trying to understand what the Board of Directors at Walmart (and at many large corporations) are thinking. Here is the problem; the members on the Board on Walmart, are CEO’s or former CEO’s of other corporations and they tend to take care of each other. Look up “The Business Round Table” and you’ll see the potential for greed and corruption.
So the final decision on where you shop, shouldn’t only be based on price. You should also consider whose pocket your hard earned money is going into, so buy from the local store owner whenever possible.
This new breed of (non-founder) CEO’s focus is NOT job creation, it’s cost reduction and that equates to you as an employee getting RIF’ed (reduction in force)… these CEO’s turn profits by cutting jobs and those profits then become part of their bonus. Pretty sweet deal when you think about how little talent it takes to cut jobs and when you also realize most of these CEO’s are not the founder, but are only employees.
American corporations became successful on selling to the American consumer. The flip side is that the American consumer is also an employee, but that is less and less becoming the case as jobs continue to be outsourced offshore.

By: Jen

Jen — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 22:24:45 +0000

Di–I know what Walmart you’re talking about! It’s huge! I live in Columbia County, NY.

By: Di

Di — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 20:51:54 +0000

We recently moved to the south eastern Albany, NY suburbs from southern NY, outside NYC. First off, the shopping here is absolutely fantastic and if I had nothing to do all (which I don’t because I home school and volunteer and also work part time) I could go from Price Chopper to Hanniford (too expensive) to multiple Rite Aids and CVS stores to Super Target to Super Walmart to Aldi. (and that is just in my town). We live near the biggest Walmart in the country and went there for the first time today. I agree with your posts about impulse buys and the feeling of being overwhelmed. We have been to Aldi 2 times and last week I did almost all my food shopping there. It cost me a lot less than Walmart but their choices in ‘soaps and personal care’ are limited.

We’ll keep experimenting. I also think Walmart has jacked their prices up a bit since I used to shop there about a year ago.

By: Erica

Erica — Tue, 31 May 2011 14:37:03 +0000

I’m not sure how far you are from Decatur but there is an Aldi there at 1000 Beltline Rd SW # G2, Decatur.

Try it out it’s wonderful!

By: Kristin

Kristin — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 02:01:14 +0000

I actually think I’ve read and possibly commented on this post before but it caught my eye again. Having been an employee of Walmart a few years ago, I can honestly say that they are rapidly declining in possibly every way! They spend millions to remodel stores that have been open less than 5 years yet pay their employees so little that it is difficult to afford health benefits. Even if one can afford it, the deductibles and co-pays are so high that only under emergency and/or catastrophic conditions can one use it. You don’t get medicine coverage for 2 years. I heard recently that they no longer hire full time employees in order to cut down on paying benefits but work employees just under the full time limit. Unfortunately when Mr. Walton died, so did the high morals of corporate.

I could keep going…and have…but unfortunately I still must shop there for some things because I live in such a rural area and have such a limited budget. It pains me to give them a dime, and w hen I lived elsewhere I didn’t, but I would not recommend them for anything.

By: Cindy Brinkman

Cindy Brinkman — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 18:32:15 +0000

Gotta go with ‘hate it’. Hate is a pretty strong word so… I have not shopped Wal-Mart in 11 years on principal and ethics. Most of my circle of friends feel the same and we hang our heads in shame when we actually go there in hopes no one we know sees us there. I love Aldi’s and use it regularly for staples. Yes, the cream puffs are absolutely yummy. Ok, not a staple. The cereal isn’t up to par with my family either but most items are. Trial and error. I do get meat on special at Kroger’s for great prices and plan according to my pantry and Sunday circulars. Back to the Wal-mart thing, I do go there periodically for cd’s that on Wal-mart has a license for. Hate it but I try to go at 3 am so I can’t run into anyone I know and move very quickly. Sorry. Don’t judge.

By: Brianna Mariani

Brianna Mariani — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 17:39:52 +0000

It could just be because DH works at walmart or it could just be because my aldi has nothing but fatty foods and other useless items. We go to walmart late at night and never have a problem. We also spend 80 dollars on two weeks of dinner.