Long story short, my wife is a department manager at a local grocery store (worked her way up from the bottom), she gets a 10% discount on merchandises as well. She has been at this position for 10+ years and enjoys it for the most part, the pay and benefits are amazing for what she does!! We have been shopping at her work to be loyal to pays her. But we are trying to cut expenses, and after some recon missions to the local WalMart we could almost cut our grocery bill to 1/3 of what we pay now! Now I am not a fan of WalMart and I will do anything I can NOT to shop there, but after seeing how cheap their food department is its hard to say no..

That being said what are your guys opinions, if this was you would you stay loyal to who signs your paycheck or shop elsewhere to save some money?

Just an FYI we are not hurting for money, we are just trying to save faster, and if we can save $100-$200 extra a month that would be great

My wife says lets go to WalMart, for me its like a moral dilemma haha..

 

Your wife is not getting a paycheck because she shops there. She gets a paycheck because she does a job they need done, so they pay her for it.

Shop where you want.

 

loyalty is nice, but a long forgotten practice. Do you think the company would show the same loyalty if they found someone to do your wife's job for a 1/3 of the $.?

Shop where you want

 

For a short term gain shop at Wal-Mart. Maybe everyone going to Wal-Mart won't force your wife's store out of business and cost her job. It's happened in many places.

 

You all make valid points, sometimes my biggest flaw is being to generous

I used to work retail many years ago, and I told all my friends and family to shop there to support the business, but in all reality, does it really make a big difference, in the overall scheme of things is maybe added 0.001% to the bottom line haha

 

Dude....Is it a boutique high-end grocer or something?.......

3X more expensive than Wally-World?!!!????!!!!

Because they did comparisons between similar items at Wal-Mart and Food Lion and Harris Teeter (which isn't so much 'high' end as 'higher' end).......And the differences were relatively small.......And with SOME merchandise, shoppers with their 'loyalty' cards at Food Lion and Harris Teeter actually paid less. For dang-sure, they weren't 3X more expensive than Wal-Mart!!!

 

Does one person make a difference? No, one person shopping here or there won't make enough difference in either store's bottom line to even be able to measure it. But leaving it to someone else to shop at a store and keep it in business means everybody moves the the cheaper store and the other one goes out of business. Sometimes you do what's right BECAUSE it is what's right.

If I were in that position I would shop at the store that pays me. Going to Wal-Mart might just hasten the day when your wife is collecting unemployment.

 

If your wife's store is 3x the price and they're not working the high end market, they will soon go down no matter what you do. Local stores can compete, but they have to really work at it. Either they have to go for a different market group, or they have to really work their prices and service.

That being said, are you sure of your figures? Our Wally has some good prices, but not on everything. I generally try to hit their 'loss leaders' and not much else. (loss leaders are things that they take a hit on to get you in the store).

I'm also pretty skeptical about their meat, veggies, and the like. The local Wallies just don't seem all that good in those areas.

Just one cautionary note. Your wife's place might get a little hostile if they find out that she's not shopping at their store.

good luck,

hj

 

I shop on base and at the local grocer (Farm Fresh). Wally world is further away than I want to travel to get a few items. But, we do shop there from time to time.

The Walmart grocery section is the last place that I would be concerned about for having quality foods. Their turnover rate is so high because they are getting the foot traffic in very high volumes to turn things over.

As for loyalty, be loyal to your family and your values. If that means saving a few bucks at a competitor then that's what it means.

As stated, your bride has been hired to do a job. Shopping at her place of business isn't a condition of employment. I'll even wager that the company would prefer that she shops elsewhere so they don't have to honor the employee discount.

I used to moonlight at Toys R Us when my kids were small during Christmas. I recycled much of my earnings back into the store, the manager would grimace when I came to the counter with a high dollar toy. But he had to honor my 10% employee benefit.

 

Dang. 1/3 the price. I didn't know Neiman Marcus carried groceries....

 

Walmart is nothing but a bunch of crooks with a horrendous reputation in its dealings with suppliers and employees----the news is full of their shenanigans. While this might not impress or concern those not looking at the bigger picture, think its perfectly okay to patronize it just because it seems cheap I wonder how those people think of the flood of Chinese made crap products and its subsequent loss of jobs here in the USA? To me it seems very short sighted to support that outfit when much of the same pricing for better items typically aren't that much lower---if any at all--at Walmart. (This has been researched and is very clear to those who care to dig just a bit into it.)

IF I honestly noticed a 3x cost difference in the same brand, quality or quantity of products between my employer and Walmart I'd first approach them, explain the discovery and if nothing else try negotiating a better employee discount. I'd also keep in mind IF my employer closes due "everyone" flocking to Walmart would my wife be able to work there for her same wage as she current enjoys? Would the lack of benefits and known mistreatment of employees be fun to endure?

Yes the idea of imagined low prices is something to consider just as the impact of such a choice has on your wife's job. While just one person might not make a huge difference when you change that to say "one person at a time.........." it adds up and has larger-than-anticipated consequences to that bigger picture.

Paul McCartney once sang "Give Ireland back to the Irish........." we need to re-write that to say "Give the USA jobs back to the Americans........."!

Rant over, thanks for your attention and pile on as you prefer!

 

No body took it from us. WE gave it away.

 

And WE keep giving it away every time WE walk into WalMart!

Now if that single sentence was all you take away from my attempt to point a few things out so be it----there was a larger point offered though!

 

That pretty much sums it up right there! Competition is good unless the items are so undercut the average retailer can't compete.

 

Absolutely spot on Sir----could NOT have said it any better!