this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2024
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I'm doing better now, but 15 years ago Walmart was the only option I had for food. Local/regional grocery stores were more expensive and I was living paycheck to paycheck with growing debt.
"If people were smart they would stop buying the most cost-efficient option" is really not feasible.
"If people were smart" they would read and stop putting oligarchs in power.
In fact, more and more people don't have the luxury of buying more expensive options.
Of course, stealing is an option, and I think 'If people were smart' they would accept that stealing from Walmart is not an ethical or pragmatic problem, but it's a risky behavior so I wouldn't criticize people for not stealing. [edit: see Fubarberry's reply]
Stealing from walmart also isn't sustainable if many people are doing it. For example there were a ton of walmarts and other stores in the Chicago area that recently closed due to high theft at those locations. Now whole communities there are left without convenient shopping options, which can be a big problem for people with limited transportation options.
Stealing isn't right.
The Walmart near me closed due to high theft. There were actually people stealing from the construction site when the store was being built, so it really was a ticking clock as to how long the store itself would even last.
Some people are just awful.
That Walmart CLAIMED were closed for high theft.
You can look up videos of some of the stores that were closed, they were basically being straight up looted.
I remember seeing the videos, and thinking to myself how I didn't understand how they could afford to stay in business like that. So when they announced they were closing those stores for theft, I didn't' really think the given reason was every in doubt.
"βThe decision to close a store is never easy,β company officials said in a statement. βThe simplest explanation is that collectively our Chicago stores have not been profitable since we opened the first one nearly 17 years ago.β
The stores lose tens of millions of dollars a year, according to the company, a figure that nearly doubled in the last five years despite numerous strategies to boost performance, including building smaller stores, offering local products and building a Walmart Academy training center."
https://news.wttw.com/2023/04/12/walmart-closing-4-chicago-stores-company-says-losses-have-doubled-last-5-years
Doesn't sound like theft was ever the problem here according to them?
Good point. If there aren't other local stores remaining to fill the gaps, then that would be a critical problem.
But you'll notice that the price comparison is narrowing and Wal-Mart is slowly not looking better off than the competition. It's almost like shopping at Dollar Tree is more feasible, it's what some of us are going to be forced to be doing if not now. Just shopping Dollar Tree almost regularly.
Entirely depends on region. Walmarts strategy is to take a loss in an area until all local competitors are out of business then crank back up until that area is profitable enough to subsidize new areas. In my area Walmart is cheaper than pretty much everyone except dollar stores, and dollar stores treat their employees even worse while having even worse quality food for barely any cheaper.