Tuesday, July 19, 2011

What do YOU buy at WalMart (KMart, Target?)

What do you buy at Costco? Is it the same? What do you buy in Old Town? Do you shop there for basic necessities? You don't have to sign your name...

14 comments:

  1. I've never stepped inside a Walmart

    I've been inside Target, but never purchased anything

    At Costco, I typically buy Odwalla breakfast drinks, and sometimes pick up bulk soap or shampoo

    For food, household items, I shop between Safeway, Co-op, farmers markets, and my local corner store

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  2. I have a family of six. I purchase everything at costco.

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  3. I get a lot of stuff at Costco, too, but it is a special trip to Eureka, and they're not always cheaper... being able to buy in bulk is a plus.

    Cheese and meat are usually cheaper at Costco, though, and everything they have seems to be pretty good quality. Otherwise, for everyday groceries, it is whichever store (Safeway, Rays, etc) that is closer to where you live. Yes?

    How about Wildberries and the Co-op as opposed to Trader Joes? the same people who think you shouldn't bring in a WalMart because it supposedly competes with local business have no problem saying bring in a Trader Joe's, which actually WOULD compete with those two local businesses.

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  4. Trader Joe's would complete more with Safeway/Ray's than it would with WIldberries/Co-op. TJ's doesn't have much of the organic produce, etc.

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  5. Yeah, I didn't find Trader Joe's to be all it was cracked up to be - and I figure that is because we are blessed here with The Co-op, Wildberries, the Farmer's Markets, and the other organic whole earth stores in Eureka. Add Costco and the Grocery Outlet and there are all kinds of unusual 'finds.'

    It's all a matter of perspective - I know a guy, very successful rancher, came here from "the Old Country" - who LOVES shopping for produce. To this day, he revels in amazement at the selection available to us here, FRESH PRODUCE... he is a good reminder that we have much to be thankful for.

    Even in other parts of the country they don't have the same access to fresh greens, etc that we do. Why then is there so much complaining?

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  6. I recently bought an air mattress at K-mart. I bought the air pump and batteries also. They always have buy one get one free battery deals.

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  7. The last time I went to a Wal-Mart I purchased a dive mask for $5. Excellent deal! I don't see much of a difference between Wal-Mart and the other big boxes, except that Wal-Mart seems a little crappier. If we're going to have a Wal-Mart, the mall is an appropriate location.

    However, I do have one beef. I've been telling my wife for the last year that, when I win the lottery, I plan to open an ice skating rink in the old Gottschalks building. We could have hockey leagues, broom ball, figuring skating, speeding skate and, of course, couples skating and the Hokey Pokey at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Now I'll have to find a different location. Maybe Borders?

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  8. It's be a great idea, Jack, but i don't know if we can let you expand your empire outside the confines of McKinleyville!

    I mean, we're supposed to fear this, right?

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  9. Have you tried the onion pizza at TJ's? Yum

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  10. I go to Winco to get most of my groceries and funny, I never see any people shopping there I recognize as activists. Where are they shopping while trying to shut down the stores and trade routes, highways and train lines, that supply these stores which are absolutely necessary to the many thousands of us trying to survive on limited incomes. Elitist activism is evil when
    it hurts the poor while activists lawsuits keep them gainfully employed.

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  11. Men love shopping at Winco, must be a huntergatherer thing. :)

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  12. The 'activists' shop at Costco.

    Costco came to town and suddenly there was this local, well funded effort to keep Walmart out, all under the guise of protecting local business. But who has hurt local businesses more?

    Irony is Costco and Walmart operate on the similar business models with the exception of Costco paying their employees better. Only fewer employees are necessary at a warehouse model compared to aisles of goods. Kudos to Costco for ensuring more high end merchandise, but bottom line, they're no better than Walmart.

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  13. You can't get all the groceries one needs at Costco and Co-op prices, Wildberries are much higher than Winco, employee owned. So it's still classic (classist) elitism any way you slice it when activists are not protecting low income county residents' sources of supply.

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  14. I'm also one of a small group of Americans who have never stepped inside a Wal-Mart. My husband used to buy oil for his truck at Wal-Mart when he lived in Redding. He now does most of our grocery shopping, and makes Costco runs for food--meat, fish, produce, Cheerios--as well as personal items. He used to frequently buy books there, too, but now not quite as much since he has a Kindle . . . It seems to me that Costco is a big competitor with our local stores. We shop at Ray's, Safeway, and the Co-Op. On weekends I go to Wildberries. When possible, I try to avoid the time-consuming, sometimes exhausting activity of walking around big-box stores, such as Target, unless I MUST go there. I do miss Gottshalk's, and Mervyn's (though it's great to have Kohl's). Check out this book about Wal-Mart: "The Wal-Mart Effect" by Charles Fishman
    http://www.amazon.com/Wal-Mart-Effect-Powerful-Works-Transforming/dp/1594200769

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