I Ghetto Go to Wal Mart!

The question isn’t so much “Why Wal Mart,” but rather, “Why a 24 hour Wal Mart, if you cannot efficiently run it?”

It’s not like the Wal Mart in St. James is the only one that I have to compare with.  I’ve been to Wal Marts all around North America, from Montreal to Anaheim, but this location takes the cake.  “Hey, where’s the cake?”  All I can find is an empty shelf with a price label on it, right next to another empty shell with a price label.  “These prices are great, but where’s the product?”  I have coined the nick name for this location as “Old Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard.”  You know, as in going to fetch her poor dog a bone?

I mean, when I go to Wal Mart in Grand Forks, I find the shelves always stocked and the prices right, even after midnight!  …And on that note, I thought that we were in a recession, and that the Canadian Dollar was strong!  What’s the deal with $2 Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, when it’s $7 bucks here – All the time.  Don’t even get me started on the $3 Crunch n’ Munch that is only $1 in the States.  Come on!  Then again, notice how it’s junk food that is really bad for you, that I’m on about.  Maybe it’s like Cigarettes; they just inflate the price to off set the costs of Medi-care. 

Nevertheless, U.S. verses Canadian costs is a whole other subject.  The real issue is, Why is Wal Mart St. James in Winnipeg Manitoba, so ridiculously mismanaged?  This is not just some recent development.  I’ve been going there for years, and they just can’t seem to get it together.  I remember one time walking into this Wal Mart in the early evening (Not Even a Midnight Run) and the place looked like some kids had been set loose and knocked stuff all over the place.  There were items on the floor, in the isles, and I don’t mean just in boxes waiting to be placed on the shelves, but just lying on the floor, randomly.  I wasn’t the only one losing it.  There was a lady pushing her cart in front of me, who freaked out when she found a package of bacon sitting on the shelf in the Floor Cleaning Products isle.  O.K., so perhaps that was just some, Loser Shopper being a moron, but at the same time, have some respect for your work place, and pick up the crap.  WE, The Shoppers, didn’t want to move the bacon back to the Refrigeration section, because we did not know how long it had been there.  Our fear was that some Wal Martee was just going to do that anyway, and the next schmuck that picked up that package would be heading to the ER.  It’s a good thing that we don’t eat bacon! 

The amazing thing is that, I went back a couple days later, and it still looked that way!  I was like, “So, you’re going for this look?”  I remember one time walking down an isle and witnessed a location manager talking to someone who would have appeared to be a regional manager.  Anyway – I overheard this comment, “We’ve tried everything, but we can’t seem to get them to work.”  First of all, probably not the best place to hold this type of conversation, and second, you’d think that since they were actually addressing the issue, that something would have been done about it?  This was YEARS ago. 

I was there again last night.  Sometimes the Midnight Run is the best time to go, because you don’t have all the crowds, but then again the trade off is having to push a cart down an isle with boxes and products lying around everywhere.  Why?  To save a couple bucks?  No.  It’s the 24 hour issue.  When your hours are not “normal,” because you work until midnight, and or you are watching your kids all day, and don’t dare drag them into that zoo, it’s the only option.  Once they are in bed, and Mom is settled in for the evening, it’s a good time to break free. 

All I can say is that, perhaps it’s just the location.  Maybe I haven’t been to other Wal Marts located, “In the Ghetto.”  I remember one time, again years ago, when I was at another Wal Mart location, and a long story short, I had taken the wrong bus and was late for work, and so I was close to a Wal Mart, and so I ran to it, thinking that I could find a Taxi there.  I didn’t realize that Wal Mart St. James was the only Wal Mart that had a Taxi line, like at the Airport.  I guess this is another indicator of how “Special” this particular location is.  Trust me, I would drive the extra distance to avoid that Hole, and I do, when I can shop during regular hours, but the “Nice” Wal Marts are not open 24 hours.

“… And that’s all that I have to say about THAT!”