All Things Walmart
Just some minor comments about WalMart. Not necessarily major but interesting to me.
I don't think I've been in a Costco ever. I think I picked up on the Sam's Club basically since my folks had a membership, and as a bachelor, I don't really need many bulk items. In fact, I don't think I visited Sam's Club once during the year-plus I lived in North Charleston, SC. You're still paying at least $1/week or so, whether or not you use it. I've come close to dropping it a few times. Things like gas discounts and the $5 rotisserie chicken offset the membership price. There are things I can find at Sam's Club but not at WalMart and vice-versa. For the former, I'll buy big jars of jalapenos, bags of Texas grapefruit, KerryGold butter, gouda slices, New Zealand lamb parts, bags of shelled nuts, and protein bars. (I buy more items that those, of course, but these tend to be things that I usually buy at Sam's Club.) But Sam's Club is nearly 25 miles away (probably every 2-6 weeks or so), so Walmart, just 1-2 miles away, tends to be my short-term go to, particularly for grass-fed beef, frozen vegetables, almond milk, and perishable foods.
In any event, one day I went through a couple of clickbait-type pieces on Costco (just a couple of points: I don't recall ever doing samples at Sam's Club or eating there, although like Costco, it has a reputation for bargain fast food. But one item in these stories stuck out like a sore thumb: the author was comparing Costco's $5 rotisserie chickens to Walmart's price vs. Sam's Club price. I think I've seen Walmart's (and Shoprite's) chickens selling up to a dollar more each, but I think Sam's Club has held a constant price. I don't know if it's the competition, but I'll notice Walmart and Shoprite's birds have recently met the competition. But at $5-6, that's still a bargain; you can stretch these to 3 or 4 meals for a single person.
What's really odd is how Walmart is handling its two chains in terms of Internet sales. It is trying to position itself as a competitor to Amazon, specifically its paid Prime membership of 2-day free shipping without a membership fee. But Sam's Club is offering a paid upgrade to its membership for free shipping. I'm maintaining my Prime membership for other reasons: I still find superior selection at Amazon, and Amazon includes other non-shipping benefits, including a free Kindle book selection every month. I occasionally buy things from Sam's Club, like a metal bed foundation, which was shipped free without enhanced membership benefits.
One of the things that irks me is the signature requirement for purchases. (Particularly at Sam's Club, which more recently has had one of those "use your finger to sign" vs stylus/pens.) At Walmart it's usually been around a $50 cutoff or so in self-checkout. It looks as though as though that ceiling has been raised lately. I don't know what the new limit is before you have to sign, but it makes things more convenient.
I've heard rumors that Sam's Club may be discontinuing its Scan N Go. I downloaded it but ran into some sort of issue trying to link it to my Sam's Club card. It's just not worth my time and effort to pursue getting the problem fixed.
Oddly enough, my Mom had dropped her Sam's Club membership some time back. My last trip home, her microwave had gone out after several years of use. She insisted that the unit had to fit within certain volume constraints under her cupboard (but she wanted a full-size unit not like mine). Initially we were planning to go to Sam's Club using my card when we couldn't find anything at the nearby base exchange, where she had worked since the 80's until she decided to retire. I brought up whether she had considered going to Walmart, because I knew they carried microwaves. Walmart for some reason had turned off my Mom some time back. Long story short, Mom went with me to the local story maybe about 3 miles down the road and was delighted to find an updated version of her old make microwave at just over $100, which snugly fit within her space under the cupboard. It was slightly bigger than her old one so I think she had to move an item or two she kept at the side or top of her old unit, but it wasn't a big deal. I think she now is more likely to go to Walmart (she did do some Christmas shopping there just after that.)
In any event, one day I went through a couple of clickbait-type pieces on Costco (just a couple of points: I don't recall ever doing samples at Sam's Club or eating there, although like Costco, it has a reputation for bargain fast food. But one item in these stories stuck out like a sore thumb: the author was comparing Costco's $5 rotisserie chickens to Walmart's price vs. Sam's Club price. I think I've seen Walmart's (and Shoprite's) chickens selling up to a dollar more each, but I think Sam's Club has held a constant price. I don't know if it's the competition, but I'll notice Walmart and Shoprite's birds have recently met the competition. But at $5-6, that's still a bargain; you can stretch these to 3 or 4 meals for a single person.
What's really odd is how Walmart is handling its two chains in terms of Internet sales. It is trying to position itself as a competitor to Amazon, specifically its paid Prime membership of 2-day free shipping without a membership fee. But Sam's Club is offering a paid upgrade to its membership for free shipping. I'm maintaining my Prime membership for other reasons: I still find superior selection at Amazon, and Amazon includes other non-shipping benefits, including a free Kindle book selection every month. I occasionally buy things from Sam's Club, like a metal bed foundation, which was shipped free without enhanced membership benefits.
One of the things that irks me is the signature requirement for purchases. (Particularly at Sam's Club, which more recently has had one of those "use your finger to sign" vs stylus/pens.) At Walmart it's usually been around a $50 cutoff or so in self-checkout. It looks as though as though that ceiling has been raised lately. I don't know what the new limit is before you have to sign, but it makes things more convenient.
I've heard rumors that Sam's Club may be discontinuing its Scan N Go. I downloaded it but ran into some sort of issue trying to link it to my Sam's Club card. It's just not worth my time and effort to pursue getting the problem fixed.
Oddly enough, my Mom had dropped her Sam's Club membership some time back. My last trip home, her microwave had gone out after several years of use. She insisted that the unit had to fit within certain volume constraints under her cupboard (but she wanted a full-size unit not like mine). Initially we were planning to go to Sam's Club using my card when we couldn't find anything at the nearby base exchange, where she had worked since the 80's until she decided to retire. I brought up whether she had considered going to Walmart, because I knew they carried microwaves. Walmart for some reason had turned off my Mom some time back. Long story short, Mom went with me to the local story maybe about 3 miles down the road and was delighted to find an updated version of her old make microwave at just over $100, which snugly fit within her space under the cupboard. It was slightly bigger than her old one so I think she had to move an item or two she kept at the side or top of her old unit, but it wasn't a big deal. I think she now is more likely to go to Walmart (she did do some Christmas shopping there just after that.)
Once Again: Leftists Seek To Redefine Fascism
@raguillem
Replying to @RayLGar
You little left-fascist creep. Economic transactions are voluntary. I have the right not to transact against bastards like you for any or no reason. Don't tell me you have the right to impose your "equality and fairness" on the rest of us.
@RayLGar
Jun 22
Retweeted Ronald Guillemette
This just in: People are not allowed to ask for equality and fairness!
Also, apparently I’m a fascist for critiquing the Supreme Court and their inability to dole out equal rights.
The original tweet was off one of the SCOTUS trends last week after a cluster of decisions, including a major one on police needing a warrant to search a suspect's cellphone. A lot of leftists are still fuming over the fact that Obama didn't get his nominee to replace the late Justice Scalia with a leftist jurist. This guy's tweet, which you can probably infer from context, seemed to be related to the recent Masterpiece Cakeshop decision; in short, a couple of gays demanded that the Christian baker owner bake a custom cake for their special occasion. He declined the business; even though there were other businesses willing to accommodate their business, the creeps felt they were being discriminated against and filed a complaint with an intolerant state human rights commission, which ruled against the baker. Never mind that this constituted a form of economic enslavement which makes a mockery of voluntary exchange. Oddly enough, Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was the deciding vote in the landmark "gay marriage" decisions, wrote the 7-2 majority decision in favor of Masterpiece Cakeshop, not as definitely in favor of economic liberty as I would have liked, but still a victory for tolerance vs. the intolerant left.
Keep in mind this was not about whether the government was banning sales of "gay wedding" cakes. I'm a southpaw; I can't find left-handed items at any number of stores. Are they discriminating against me? No. But I can find vendors which accommodate the 10% of people who are southpaws. Suppose Masterpiece Cakeshop decided it didn't want to do business with people with Franco-American surnames (i.e., like mine). It's not like they are able to prevent the competition from doing business with me. In fact, my Mom decorates cakes. I may not like their business practices; I might recommend potential customers whether they want to support a business with unfair practices, but say it takes a baker 4 hours to decorate a cake, do I have a "right" to force him to decorate a cake at the point of a gun? Hell no. That's a form of slavery.
To respond to the little fascist:
No, you have a right to express any illegitimate bullshit opinion you want--that's the First Amendment. You are not a fascist for disagreeing with SCOTUS; in fact, I do all the time. You are a fascist because you want to impose your intolerant bogus concepts of "equality and fairness" on other people, at the point of a gun, i.e., government.
But as for this bogus concept of SCOTUS doling out "equal rights". First of all, the only legitimate rights are individual rights. The government cannot create "rights"; it can only legitimately defend individual rights.
No, you have a right to express any illegitimate bullshit opinion you want--that's the First Amendment. You are not a fascist for disagreeing with SCOTUS; in fact, I do all the time. You are a fascist because you want to impose your intolerant bogus concepts of "equality and fairness" on other people, at the point of a gun, i.e., government.
But as for this bogus concept of SCOTUS doling out "equal rights". First of all, the only legitimate rights are individual rights. The government cannot create "rights"; it can only legitimately defend individual rights.
