Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

The news today tells us that Walmart isn`t having any trouble with the increasing prices of gas, medical costs, and so forth. As consumers run out of money, we all seem to want to stretch the dollar farther. With ongoing lower prices, the company is experiencing increasing profits.

So how long can you cut prices (and quality) before we reach a crossover point? At what point does the quality of an item become SO cheap, it falls apart before you get it out of the package?

We`ve been noticing changes in our local Walmarts. We shop at several because of either location or in the past, because we couldn`t find particular material in each individual store. (Walmart has discontinued all fabric anyway, so we don`t shop there as much.)

At first we saw that this "last-minute warehousing" idea is working oddly. More and more, we find empty shelves, out of stock, and items simply gone or discontinued. Then they came up with an idea to use a computer to put cashiers in place during peak times. That means during off-peak hours there are massive lines, wating for at least 10 minutes or more, and the self-check counters are closed.

Now we`re seeing "the same" (supposedly) items with a different brand. Upon close examination we find important differences in quality. For example, we used to buy our shipping envelopes---10x13---at Walmart because we got a good price on 25 per package. We still get the same price, but a different brand. Oddly enough, the glue doesn`t stick, the paper rips, and the seams open up as soon as you put anything into the envelope.

Then there are paper trimmers that have one instead of three guiderails, cut on a crooked line, and break if you use them more than a few times. The list continues.

We`re starting to pay higher prices, shopping at more traditional stores (when we`re not simply shopping online instead) because we`re tired of cheaper and cheaper crap. Has anyone else noticed this?

If so, at what point do you think you and other consumers are going to throw up their hands and stop buying Walmart merchandise simply because it doesn`t work anymore?

Good observations, Craig

My daughter rarely shops at Wal-Mart, but Target.  Nicer store layout and different classes of people.

Yes I bought file hangers at WM and the plastic taps are too cheap to be functional.



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We`ve looked at Target, but the problem seems to be items in stock. They just don`t carry all that much variety in the stuff we`re wanting to buy. Walmart used to have a lot of that variety, as did Bed, Bath & Beyond.

It seems that as a company starts going toward volume and low pricing, they get rid of the buyer(s) who made the stores interesting and attractive. Then they get rid of stuff that may not sell as quickly, but that people know is there. Finally, they have nothing anyone actually wants to buy, but it`s very inexpensive! And so, people stop shopping there.

There`s always this sense of stunned shock and amazement when companies like BB&B announce they`re losing money, not getting customers, and pondering bankruptcy. They always blame it on a slow economy, fuel prices, and hair armpits or something. But it`s never their own fault, is it.

It`s an interesting question - and I haven`t really shopped at wal-mart for quite a while. If I *must* run in for something, I make it quick and just get the one thing I went in for. I do most of my shopping at Target as well. 

In my view, it`s really about priorities. In most cases, I value NOT supporting wal-mart, more than I value whatever savings (real or perceived) that I would get there. There`s an occasional item that I can`t get elsewhere, or that they really do have substantial savings on. In those cases, I sometimes buy from them.

I buy cheap shampoo, but I don`t buy cheap conditioner. I don`t mind using cheap paper towels, but I won`t buy cheap toilet paper. I drive an inexpensive car but I have an expensive bicycle. I have a cheap crappy TV, but several expensive computers. It`s all about priority. I think there will always be a place for big-box stores with low quality stuff. People who don`t really put priority on those items will continue to buy them there.

I`d love to buy everything from the highest quality maker, but finances don`t always allow that. I do it as much as possible though, because I really believe it`s a big step in controlling my environmental impact on the planet. It makes much more sense to buy quality items that will last you a long time, than crappy items you`ll be pitching in the trash within six months. Hopefully, other people are waking up to this same realization, and maybe someday, cheap crappy goods won`t be sold nearly as much as today :)



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I think the problem here isn`t what we can or can`t afford, nor is it really the availability of products and services.

Instead, what`s starting to bother me is almost a "bait-and-switch" kind of shell game being perpetrated by these mega stores.

We`re given low prices, along with decent quality. The prices are so low, they begin to shut down local and independent stores. In many ways, I can even go along with that to an extent, as being part of general competition.

Then the mega store has a quasi monopoly. Granted, e-commerce and online shopping is a fantastic way to bust up a monopoly, but it`s still a concentration within the physical world of shopping.

At that point, the mega store has a choice: Either they flow with the overall economic situation and raise prices, STILL being below the average prices of the surrounding community, or....they play this shell game. They pretend that they`re holding prices low (how, when nobody else can?), but they`re actually cutting features, reducing quality, or importing copy products from places like China.

So my question here really is more along the lines of we, the consumers being either a) mostly uninterested in quality, or b) getting fed up and producing a countering reaction---shopping local again.