There's a lot of things to hate about Walmart--they're big, ugly, unfair cutthroats, shoddy merchandise, etc.--but I don't necessarily want to get into all that. I'm just using Walmart as an example of all the big box stores.
As a cyclist, one thing I hate about Walmarts is that they're hard to get to. They're located out in the middle of a former cornfield, usually on the busiest highway in town. If you do manage to get there alive, you still have to ride through a dangerous parking lot and good luck finding a decent place to lock your bike.
But what if Walmart had small stores in the city near you. Let's say they started building stores that were only about five to ten thousand square feet. Obviously the selection would be less, and the prices might be slightly higher. But let's say they still had a lot of stuff you wanted at a good price (cheap inner tubes and blinkies, for example), and one was located in town and on your commute route. And let's say they had beautiful covered bike racks, and a bus shelter near the front door.
Would you shop there? Do you think this is a good business plan for Walmart or for any other big box stores?
The BikeForums Team
-adv-
This is an archived thread, you can find the full version of this thread, with images, links and more content here.
WAL*MART = the new polio.
Crippling America, 1 superstore at a time.
ryanparrish
If you know of Meijers they tried this in michigan with mini stores. I have not heard of any success from making mini stores. Due to big boxes they sucked up all the mom and pop groceries that were on every corner of the street. I cant wait for peak oil to come about it will teach everybody that what we need less o f is sprawl and more tight knit communities with excellent urban development and people stop buying mcmansions
Roody
If you know of Meijers they tried this in michigan with mini stores. I have not heard of any success from making mini stores. Due to big boxes they sucked up all the mom and pop groceries that were on every corner of the street. I cant wait for peak oil to come about it will teach everybody that what we need less o f is sprawl and more tight knit communities with excellent urban development and people stop buying mcmansions
There's a Meijer mini-store about a mile from my house. But it's really a gas station/party store* and not a real store at all. Did Meijer try actual small local stores? What were/are they like? For some reason I hate Walmart but love Meijer's. But Meijer's isn't any easier to bike to than Walmart.
*Party store is what we call convenience stores here in Michigan.
granularus
Actually, Wal Mart is now opening smaller stores in neighborhoods - they are called Neighborhood Markets. The ones that I've seen are about twice the size you suggest. The prices are comparable to the big box stores on the items they carry.
Platy
There is an "urban Walmart" in the planning stage at a nearly abandoned shopping mall 2.5 miles from where I live. There's some controversy about it but as I see it, it should have easier bike access than a suburban big box store on a major freeway. The street infrastructure should be able to handle the Walmart traffic just as it did thirty years ago when the abandoned mall was the most popular one in town. I have my fingers crossed. If they leave the side streets in bikeable condition and integrate with a nearby bus transit center, it could be great for carfree people in the nearby neighborhoods. There is quite a bit of existing and underutilized retail near the proposed Walmart, but my personal opinion is that most of it would benefit from the increased retail traffic. The existing retailers have already been competing somewhat successfully with big box suburban stores.
gerv
But what if Walmart had small stores in the city near you. Let's say they started building stores that were only about five to ten thousand square feet. Obviously the selection would be less, and the prices might be slightly higher. But let's say they still had a lot of stuff you wanted at a good price (cheap inner tubes and blinkies, for example), and one was located in town and on your commute route. And let's say they had beautiful covered bike racks, and a bus shelter near the front door.
Would you shop there? Do you think this is a good business plan for Walmart or for any other big box stores?
There's a Walmart and a Sam's club < 1 miles from my house (which is pretty much in the middle of the city). They have great bus access-- in fact, their bus stop is the only one in town I actually see people waiting at. They have bike racks in the back. I sometimes go to Walmart for hardware-type items because they are the closest hardware store, but I normally buy groceries at a closer store. I never buy bike stuff there because the quality is dreadful.
Despite all that, I personally depise larger department stores. I visit a mall about once every 2 years and try to buy as much as I need/can on the internet. I generally only go to Walmart/Sam's because they are close.
Lamplight
One of the Walmarts in my town isn't that hard to get to. It's not easy, and you have to lock your bike up way back in the automotive department, but it's doable. I rarely go there because I loath shopping there, but there are a couple of things that only Walmart has so once in a while I make the trip. Plus when people see me riding in the parking lot they look at me like I'm from another planet, and sometimes I think I may be. :D
wahoonc
NEVER !
http://planetsmilies.net/angry-smiley-8024.gif
WAL*MART = the new polio.
Crippling America, 1 superstore at a time.
+1
I DO NOT appreciate Walmart's business plan or the way they got where they are today. I realize it is the way business is done...today, but that doesn't mean I have to support it. And in answer to the OP question NO. I actually walk PAST a Walmart to shop at a different brand of grocery store:p
Aaron:)
dynodonn
I seldom visit big box stores in my area due to the distance involved in getting to them, plus I dislike the way some of our local big box stores are maintained and managed. The local merchants are much closer to my home anyway, and I know the owners on a first name basis since I know many of them by growing up with them . The purchase price might be higher buying from a local merchant, but more of my dollars will stay here locally and benefiting the local economy.
turtle77
I really wish that the cities would be left alone. It's bad enough that the suburbs are so homogenized...
For example, Minneapolis, where I live, has started to become overwrought with condos - really just in the last couple of years - and I understand that this is a trend happening in a lot of major cities across America (and maybe the world). It's classic gentrification. The condo companies will often come in to a neighborhood, buy up perfectly good (and often beautiful and artistic) buildings that have housed businesses and residents for generations. They demolish them and erect a huge boxy homgenized eyesore in their place. The residences in these buildings are usually not affordable (or desirable) to the people who already live in the neighborhood, so the potential buyers come in from somewhere else, usually the suburbs, to buy a residence in a "hip, new part of town". I feel like this tends to change the entire aesthetic of the area. I don't know for sure, but I think that the old businesses that were supporting the community are maybe less desirable to the new residents, so new businesses begin to move in as well, and they tend to be the same homogenous crap that exists in the suburbs. Or worse yet, the new residents will jump in their SUV's and drive back out to the suburbs to go shopping, leaving the small businesses up the creek.
I'm not resistant to change, but it would be nice for there to be places where the little guys still have a chance. That's why I l chose to live in a city in the first place. I want to have choices. I don't want to feel like the only place I can go to shop is Wal-Mart.
You can have your big box stores in the suburbs. Leave the cities alone please. Let them keep some of their character.
linux_author
NEVER !
- i believe the proper phrasing of Wal-Mart's advertising campaigns have been:
Wal-Mart: Always low prices - Always
p.s. all Wally Worlds are easy to bike to 'round here, but i do all my shopping on-line to cheat on sales taxes...
:-)
Simplebiker
I probably wouldn't go to Walmart, but I'll admit to riding to a Target in my area a few times. It isn't too terribly hard to get to. There's a "bike/ped path" along the busy street in front of the shopping center that includes the target and there's a nice U style bike rack right next to the door though not covered.
littledog
My part of town is too poor to support a Walmart. We do have a Kmart though. And as it is only a few blocks away I walk there.
I think if our country-USA- gets more affluent then WalMart will be hurting. Then they may move to areas where they have a more captive customer base. Meaning people who don't have cars and won't take a 2 hour bus ride just to get there. First they need to drive the final nail into Kmart which won't be long. Then they will wipe out the smaller retailers who now serve the poorer areas. When they have total market saturation in the poorer areas then they will raise their prices to ghetto store levels. It's a loose,loose situation.
So in answer to your question- no I would not support a smaller and more conveniently located WalMart.
Artkansas
Well, living in Walmartkansaw, the home of Walmart, I have to admit that there is a Walmart right on my commute to work and a Sam's Club beside it with a bus shelter in between. But no bike racks. But that's not surprising. Wild Oat Market is the only business in town that I've found that has a bicycle rack.
But Walmart is my store of last choice.
http://www.pointhappy.com/gcf/commute/DSCF0039.jpg
donnamb
I'd have a lot more respect for some of those big box retailers if they would actually open a supermarket inside the Detroit, MI city limits. Meijer won't do it, and neither will Wal-Mart. There are exactly 2, small Farmer Jack grocery stores and I think possibly one Kroger in the city. That's it for 900,000 people. In contrast, the city I live in now has a bit under 540,000 people within the city limits, and I can't even begin to count how many supermarkets there are. I'm sure some of you in rural areas can understand how difficult it would be to live that way. Unbelievable.
ctyler
Still would not shop there.
-=Łem in Pa=-
I was on a committee to fight WAL*MARTs and irresponsible development in
Penna. and actually sat in meetings with WAL*MART attorneys. At the risk of
going off topic, WAL*MARTS 'superstore every 20 mile' plan for rural
areas and thier calculated bankrupting of legal funds of the towns they annex
is reprehensible and unethical. What people save in cost of chinese made merchandise
gets picked up later in lower property values, higher service fees for your township
and ravaged zoning laws that allow more negative entities into the community.
A plague.
PaulH
I think "big box" stores are just too inconvenient. I'm still astounded that people would put up with wandering around a bid, self-service warehouse located way out in East Overshoe. Even if they were easy to get to, there is too much hassle for me.
Paul
mike
I dunno about Walmart being hard to get to. Most that I have seen are pretty cleverly located. In some cases, they just had good vision or something because it seems like where Walmart plants, a business district grows up around them.
In our city, there USED to be a vibrant downtown stacked with small businesses. Then, some brilliant minds decided to tear it down in the 70s/80s and put up a mall. The mall died in the late 90's and the suburbs moved the vibrancy from downtown to the outskirts. Now, the big box stores are a lot more convenient to get to than the old downtown for most of the cities families.
Roody
I'd have a lot more respect for some of those big box retailers if they would actually open a supermarket inside the Detroit, MI city limits. Meijer won't do it, and neither will Wal-Mart. There are exactly 2, small Farmer Jack grocery stores and I think possibly one Kroger in the city. That's it for 900,000 people. In contrast, the city I live in now has a bit under 540,000 people within the city limits, and I can't even begin to count how many supermarkets there are. I'm sure some of you in rural areas can understand how difficult it would be to live that way. Unbelievable.
You are so right! I'm so glad that you brought this up, donnmb. :)
If you're carfree (and many are) in a big inner city like Detroit, it's almost impossible to purchase fresh produce or any other nutritious food, at any price--let alone at a price you can afford. This is a major public health problem in the USA. The rates of diabetes have skyrocketed in these "food deserts," but diabetics can't find the foods they should be eating, especially fresh produce, lean meats and fish, and low fat dairy. Their only option is to buy fast food, or overpriced convenience food in a gas station or party store. (Rite-Aid is one of the few big box chains that locates in the inner city, but they don't carry much food.)
I don't know what the solution is. Some neighborhoods carpool to the suburbs to shop at Meijer stores, or I imagine, at Walmarts. A local nutrition activist who lives in a "food desert" here in Lansing persuaded a local convenience store to start carrying fresh produce. She actually volunteers her time to display the store's produce attractively, and she provides nutrition and cooking tips to those who want it.
Given how serious this problem is, I wonder if it would really be so terrible if Walmart, or any other chain, came into inner city food deserts and opened some small stores.
Slow Train
Just a couple of blocks from where I live this Bed, Bath & Beyond store opened:
Its a 50,000 sq ft monster entirely underground. DC has been actively courting big box retailers to open stores in the city. Not sure whether its a good or bad thing but DC wants to retain those dollars instead of seeing people drive to the suburbs to visit these stores. DC had a plan to put in a Walmart but the deal fell through, I think, because DC wanted to limit the size to something smaller than the state of Rhode Island ;).
Would I shop at a big box if it were convenient? Probably would, especially if there were no other alternatives. But I recognize that there are ethical concerns and would prefer to spend my money in smaller, locally owned stores instead. Walmart I put in a different category altogether. No shopping there for me.
Thor29
I try to avoid big box retailers. I recieved a gift card for Best Buy and went and picked up a couple of CDs the other day. The Best Buy is located in a very bicycle oriented meighborhood of San Francisco right off a major bike lane route and yet... it doesn't have ANY place to lock your bike! Not only that, but the service there sucks anyway.
wahoonc
I try to avoid big box retailers. I recieved a gift card for Best Buy and went and picked up a couple of CDs the other day. The Best Buy is located in a very bicycle oriented meighborhood of San Francisco right off a major bike lane route and yet... it doesn't have ANY place to lock your bike! Not only that, but the service there sucks anyway.
I would have done the www.bestbuy.com thing if it had been me. I have about given up finding bike racks anywhere near the big box stores, the local grocery store I shop at on a regular basis is going to be installing one to keep several of us from locking our bikes to the cart rack:D Right now we are working with them as to the best location and type of rack.
Aaron:)
donnamb
If you're carfree (and many are) in a big inner city like Detroit, it's almost impossible to purchase fresh produce or any other nutritious food, at any price--let alone at a price you can afford. This is a major public health problem in the USA. The rates of diabetes have skyrocketed in these "food deserts," but diabetics can't find the foods they should be eating, especially fresh produce, lean meats and fish, and low fat dairy. Their only option is to buy fast food, or overpriced convenience food in a gas station or party store. (Rite-Aid is one of the few big box chains that locates in the inner city, but they don't carry much food.)
I don't know what the solution is. Some neighborhoods carpool to the suburbs to shop at Meijer stores, or I imagine, at Walmarts. A local nutrition activist who lives in a "food desert" here in Lansing persuaded a local convenience store to start carrying fresh produce. She actually volunteers her time to display the store's produce attractively, and she provides nutrition and cooking tips to those who want it.
Given how serious this problem is, I wonder if it would really be so terrible if Walmart, or any other chain, came into inner city food deserts and opened some small stores.
I was reading this study somewhere that people in the poorer ends of the socioeconomic scale actually have better health when they can shop in a supermarket where nutritional labelling is prominently displayed. They're not talking about natural food supermarkets, either. That's compelling enough for me, despite the fact that I'm not a fan of big-box retailers. There is so much abandoned and burnt-out (literally!) urban wasteland within the Detroit city limits, there would be plenty of space to build some behemoth chain store and you wouldn't have to tear down anything salvageable, either. I also suspect that residents would be thrilled to have it.
The one huge barrier to your carpooling idea for most Detroiters is the racial divide between city and suburbs. I grew up near a Meijer they opened on Fort St. in Southgate, which is a location very convenient for SW Detroiters to travel to for shopping. Amazingly enough, there's even a regular bus line along Fort St. I saw this going on for the first 3-4 months they were open. During that time, I also saw security hassle anyone not white to an extreme degree. (Downriver is very white, as I'm sure you know.) They followed them around the store, they threatened to call police when someone not white had a customer service complaint. There was always police there for the littlest things, and almost always involved someone not white. It was all very blatant, raw, and consistent. After about 4 months of this, nearly every shopper in the store was white, and that was that.
So, like you, I am answerless, other than to observe that something has to give.
Artkansas
I try to avoid big box retailers. I recieved a gift card for Best Buy and went and picked up a couple of CDs the other day. The Best Buy is located in a very bicycle oriented meighborhood of San Francisco right off a major bike lane route and yet... it doesn't have ANY place to lock your bike!
I got a Best Buy gift card in 2005. I discovered that their online selection was bigger than their brick and mortar selection. There were lots of tasty CD's that I couldn't find elsewhere. Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks! Yow! I am having fun.
Eatadonut
I'd have a lot more respect for some of those big box retailers if they would actually open a supermarket inside the Detroit, MI city limits. Meijer won't do it, and neither will Wal-Mart. There are exactly 2, small Farmer Jack grocery stores and I think possibly one Kroger in the city. That's it for 900,000 people. In contrast, the city I live in now has a bit under 540,000 people within the city limits, and I can't even begin to count how many supermarkets there are. I'm sure some of you in rural areas can understand how difficult it would be to live that way. Unbelievable.
Is Detroit unionized?
twochins
we got a walmart into town about three years ago...that was huge news in this really small town...i find it hard not to shop there every once in a awhile...that's because we really have no other options...our walmart i believe is the only place in town that has bike racks beside the tiny public library...i think walmart has the bike rack because they recognize that they're workforce can't always afford a car...anyway, if they can build a huge store somewhere near you they certainly will...and if they can build only a small one, they will do that as a resort...not that they are trying to help the community or do something positive for the environment or living area...this is because they are a business to make profit...do folx on bicycle ride home with a huge exercise equipment box on thier bike rack?
Roody
I was reading this study somewhere that people in the poorer ends of the socioeconomic scale actually have better health when they can shop in a supermarket where nutritional labelling is prominently displayed. They're not talking about natural food supermarkets, either. That's compelling enough for me, despite the fact that I'm not a fan of big-box retailers. There is so much abandoned and burnt-out (literally!) urban wasteland within the Detroit city limits, there would be plenty of space to build some behemoth chain store and you wouldn't have to tear down anything salvageable, either. I also suspect that residents would be thrilled to have it.
The one huge barrier to your carpooling idea for most Detroiters is the racial divide between city and suburbs. I grew up near a Meijer they opened on Fort St. in Southgate, which is a location very convenient for SW Detroiters to travel to for shopping. Amazingly enough, there's even a regular bus line along Fort St. I saw this going on for the first 3-4 months they were open. During that time, I also saw security hassle anyone not white to an extreme degree. (Downriver is very white, as I'm sure you know.) They followed them around the store, they threatened to call police when someone not white had a customer service complaint. There was always police there for the littlest things, and almost always involved someone not white. It was all very blatant, raw, and consistent. After about 4 months of this, nearly every shopper in the store was white, and that was that.
So, like you, I am answerless, other than to observe that something has to give.
You know, this whole petroleum-based, car-centered modern marvel of a distribution system just isn't working well for most people. The poor have no food and the wealthy have no souls. And nobody has a community, except maybe on the internet. But at least I had cheap coffee and strawberries for breakfast on January 1, no doubt produced by slave labor in Central America and shipped to my local segregated Sprawlmart with subsidized diesel fuel.
I guess it's simplistic to blame the whole thing on cars, and yet.....
donnamb
Is Detroit unionized?
Depends on the industry. Retail/grocery is a mixed bag. As of 10 years ago, Meijer was unionized, Wal-Mart not.
donnamb
You know, this whole petroleum-based, car-centered modern marvel of a distribution system just isn't working well for most people. The poor have no food and the wealthy have no souls. And nobody has a community, except maybe on the internet. But at least I had cheap coffee and strawberries for breakfast on January 1, no doubt produced by slave labor in Central America and shipped to my local segregated Sprawlmart with subsidized diesel fuel.
I guess it's simplistic to blame the whole thing on cars, and yet.....
I totally agree. Meantime, there's no decent supermarket in Detroit. <sigh>
brevig
A few years ago I would purchase an item based on how much it cost and the attractiveness of the item--purchasing the more costly items. I'm a bit wiser...and oppose these stores. For convenience I sometimes give in because it's easier to find one of the large box stores when moving into a new area than it is to find an alternative smaller owned business.
Otherwise, I try to avoid shopping at them.
lyeinyoureye
I'm not sure why everyone dislikes Wally's World so much. They simply edge out the smaller businesses by having an efficient transportation infrastructure and buying in bulk to minimize costs as much as possible. Sure, they exploit local labor and ruin local economies, just like their suppliers do overseas... If anything, I'd say that the nations in Asia and South America that produce these goods are loosing out far more than any communities in America are. And it's not like those same goods don't permeate the marketplace, sold at retailers large and small. I say Wally's exploitation of America is great, at least it's not limiting the effects to developing nations any more...
Maybe one day the entire world will see the price of multinational greed.
wahoonc
Depends on the industry. Retail/grocery is a mixed bag. As of 10 years ago, Meijer was unionized, Wal-Mart not.
Kroger and Safeway are also union. (not sure they are in that area) Walmart is most emphatically NOT IIRC correctly there was a single store in Canada where part of the "associates" managed to organize and Walmart promptly shut the store down. They claimed at the time it was a low performer...:rolleyes: The grocery store situation is interesting in our area, the closest large town has 3 major chain stores and that is it. We also have an Aldi's, but to get to any of those I would have to drive past not one but 3 Food Lions:eek: Food Lion used to be the biggest dump, but they have really cleaned up their act in the past few years. The small town we are moving too has an IGA that is locally owned...wanna guess where I plan on shopping!:D
Aaron:)
sonatageek
In Cleveland they are building a shopping center right next to the steels mills in the industrial valley. It is called Steelyard Commons and there is a bike path that connects (more or less) to the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail. There are current and planned additional bike paths that lead off of the Towpath and go into the adjacent neighborhoods.
http://www.steelyardcommons.com/main.asp
Not sure if this is all that good for mom and pop retail in the surrounding neighborhoods, but it should have good bike and bus access.
I-Like-To-Bike
I guess it's simplistic to blame the whole thing on cars, and yet.....
Ya think?
mike
You know, this whole petroleum-based, car-centered modern marvel of a distribution system just isn't working well for most people. The poor have no food and the wealthy have no souls. And nobody has a community, except maybe on the internet. But at least I had cheap coffee and strawberries for breakfast on January 1, no doubt produced by slave labor in Central America and shipped to my local segregated Sprawlmart with subsidized diesel fuel.
I guess it's simplistic to blame the whole thing on cars, and yet.....
Huh? If anybody eats well in the USA, it is the poor. When I am in the check out line paying for my chicken and flour, who do you suppose is buying the steaks and salmon - yup, the person paying with the government assistance food debit card. That is no lie. I see it all the time. Ironically, I think the poor in the USA eat better than a lot of the working class.
As for the wealthy not having souls, I certainly haven't found that to be true either. The wealthy - especially in the USA, are extraordinarly generous and we have seen evidence of this on a big scale within this past year.
Finally, if you are concerned about consuming food raised overseas by slaves, PLEASE buy American. We might work like dogs, but at least we aren't slaves.
Tom Stormcrowe
There's a lot of things to hate about Walmart--they're big, ugly, unfair cutthroats, shoddy merchandise, etc.--but I don't necessarily want to get into all that. I'm just using Walmart as an example of all the big box stores.
As a cyclist, one thing I hate about Walmarts is that they're hard to get to. They're located out in the middle of a former cornfield, usually on the busiest highway in town. If you do manage to get there alive, you still have to ride through a dangerous parking lot and good luck finding a decent place to lock your bike.
But what if Walmart had small stores in the city near you. Let's say they started building stores that were only about five to ten thousand square feet. Obviously the selection would be less, and the prices might be slightly higher. But let's say they still had a lot of stuff you wanted at a good price (cheap inner tubes and blinkies, for example), and one was located in town and on your commute route. And let's say they had beautiful covered bike racks, and a bus shelter near the front door.
Would you shop there? Do you think this is a good business plan for Walmart or for any other big box stores?
Over in West Lafayeytte, Indiana, Walmart has a trailhead for the Cattail Trail as well as the NW Greenbelt Trail. Matter of fact, they helped fund these trails on the specific condition that they serve as commuter routes serving residential neighborhoods and the industrial park and Purdue University. The Walmart trailhead is right by the store and avoids riding through the parking lot and ends right at a HUGE bike rack. They are also considering a "bikeport" concept in providing a permanent weather shelter for the racks. Occasionally they do do some bike friendly stuff!:D
littledog
Aldi's is the saving grace in my neighborhood. There is a Kroger which replaced another chain grocery store. Kroger is not unionized and the former grocer was,yet the prices are no cheaper. We have an IGA but it is very expensive,more so than Krogers. If none of them existed then I would welcome a WalMart as a necessary evil.
The town I live in has 150,000 people. I know of only 3 bike racks in town. Two of them are at bicycle shops and one is at the main library. If you go to the big box sprawl side of town on a bicycle then you are taking your life in your own hands. The SUV's do not welcome bicycles at all on THEIR road. There are no bicycle paths or even sidewalks in this area. The only enclosed mall in this area does not even have bus service. They have talked about it for many years but it has never happened. Even though the indoor mall is extremely bicycle inacessible I rode my bike there once as a challenge. The SUV's refused to let me in the traffic lanes to turn and there are no walk lights. Not that it would any difference in that area. That whole area is bicycle and pedestrian hostile. Bicycles are for those who own a vehicle and transport the bike to safe riding area. Or for rag and can pickers in areas in the older parts of town and also kids.
Oh,I forgot. The Rescue Mission also has a bike rack.:D
Roody
Over in West Lafayeytte, Indiana, Walmart has a trailhead for the Cattail Trail as well as the NW Greenbelt Trail. Matter of fact, they helped fund these trails on the specific condition that they serve as commuter routes serving residential neighborhoods and the industrial park and Purdue University. The Walmart trailhead is right by the store and avoids riding through the parking lot and ends right at a HUGE bike rack. They are also considering a "bikeport" concept in providing a permanent weather shelter for the racks. Occasionally they do do some bike friendly stuff!:D
There are many negative reasons for Walmart's success, and at least one positive reason: they tend to respond very quickly to changes in the business climate. They were hurt A LOT by the higher gas prices, and not mainly (from what I've read in the press) because it cost more to ship merchandise or heat their stores. No, mainly gas prices hurt them because people started driving a little less often to Walmart stores, typically located some distance from residential areas. So I bet one reason they've included bike-friendly measures is to experiment in case gas prices rise permanently to the point that it really hurts sales.
PSYCLONE
There's a lot of things to hate about Walmart--they're big, ugly, unfair cutthroats, shoddy merchandise, etc.--but I don't necessarily want to get into all that. I'm just using Walmart as an example of all the big box stores.
As a cyclist, one thing I hate about Walmarts is that they're hard to get to. They're located out in the middle of a former cornfield, usually on the busiest highway in town. If you do manage to get there alive, you still have to ride through a dangerous parking lot and good luck finding a decent place to lock your bike.
But what if Walmart had small stores in the city near you. Let's say they started building stores that were only about five to ten thousand square feet. Obviously the selection would be less, and the prices might be slightly higher. But let's say they still had a lot of stuff you wanted at a good price (cheap inner tubes and blinkies, for example), and one was located in town and on your commute route. And let's say they had beautiful covered bike racks, and a bus shelter near the front door.
Would you shop there? Do you think this is a good business plan for Walmart or for any other big box stores?
think if our country-USA- gets more affluent then WalMart will be hurting. Then they may move to areas where they have a more captive customer base. Meaning people who don't have cars and won't take a 2 hour bus ride just to get there. First they need to drive the final nail into Kmart which won't be long. Then they will wipe out the smaller retailers who now serve the poorer areas. When they have total market saturation in the poorer areas then they will raise their prices to ghetto store levels. It's a loose,loose situation.
getting more affluent will not hurt wal-mart, gas prices hurt wal-mart. As gas prices rise the average wal-mart shoppers disposable income decreases, which in turn decreases the amount of money they can spend at wal-mart.
Chris L
As a cyclist, one thing I hate about Walmarts is that they're hard to get to. They're located out in the middle of a former cornfield, usually on the busiest highway in town. If you do manage to get there alive, you still have to ride through a dangerous parking lot and good luck finding a decent place to lock your bike.
While Walmart's don't exist in Australia (yet), I already often ride to shops that fit the description I just quoted. Personally, I find the busiest highways in this city are also the safest tor ride on, and it's surprising just how many things will double as a bike rack if you're a little resourceful.
Roody
While Walmart's don't exist in Australia (yet), I already often ride to shops that fit the description I just quoted. Personally, I find the busiest highways in this city are also the safest tor ride on, and it's surprising just how many things will double as a bike rack if you're a little resourceful.
They have Walmarts in China and India and even Vietnam, but not in Australia? Interesting. How did you all keep them out?
Busy highways don't seem safe around here, at least in suburban shopping areas. To lock at Walmart you need a long chain to go around a lamp pole, because they usually lack any railings that will take a U-lock. But the main problem for me is that Walmarts are usually located out in the boonies, while I live in the city. The closest one is at least 45 minutes away, and this is pretty typical. Hence the title of this thread about the possibility of Walmarts in the city.
lds700
One of the Walmarts in my town isn't that hard to get to. It's not easy, and you have to lock your bike up way back in the automotive department, but it's doable. I rarely go there because I loath shopping there, but there are a couple of things that only Walmart has so once in a while I make the trip. Plus when people see me riding in the parking lot they look at me like I'm from another planet, and sometimes I think I may be. :D
You hit that right on the money, I too have felt that same way at our local Wally World. I also believe there are a fair percentage of people who think you ride a bike because you either lost your license or
you can't afford a car (i.e. no job, I'm a dirtball) I'll take being from another planet everytime!
littledog
Wal-mart tried to go upscale with designer clothing. They failed. High gas prices hurt the low income shopper. So if wal-mart is to continue to grow they need a captive market. To go where no retailer will go. The ghetto and low income areas.
And I bet they put in bike racks.
Chris L
They have Walmarts in China and India and even Vietnam, but not in Australia? Interesting. How did you all keep them out?
Probably just economics. Australia's population is less than 20 million, and there are already several pseudo-Walmart style chains here. They probably figured there just wasn't enough money to be made here.
Busy highways don't seem safe around here, at least in suburban shopping areas. To lock at Walmart you need a long chain to go around a lamp pole, because they usually lack any railings that will take a U-lock.
Busy highways also usually have nice wide shoulders -- something a lot of suburban arterials lack.
I'm not really a fan of U-locks. I just use a chain with a lock on it -- perfect for lamp poles, trolley railings, whatever I can find really. That said, while there are plenty of bike thieves around here, it doesn't take much to outwit them, so it may be a different situation on your side of the world.
But the main problem for me is that Walmarts are usually located out in the boonies, while I live in the city. The closest one is at least 45 minutes away, and this is pretty typical. Hence the title of this thread about the possibility of Walmarts in the city.
That's a fair comment, I probably wouldn't bother making the 45 minute trip for something I could pick up in the next suburb in five minutes. Personally, I don't find the pricing in those big chains to be substantially cheaper than a lot of smaller stores, despite what they usually claim. Often, however, when it comes to buying a specialty item, a lot of those big outer-suburban warehouse type stores are the best bet. When that happens, I find it easier just to deal with whatever the situation is.
noisebeam
Closest Wall-Mart is 3.8mi from my house.
There are 9 Wall-Marts within 10 miles.
There are 20 within 18 miles.
(how do i know this?) (http://www.walmart.com/cservice/ca_storefinder.gsp)
Why do we need more?
Never been there.
Al
KrisPistofferson
I have a Walmart that is within easy riding distance from my house, I never go there. Aside from the well-documented corporate evil, the sideshow freaks that swarm that place always puts the brakes on whatever hope I've got for humanity in my little heart, so it's a matter of saving myself from depression. Walmart is like a Coen Brothers movie-version of an Aldous Huxley or Anthony Burgess novel.
Anyway, I prefer to go to Sears, because even though their prices are higher, they carry quality products, and they're right next to a huge theatre. The bikes are still crappy, though.