I want to start by saying that I'd really like to hear arguments from anyone who refuses to shop at Wal-Mart on ethical principles. I've asked a few people to tell me about their moral qualms with the store and I have yet to receive a satisfactory response. It makes me nervous, because if there are people who don't shop there because of ethical reasons, then maybe I'm unethical by shopping there... but I don't know it!
Now for the real post...
Elizabeth and I don't have a lot of money. We take advantage of a church-run program called Manna, which gives away clothing, haircuts, minor medical treatment, games & toys for little ones, and our favorite -- groceries -- to low-income families and seminary students (which are often one and the same). We also take advantage of our campus food closet which gets stocked (mostly with non-perishables) about twice a month. Lastly, we take advantage of what's called the bread shed -- a little shed on campus where each week a volunteer drops off various kinds of bread from Safeway that is past its "sell by" date. Beyond those three things, we try to shop carefully. The following is the story of our Wednesday night grocery-shopping experience.
We shop mainly at Wal-Mart. It's cheap. It has everything. It's nearby. It's also TERRIBLY annoying. It's always jam-packed with people. We have to wait in long lines. I swear that not one of the 5,000 carts in the store works completely properly. Last night we spent some time looking through advertisements from the other two local supermarkets, King Soopers, and Safeway. We wanted to make sure we were getting the best deals on the things we needed to buy. This was to be the first real time since we got married that we would go straight from one store to the other to the other in order to compare prices easily and accurately. Wal-Mart was our first stop. We got everything we needed except the few items we'd found for less at the other two places. We had a loud, wobbly cart. We waited in line for at least 10 minutes. Our checker had no personality, but the transaction went completely smoothly (as always) because their system is easy and hassle-free.
Next we drove to Safeway. The store was almost deserted. Our cart was silent, and it rode completely straight. The aisles were well-kept and the produce section had a huge, fresh selection. The "good deals" we'd seen in the ads were misleading. We spent at least, if not more, on the items we bought there as we would have at Wal-Mart. Every item we thought to check prices on "just out of curiosity" we had found cheaper at Wal-Mart. We didn't have to wait in line, but we did walk up to the only check-out counter with its lights on and no one was around. An employee saw us looking like we needed help and she said, "Do you need help finding anything?" My wife answered pleasantly, "Nope, we just need to check-out." The employee responded curtly, "Well all you needed to do was holler." Then she scanned our items. I scanned my debit card. The checker, annoyed, said, "What about your Safeway card? It needs to come first." I scanned my Safeway card. "No, now you need to hand it to me," she complained. I did. She scanned it and handed it back. "Now you scan your debit card." I did. Nothing happened. I hadn't told the machine that I was paying by debit card. I did. I scanned my card for a third time. Success!
Finally, we headed to King Soopers. Soopers was nearly empty as well. It was well-kept like Safeway. The items were also more expensive than Wal-Mart, and some of them were more expensive than Safeway. The advertisements had again been misleading. The roll of pizza dough in the ad (complete with picture) for $1 was actually $1.89 (56 cents more expensive than Wal-Mart), while the one half the size of the one in the picture was $1. We got our items and headed for the check-out. The check-out lines are set up awkwardly. You have to wheel your cart (or set your items) around to the side that the checker is on, then go around to the other side of the post while they unload your cart and scan your items. Their card-scanning machine was much easier to use than Safeway's. I got through without any hassle, and without a word from the employee. She handed me my receipt and politely said, "You saved $2.17 with us today. Have a good night." As we walked away Elizabeth pointed out, "We would have saved more than that at Wal-Mart."
The whole experience made us decide that it's not even worth it to look for deals in the paper. Wal-Mart is almost always going to cost less, and when it doesn't, it'll be just a few cents more expensive than the other guy's sale items. I'll deal with the people, the crappy carts, the lines, and the personality-less employees. I'd rather have that than higher prices, club-cards that don't mean anything (I've been to King Soopers four times in the last year. The first three times when I got to the checkout line they asked, "Do you have a Soopers card?" and when I said, "No," they scanned a new one and handed it to me. Tell me why I need one), and employees with negative personalities. Until a store proves to be better than Wal-Mart, I'll shop there.
