About 11,000 workers out of a job the same day Wally World announces its workers are getting raises, bonuses of up to $1,000, and expanded health benefits.
http://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-suddenly-closes-sams-club-stores-2018-1
I wonder if this is an admission to not being able to compete with Costco.
One of the Sam's Clubs is virtually in my backyard and has been open barely a year.
A lot of the employees got little or no notice as to the closings. There were 660, but now only 597, though 10 of the closing stores are going to remain as e-commerce hubs, apparently. I wonder if that means those workers will get a chance to keep working.
That's some shitty management overall, regardless.
Quote from: BanzaiCat on January 11, 2018, 08:22:22 PM
A lot of the employees got little or no notice as to the closings. There were 660, but now only 597, though 10 of the closing stores are going to remain as e-commerce hubs, apparently. I wonder if that means those workers will get a chance to keep working.
From what I read, they'll have to re-apply for the new jobs.
I read an in-depth article on the closings which said all the affected employees will continue to be paid for 60 days and given priority for transfers to Wal-Mart positions. Employees who do not make the transition within the 60 days are eligible for severance pay. Additionally, several of the closed Sam's locations will be refurbished into distribution centers as Wal-Mart gears up to fight Amazon tooth and nail. My initial reaction was similar to yours prior to reading that article. I also have a relative who is a Wal-Mart District Manager who affirmed what I read. So maybe not as bad as it sounded at first.
It sounds like they over-expanded and now are having to cull out low performing locations. Amazon is really putting the squeeze on Wally World.
Yeah, they are being pretty ruthless in eliminating stores which are under performing. The one that shocked me was Anchorage, Alaska. When I lived there, everyone and I mean EVERYONE had both a Sam's Card and a Costo membership. You bought your groceries at Sam's and your larger ticket items at Costco. I imagine it's the shipping costs which caught up to the Anchorage Sam's store, but still....that one was a surprise.
They are finally starting to take Amazon seriously. Between Amazon buying Whole Foods and adding other physical stores, they are going hard after Wal-mart. My local Whole Foods is a pick-up point for Amazon orders now and the speed at which Amazon dropped prices at WF was breathtaking.
Quote from: mirth on January 11, 2018, 08:39:49 PM
My local Whole Foods is a pick-up point for Amazon orders now and the speed at which Amazon dropped prices at WF was breathtaking.
When I recently went in the Whole Foods by my house I also notice the Amazon lockers or pickup point thing. It seemed out of place there until I remembered.
Quote from: Steelgrave on January 11, 2018, 08:28:16 PM
I read an in-depth article on the closings which said all the affected employees will continue to be paid for 60 days and given priority for transfers to Wal-Mart positions. Employees who do not make the transition within the 60 days are eligible for severance pay. Additionally, several of the closed Sam's locations will be refurbished into distribution centers as Wal-Mart gears up to fight Amazon tooth and nail. My initial reaction was similar to yours prior to reading that article. I also have a relative who is a Wal-Mart District Manager who affirmed what I read. So maybe not as bad as it sounded at first.
Well I take it back, then. That's actually stand-up of them to do, especially for a retail organization. It still sucks they didn't get much in the way of notice, but at least it's not "here's your last paycheck, don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out."
Yeah and honestly, I was surprised. I've never been a fan of Wal-Mart (besides enjoying years worth of memes at their expense) but even I have to admit they've been upping their game. Best of all, the knife-fight between Wal-Mart and Amazon will only benefit the consumers....for a time at least.
So I don't get this. America is the home of unrestricted Capitalism and you all are complaining that Wal-Mart is doing everything in it's power to make money... ie succeed at unrestricted Capitalism....
If the all mighty dollar is the be all and end all the why the tears?
Quote from: Barthheart on January 11, 2018, 09:37:41 PM
So I don't get this. America is the home of unrestricted Capitalism and you all are complaining that Wal-Mart is doing everything in it's power to make money... ie succeed at unrestricted Capitalism....
If the all mighty dollar is the be all and end all the why the tears?
No tears, per se, just an observation. Growing too fast is an age-old thing for retail, so it's difficult to understand why they'd let themselves get to this point. That's one thing that scared me about Academy Sports + Outdoors while I worked for them. They were opening stores left and right for a time (and still are, to be honest), but there's going to be a point where they cross the line and don't realize it for a hundred store openings or so. You'd think their financial officers would be better at analysis, but what do I know.
Quote from: Steelgrave on January 11, 2018, 09:23:47 PM
Yeah and honestly, I was surprised. I've never been a fan of Wal-Mart (besides enjoying years worth of memes at their expense) but even I have to admit they've been upping their game. Best of all, the knife-fight between Wal-Mart and Amazon will only benefit the consumers....for a time at least.
Until Amazon buys them, too.
Quote from: Barthheart on January 11, 2018, 09:37:41 PM
So I don't get this. America is the home of unrestricted Capitalism and you all are complaining that Wal-Mart is doing everything in it's power to make money... ie succeed at unrestricted Capitalism....
If the all mighty dollar is the be all and end all the why the tears?
Who's crying about it? I was offering an explanation as to why.
Sucks when anyone finds themselves suddenly out of work.
Quote from: mirth on January 11, 2018, 09:44:04 PM
Sucks when anyone finds themselves suddenly out of work.
Even if it *is* a crappy retail job.
Quote from: Barthheart on January 11, 2018, 09:37:41 PM
So I don't get this. America is the home of unrestricted Capitalism and you all are complaining that Wal-Mart is doing everything in it's power to make money... ie succeed at unrestricted Capitalism....
If the all mighty dollar is the be all and end all the why the tears?
Part of it depends on who the money is being made for.
I do
not favor a system in which we legally require a transfer of wealth from the rich to the poor.
I would, however, prefer that the boardroom-level folks look around and think "Hey, I've already $4.4
billion in the bank. Maybe I only make $400 mil this year instead of $500 mil and take the other $100 mil and spread it across my employee payroll and see if I can't get some folks up from $40k/yr to about $65k/yr, or hire an extra couple of folks and give everyone an extra week of vacation each year so they can see their families a little more. Maybe it's
not about just piling up as much Scrooge McDuck-level cash as I can and it's about taking care of the people that make it possible for me to be here."
We've completely lost the mindset that while greed can be a good, powerful, motivating force in competition, it doesn't hurt to share the spoils with the rest of your team. Be greedy on behalf of your company by wanting to beat the other guy. But don't be greedy
within your company by hoarding all the spoils.
Quote from: bayonetbrant on January 11, 2018, 09:51:25 PM
Quote from: Barthheart on January 11, 2018, 09:37:41 PM
So I don't get this. America is the home of unrestricted Capitalism and you all are complaining that Wal-Mart is doing everything in it's power to make money... ie succeed at unrestricted Capitalism....
If the all mighty dollar is the be all and end all the why the tears?
Part of it depends on who the money is being made for.
I do not favor a system in which we legally require a transfer of wealth from the rich to the poor.
I would, however, prefer that the boardroom-level folks look around and think "Hey, I've already $4.4 billion in the bank. Maybe I only make $400 mil this year instead of $500 mil and take the other $100 mil and spread it across my employee payroll and see if I can't get some folks up from $40k/yr to about $65k/yr, or hire an extra couple of folks and give everyone an extra week of vacation each year so they can see their families a little more. Maybe it's not about just piling up as much Scrooge McDuck-level cash as I can and it's about taking care of the people that make it possible for me to be here."
We've completely lost the mindset that while greed can be a good, powerful, motivating force in competition, it doesn't hurt to share the spoils with the rest of your team. Be greedy on behalf of your company by wanting to beat the other guy. But don't be greedy within your company by hoarding all the spoils.
I agree with all of that.
Quote from: MetalDog on January 11, 2018, 10:58:48 PM
Quote from: bayonetbrant on January 11, 2018, 09:51:25 PM
Quote from: Barthheart on January 11, 2018, 09:37:41 PM
So I don't get this. America is the home of unrestricted Capitalism and you all are complaining that Wal-Mart is doing everything in it's power to make money... ie succeed at unrestricted Capitalism....
If the all mighty dollar is the be all and end all the why the tears?
Part of it depends on who the money is being made for.
I do not favor a system in which we legally require a transfer of wealth from the rich to the poor.
I would, however, prefer that the boardroom-level folks look around and think "Hey, I've already $4.4 billion in the bank. Maybe I only make $400 mil this year instead of $500 mil and take the other $100 mil and spread it across my employee payroll and see if I can't get some folks up from $40k/yr to about $65k/yr, or hire an extra couple of folks and give everyone an extra week of vacation each year so they can see their families a little more. Maybe it's not about just piling up as much Scrooge McDuck-level cash as I can and it's about taking care of the people that make it possible for me to be here."
We've completely lost the mindset that while greed can be a good, powerful, motivating force in competition, it doesn't hurt to share the spoils with the rest of your team. Be greedy on behalf of your company by wanting to beat the other guy. But don't be greedy within your company by hoarding all the spoils.
I agree with all of that.
What always amazes me is that we take a deadly sin (greed) and put it on a pedestal to be worshiped in the name of Capitalism. While I will agree there are much worse systems than capitalism you do wonder if we've lost some of our humanity (or in some cases, Christianity) by resigning ourselves to the fact that greed is the only motivator for business decisions.
On the other hand there are stories of companies that do understand that happy employees are productive employees.
Yeah. I'm a dreamer... :dreamer:
Quote from: DoctorQuest on January 12, 2018, 12:29:57 PM
Yeah. I'm a dreamer... :dreamer:
Don't let Trump hear you say that or he'll try and send you back to Cote de Guadeloupistan
Quote from: Staggerwing on January 12, 2018, 07:41:59 PM
Quote from: DoctorQuest on January 12, 2018, 12:29:57 PM
Yeah. I'm a dreamer... :dreamer:
Don't let Trump hear you say that or he'll try and send you back to Cote de Guadeloupistan
Don't think I didn't consider that when I posted that reply.
Quote from: DoctorQuest on January 12, 2018, 12:29:57 PM
Yeah. I'm a dreamer... :dreamer:
...but your heart's of gold?
It would be much worse if they just sat on their hands and did nothing like a Kmart, Sears, or Scotty's Building Supply. Scotty's was virtually the only deal in town in Florida for hardware at one time. They never bothered to alter a thing til they were gone.
Walmart should diversify, and turn some of those Sam's Clubs into climate controlled storages for people to keep all the Chinese junk they buy from Walmart and Sam's. :DD
They're turning a bunch of those Sam's Clubs into eCommerce hubs for Walmart's Online business. Having those distribution centers spread out across the country is supposed to allow them to do quicker free shipping to customers, possibly even same day in some locales.
It is probably what they need to do to stay competitive but I still think the thing was badly handled.
Walked into my local Walmart today. Saw a pick up kiosk where the self check out registers used to be. They moved those over and took out staffed registers. Had one of the checkers last week tell me they were eventually going to go self serve checkout only. That makes me sad. I hate those things.
Quote from: MetalDog on January 13, 2018, 05:34:45 PM
Walked into my local Walmart today. Saw a pick up kiosk where the self check out registers used to be. They moved those over and took out staffed registers. Had one of the checkers last week tell me they were eventually going to go self serve checkout only. That makes me sad. I hate those things.
I hate self check out registers, too. One day last year I was picking up a few things at Wal-Mart and looking for a check out that wasn't too busy. A Wal-Mart employee said, "I can help you over here." I followed her to a self check out register and she started to check me out (it was then I found out she was a supervisor). I objected and told her I didn't want to use a self check out register, but it was too late. My final shot was that Wal-Mart would eventually replace her with a machine and she said, "Never." We'll see about that--let her and others like her get the axe like their fellow Wal-Mart employees did after they knifed them in the back.
http://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-firing-managers-report-2018-1
I really don't like the self check out registers either. As much as I hate people I prefer a person at the register.
That said, the Walmart near me (about 25 minutes away) is a hive of scum and villainy and I never go there either.
I feel like Amazon, as well as the internet as a whole, was created created just for me.
I don't like to see people ever lose their jobs though.
I don't like the self-checkout registers much either, but I find myself using them because they tend to be faster than the regular checkouts.
I stopped shopping at Wal-Mart about 6 months ago. I got tired of the person at the door asking to see my receipt every time I was leaving the store and then treating me like a thief if I said, "No, thank you".
The main reason I don't like self check out is because most people are idiots and can't check themselves out. Which leads me back to the warm, moist embrace of Amazon. Come to me...
Quote from: Gusington on January 14, 2018, 01:10:10 PM
The main reason I don't like self check out is because most people are idiots and can't check themselves out. Which leads me back to the warm, moist embrace of Amazon. Come to me...
Unfortunately most people staffing the registers aren't much better than the idiots in line.
I also do an ever increasing amount of my shopping with Amazon. Having the Prime membership with the free 2-day shipping is very dangerous.
I purposely did not sign up for Prime. I had a free month a while back, and it just led to more and more spending by me, just for books. You are definitely right in that it is uber-dangerous.
The Wife, however, does have Prime...
Sams Clubs have not been as profitable as Costco. There are fears that Amazon will become competitive in groceries, but that has not yet been the case.
Wal-Mart just decided that their expansion of Sams Clubs was not successful and pared them back. They have been putting more and more money into e-commerce. Many Wal-Marts will allow you to pick what you want online, set up a specific time to pick up your groceries at the local store, and pick them up without going into the store itself.
US Retailing is the most competitive with generally better selection and lower prices than anywhere else in the world. If you travel a lot, you can really see the difference.
Since Wal-Mart is such a big company, their strategic moves are heavily discussed in the business press.
Sales tax is another consideration now when I shop at Amazon. Up until a few months ago, Amazon did not charge me sales tax. Now they do.
I like self-checkout since it is much faster.
Mirth - Wal-Mart theft controls vary heavily by the theft rate at the store. All Sams Clubs (and Costcos) will check your receipt when you leave. Both the availability of self-checkout and checking for receipts when you leave varies at Wal-Marts purely on the basis of the level of theft.
I go to Wal-Mart all of the time for basics. They are the closest grocery and general store to my home. It is very well run. I buy most food staples at Wal-Mart for price and convenience. But meat and especially fruits/vegetables are purchased at a huge Kroger which has higher quality in those areas.
I've known a bunch of low-level Wal-Mart employees who are either students working at night in stocking to pay for school or those without a lot of education as adults I know through Church. Most of them like their jobs and the Adults stick with them for years.
Quote from: Gusington on January 14, 2018, 01:23:37 PM
I purposely did not sign up for Prime. I had a free month a while back, and it just led to more and more spending by me, just for books. You are definitely right in that it is uber-dangerous.
The Wife, however, does have Prime...
Thing is when you look at all you get with Prime for $99/yr, it's a helluva deal. Prime Video is on par with Netflix (which for the cheapest plan is $7.99/mo). Prime Music has a decent selection of songs even if you don't pay extra for the Unlimited service. Then there are extra discounts for some products as a Prime Member (I noticed on a few recent video game purchases).
Amazon really knows how to get your money.
Quote from: Greybriar on January 14, 2018, 01:35:13 PM
Sales tax is another consideration now when I shop at Amazon. Up until a few months ago, Amazon did not charge me sales tax. Now they do.
The Supreme Court has taken a case from North Dakota this term to revisit the requirement that a company must have a physical presence within a State to be charged sales tax. The thinking in the business press is that the Supremes may overturn the original decision based on the huge growth in ecommerce and the lack of a level playing field for retail sales.
Quote from: airboy on January 14, 2018, 01:35:35 PM
Mirth - Wal-Mart theft controls vary heavily by the theft rate at the store. All Sams Clubs (and Costcos) will check your receipt when you leave. Both the availability of self-checkout and checking for receipts when you leave varies at Wal-Marts purely on the basis of the level of theft.
I understand the reason's behind it, but I do not care for it at all and it was become an annoying routine at my local Wal-marts.
I have a pretty good understanding of how the law works in Maine (and it's generally similar in other states). Buying clubs can check your receipt because it is part of the terms of membership. You've paid to join and you've accepted their terms.
Other retailers can ask to see a receipt, but you are under no obligation to show it and they cannot detain you unless they have a reason to suspect theft. Even then, the policy of most retailers is not to attempt to detain, but to monitor suspected thieves and report them to law enforcement.
My local Wal-Mart was routinely asking me to see a receipt as I left the store. Sometimes it was because I had items in my cart that were not bagged. One poorly trained "greeter" informed me I could not leave the store if I did not show a receipt (that prompted a trip to the service desk to return my items and was the last time I shopped at that store).
I sent in an email to the local manager and to the corporate feedback channel. Not surprisingly, there was no response from either. Wal-mart can run their business however they like, but I went from shopping the local store at least twice a month (with an average of $150 spent per trip) to not shopping there at all.
Quote from: mirth on January 14, 2018, 01:50:19 PM
Quote from: airboy on January 14, 2018, 01:35:35 PM
Mirth - Wal-Mart theft controls vary heavily by the theft rate at the store. All Sams Clubs (and Costcos) will check your receipt when you leave. Both the availability of self-checkout and checking for receipts when you leave varies at Wal-Marts purely on the basis of the level of theft.
I understand the reason's behind it, but I do not care for it at all and it was become an annoying routine at my local Wal-marts.
I have a pretty good understanding of how the law works in Maine (and it's generally similar in other states). Buying clubs can check your receipt because it is part of the terms of membership. You've paid to join and you've accepted their terms.
Other retailers can ask to see a receipt, but you are under no obligation to show it and they cannot detain you unless they have a reason to suspect theft. Even then, the policy of most retailers is not to attempt to detain, but to monitor suspected thieves and report them to law enforcement.
My local Wal-Mart was routinely asking me to see a receipt as I left the store. Sometimes it was because I had items in my cart that were not bagged. One poorly trained "greeter" informed me I could not leave the store if I did not show a receipt (that prompted a trip to the service desk to return my items and was the last time I shopped at that store).
I sent in an email to the local manager and to the corporate feedback channel. Not surprisingly, there was no response from either. Wal-mart can run their business however they like, but I went from shopping the local store at least twice a month (with an average of $150 spent per trip) to not shopping there at all.
I understand your irritation with them.
I sympathize with the greeters who are told to check receipts. Most of them are older folks looking to picking up a little extra money. I'm really not interested in arguing with a grandmother who is just trying to supplement her retirement income. I think it's a bit ridiculous of Wal-mart to put those folks into a position of loss prevention. Anyway, it's not worth the hassle to me.
Amazon Prime is totally worth it but I can't police myself well enough to have it. So I didn't get it.
When I shop at Amazon I always buy enough of what I want to get the free shipping anyway.
Unless I buy from Amazon vendors. And usually then it's like a book for a penny anyway so who cares, you know?
I've had Prime for years, never been an issue with controlling my purchases though. The price isn't always the best, but the 2 day shipping can make the big difference, or even finding what you need.
I've never had my receipt checked at Wal-Mart.
With both Wal-Mart and Amazon, you need to check prices. Amazon is especially more expensive than local grocery stores.
I've never bought groceries from Amazon.
A classic trick with Wal-mart is to sell a product that is visually identical to a higher priced product from the same manufacturer, but the Wal-mart version is made with crappy parts and thus can be sold for less. It's important to check product ids when comparison shopping.
I gave up shopping at Costco a long time ago. We didn't buy too many groceries there, and when we did we would overbuy. For electronics, I don't think their prices were anything special. A lot of other stuff were impulse buys, which would usually cause us to over spend. Plus, their parking lot would get jammed, and their employees were very surly.
I actually shopped at Price Club when they opened in San Diego. Initially they were supposed to be selling stuff to other businesses, such as restaurants. They also allowed government employees to be members, and when I was a sophomore in 1980 or so, I had a student engineering job with the city. Price Club was also close to the facility I worked at, so it all made sense (except that I was a poor college student with no money to actually spend there). When they allowed anyone to join but members had to pay a fee, I didn't understand that logic, so I wanted to drop my membership, but my wife wanted to keep it. So we've kept it, but I never go there.
I've had an Amazon Prime membership for a while. For me the primary advantage is that I can find just about anything I need with a search engine, and I don't have to drive all other the place looking for things. I don't care that much about price. However, some of the stuff they sell can have questionable authenticity.
They only time I go to Wal Mart is when I buy synthetic oil. I made the mistake of buying that through Amazon once.
At least Walmart has really good self checkouts. Easy to deal with fruits or veggies that have to be weighed, easy to use coupons, even water refills aren't too bad once they showed me how to do it.
I go to Sam's club for a slice of pizza, hotdog, or four berry sundae, the pharmacy, and free tire repairs no matter if the tires are purchased from them or not. That's important in my state since the only construction people left are the dirtbags who can't leave the state for some reason. They're the ones who always spilled nails or screws on the roads in the first place. Just as many nails as there were when construction was booming so that must be the answer. LMAO :DD
If I don't buy pizza by the slice, I'll just order a whole pizza and eat the entire thing. Not good! So Sam's Club is helping me at least maintain my weight if not reduce it. lol
When the supermarkets introduced the self-serve checkout lanes, I always thought that if they want us to use them, then they should give us some incentive, even if it's only a 0.5 percent discount. Otherwise, why is it in our interest to do their work for them? I guess they are making it in our interest by having fewer full-serve checkout aisles, so they get backed up, and then the self-serve lanes are attractive because they will take less time.
I've never minded the self checkouts. Just wish my wife could figure out that you have to put the item in the bag before scanning the next item. :tickedoff:
This may be the most Seinfeld thread ever on Grogheads.
Any of you have Amazons Prime credit card.
Yes. Also dangerous.
Ll
^ *scratches head*
I also don't care for the Wal-Mart Self Check-Out though the machines are sometimes smarter than the employees at the regular check-outs. And the Self Check-Outs require almost a many people to run them to help the customers that can't figure out how they work. The thing I don't like is when the machine tells me I put something in the wrong spot and so I end-up cradling everything in my arms trying the scan the next item and the damned machine refuses to do it until I put the thing in the 'Bag Section'. I like to go there and watch people argue with the machines, or go from one machine to another thinking it will be friendlier. If all else fails they kneel down in front of the machine like they're praying to it and appeal to the Great God Wal-Mart for Mercy and their change. Better than some Cable Shows. :2funny:
Quote from: Sir Slash on January 15, 2018, 12:06:51 PM
I also don't care for the Wal-Mart Self Check-Out though the machines are sometimes smarter than the employees at the regular check-outs. And the Self Check-Outs require almost a many people to run them to help the customers that can't figure out how they work. The thing I don't like is when the machine tells me I put something in the wrong spot and so I end-up cradling everything in my arms trying the scan the next item and the damned machine refuses to do it until I put the thing in the 'Bag Section'. I like to go there and watch people argue with the machines, or go from one machine to another thinking it will be friendlier. If all else fails they kneel down in front of the machine like they're praying to it and appeal to the Great God Wal-Mart for Mercy and their change. Better than some Cable Shows. :2funny:
I'm delighted I read this - thanks.
I'm relieved I've never seen it in person. I'd probably start laughing uncontrollably and get beat up.