Wal-mart Deal

[AKPilot]

Walked into an inner-city Wal-mart a few days ago and found ALL Estes (48 packs) motors marked down to $1.50. So I took a few of the ones I needed up front to pay for them when - the rang up at $1.00 per pack.

So after paying for those ones, I put them in the car and headed back inside to clear out the rest . . .


My theory is that, unfortunately, the inner-city stores just don't see the demand for rocketry items as the suburb stores.

[foose4string]

Wow, even at a 1.50 it would have been a steal and I would have bought everything they had. Buck a pack...jackpot!

[Pantherjon]

I hate you! They jacked the prices up to $6.97 a pack here!:mad: :p ;)

[Gillard]

UK prices

about £7-8 per pack.

and they keep getting more expensive.

[mjennings]

nice grab Troy!

[Verna]

Walked into an inner-city Wal-mart a few days ago and found ALL Estes (48 packs) motors marked down to $1.50. So I took a few of the ones I needed up front to pay for them when - the rang up at $1.00 per pack.

So after paying for those ones, I put them in the car and headed back inside to clear out the rest . . .


My theory is that, unfortunately, the inner-city stores just don't see the demand for rocketry items as the suburb stores.


About a month ago we got a few at the $3.00 price and then this morning I checked out local Walmart which appears to have restocked for the summer with much more stock than they usually carry at any time. The two prices listed on the shelves were $4.97 & $3.00. The scanned price was $6.97!

So have they already moved to the rumored higher prices? I've never seen them at Walmart for more than $4.97 until today.

Since I have a ton of engines already we let them keep the ones that rang up for $6.97. ;)

Verna

[Gillard]

About a month ago we got a few at the $3.00 price and then this morning I checked out local Walmart which appears to have restocked for the summer with much more stock than they usually carry at any time. The two prices listed on the shelves were $4.97 & $3.00. The scanned price was $6.97!

So have they already moved to the rumored higher prices? I've never seen them at Walmart for more than $4.97 until today.

Since I have a ton of engines already we let them keep the ones that rang up for $6.97. ;)

Verna

$6.97 is still cheap against british prices:(

[MarkH]

Yeah, my local Walmart hadn't had engines for a year or more. Spotted a new box today and they scanned at $6.97. At least Estes might be able to make a dime on engines sold at WM now since they have been stuck on $4.97 for like 10 years. And hobby stores won't be so overpriced, relatively speaking.

[Donaldsrockets]

The last time I was at Wal-Mart, the only motors they had were 2 packs of C6-3's at $3.00 which I promptly scooped up.:D

The only rockets they had were about 1 or 2 RTF Hijinx and a couple starter sets. The last rocket I got on clearance was an Estes Bull Pup 12D Launchables kit for $5.00 late last year.

[HemiLess]

I have about six Wal-Marts in a relatively close distance to me. Where the prices range from $3.00 to $4.97. it goes without saying that I frequent the $3.00 stores.

[Fred22]

$6.97 is still cheap against british prices:(
Ouch :(

[dwmzmm]

Last year one of our Challenger 498 club member found (and wiped out) all
of the C6 stock at his Wal - Mart (in Surgarland, TX) that was selling for only
$0.25 per pack. Go figure......

[sj_h1]

Last year one of our Challenger 498 club member found (and wiped out) all
of the C6 stock at his Wal - Mart (in Surgarland, TX) that was selling for only
$0.25 per pack. Go figure......

Damn I am jealous of all of you! The the best I have been able to do it $9

[JRThro]

Last year one of our Challenger 498 club member found (and wiped out) all
of the C6 stock at his Wal - Mart (in Surgarland, TX) that was selling for only
$0.25 per pack. Go figure......
Wow! Who was that, Dave? How many packs did they get?

[CharlaineC]

the walmarts in my area no longer carry anything rocketry related. it sucks. they say it has to do with being licenced and other bull.

[tbzep]

I've been getting them for several years now at anywhere from 50 cents a pack to $3 a pack. My first big score was 50 cents a pack....that my wife bought and brought home for me.

You might be able to see the $.50 sticker on the front. :cool:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y283/tbzep/Rockets/clearance.jpg

[dwmzmm]

Wow! Who was that, Dave? How many packs did they get?

Jesse; he has bags of them!! You'll have to ask him how many packs, but I
do know he said he wiped them all out. Showed them to us at one of our launches last year (all the while, the Wal - Marts near my house were selling
the same C6's for either $1.00 to $1.50 each, which is good enough for me).

[sunward]

Being a consumer and having worked in the past in retail, I understand how nice these deals are. Why I would even pick up whatever was on the shelf if I saw that kind of deal.

I can easily go through the store flyers that arrive on Friday and save a ton of money just buying the specials. I would be known as a "cherry picker" in the retail trade. The specials are there to get consumers in the store and buy other stuff.

However, picking up a pack of motors at 0.50 or 1.00 a pack is not the store putting a sale on to attrack consumers so they buy other stuff. They are doing this because they are clearing out the merchandise. It may also mean a charge back to the supplier. ( I don' know the terms of the supply contract, so this is speculation)

That can hurt the supplier's bottom line.

I doubt you will see the products back on the shelf again in the store you found them in.

That is the down side to these deals.

[Pem Tech]

Lucky so-n-so's.....
WIsh I could run up on a sweet deal like those.

[Pippen]

I doubt you will see the products back on the shelf again in the store you found them in.
.

Actually our Walmart has alternately carried the motors and then not carryied them. They close them out sometimes when they're doing a big overhaul of the section, such as in getting ready to stock for Christmas.

I don't know that it will continue like this but that's how it's been for the past few years.

[JRThro]

Jesse; he has bags of them!! You'll have to ask him how many packs, but I
do know he said he wiped them all out. Showed them to us at one of our launches last year (all the while, the Wal - Marts near my house were selling
the same C6's for either $1.00 to $1.50 each, which is good enough for me).
I agree that $1.00 or $1.50 is good enough. Back when Target was clearancing out all of their Estes motors, I went to every Target I could reasonably get to and bought all of the 3-packs they had, either for $2.48 or $1.24 each. I still have 30 or so 3-packs each of C6 and B6 motors from Target, though I haven't done an inventory lately.

[Fred22]

I agree that $1.00 or $1.50 is good enough. Back when Target was clearancing out all of their Estes motors, I went to every Target I could reasonably get to and bought all of the 3-packs they had, either for $2.48 or $1.24 each. I still have 30 or so 3-packs each of C6 and B6 motors from Target, though I haven't done an inventory lately.

It is also important to note IMO if you pay what they want then the price is their business not mine.
Cheers
fred

[wooden geezer]

i have to pay £7.50 for a three pack in the UK:mad:
as Gillard said they are becoming more expensive

[Fred22]

i have to pay £7.50 for a three pack in the UK:mad:
as Gillard said they are becoming more expensive
Any idea why?
Cheers
fred

[JRThro]

It is also important to note IMO if you pay what they want then the price is their business not mine.
Cheers
fred
Fred, I don't quite understand what you were trying to say in that post.

[privateer]

Well, this thread got me buying motors at Wal Mart again. Even though I have a stockpile. Last fall, they clearanced them at $3 a pack...not the steal some of you have gotten, but pretty good. (I also got a Gauchito and a Little Seven for $3 each.)

The rocket items are now back at the local Wal-Mart and the shelf says $4.97...and they ring up at $4.97 for now. So I'm picking up a pack or two when I go to Wal-Mart.

The best regular deals are the Estes Blast-Off packs at Michaels using their 50% off coupon when it is available. After tax, that works out to $1.24 a motor. At $4.97 a pack at Wal-Mart, after tax that works out to $1.80 a motor or $1.35 a motor (for 13mm's).

[HemiLess]

If you live in the metro Atlanta area. Try the Wal-Mart located at the intersection of Chamblee-Tucker and Peachtree Industrial Blvd. I just picked up several packs at $3.00 each.

[sj_h1]

:)Thanks to all of you I just scored 3-packs of Estes B6-4s for $3. Bought all they had left (6 3-packs). They already sold out all their c6-3s.:eek:

[GlennW]

I hate you all! I checked my nearest Wal Mart to see if they had any of these deals and it seems they don't even have any rocketry stuff anymore at any price. I'll check back in a couple months to see if summer brings anything out there, but typically even when they did have motors they were the standard $4.97 per pack. One time I did get a pack of A10-3T that rang up at $3 but that may have been a mistake for all I know cuz they were marked at $4.97.

Glenn

[JoeLaunchman]

Just hit the Wal-Mart in East Meadow, NY. C6-5's for $1/pk and C6-3's and C6-7's for $3/pk. Just 15 packs on the shelf so I cleaned them out.

[shreadvector]

Just hit the Wal-Mart in East Meadow, NY. C6-5's for $1/pk and C6-3's and C6-7's for $3/pk. Just 15 packs on the shelf so I cleaned them out.


I grew up in East Mildew! Where is the Walmart? The site of the old Modell's dept store or the old Great Eastern? Or perhaps some other demolished and redeveloped spot? (I guess I could use the store locator on the website...):D

[JoeLaunchman]

lol, it's at the intersection of Newbridge Rd. (Rt. 106) & Hempstead Turnpike. Not sure about what was there before. Long Island was one of the last places in the country to get Wal-Marts, so I've been paying hobby shop prices most of my life for Estes motors.

[shreadvector]

lol, it's at the intersection of Newbridge Rd. (Rt. 106) & Hempstead Turnpike. Not sure about what was there before. Long Island was one of the last places in the country to get Wal-Marts, so I've been paying hobby shop prices most of my life for Estes motors.

That is the former Great Eastern location. It was a farm field and mostly empty during most of the 1960's - there was some stuff along the turnpike like a great burger/fries/milkshake/malted place and there might have been a driving range behind it. Then they sold the land and tore down everything and built a huge Great Eastern store which was a classic "department" store where different departments were leased out to other companies to stock and run. Anyway, they eventually went under.

My Jr High is behind there just north on Newbridge Rd.

Trivia: "Eddie" of "Brenda and Eddie" in the Billy Joel song is allegedy Eddie Kimmel who was an art teacher at EMHS when I went there. Are there still any Village Greens left in Levittown?

[powderburner]

I was in the Kroger grocery store down the highway from me to get a couple gallons of milk. I was buzzing through the store (the way that "guys" are famous for shopping) on a laser-strike mission to the milk cooler when something caught my eye. I had to look twice.

My grocery store is selling Estes model rockets.

They have an aisle in the middle of the store, full of summer toys and kid stuff. This is a new section that replaced all the Easter junk. They have a few RTF starter sets on a shelf, and W-mart-style threepacks of Estes motors, the kind of packaging with wadding and igniters included. I saw mostly C motors, and a few Bs. I must confess that I was so stunned to see this in a Kroger store that I stood there and stared for a minute or two, probably looking stupid the whole time.

Oh yeah, and the motors were priced at $5.19 for a threepack.

Anyone else have model rockets in their grocery store?

[dwmzmm]

I was in the Kroger grocery store down the highway from me to get a couple gallons of milk. I was buzzing through the store (the way that "guys" are famous for shopping) on a laser-strike mission to the milk cooler when something caught my eye. I had to look twice.

My grocery store is selling Estes model rockets.

They have an aisle in the middle of the store, full of summer toys and kid stuff. This is a new section that replaced all the Easter junk. They have a few RTF starter sets on a shelf, and W-mart-style threepacks of Estes motors, the kind of packaging with wadding and igniters included. I saw mostly C motors, and a few Bs. I must confess that I was so stunned to see this in a Kroger store that I stood there and stared for a minute or two, probably looking stupid the whole time.

Oh yeah, the motors were priced at $5.19 for a threepack.

Anyone else have model rockets in their grocery store?

Wow, I gotta check. There's about five Kroger stores near my house. Will
have to do this ASAP. Thanks for the heads up!

[Pantherjon]

Hmmmm, may have to check my Kroger this weekend.....

[Donaldsrockets]

I was in Wal-Mart and noticed a new kit, that's right, I said kit.;)

It was a 22 inch 18mm kit called the Ricochet. The box claims it to fly up to 1,175 feet. I might pick one up eventually.

From a pic on the box it appeared to have balsa fins, transition and NC.

[shreadvector]

I'll have to check a few locations locally. Kroger here is "Ralph's"....

Different supermarkets exist in different sizes. Here in Los Angeles and Orange County I have seen Albertsons and Ralphs in a wide range of sizes and designs. There are very, very old Ralphs stores with a minimum of recent redecorating and then there are ultra-modern enormous Ralphs in new communities or redeveloped areas. In the Albertsons, there are small, medum and large stores. The largest are either newly constructed or converted from Smiths supermarkets that entered our market and withdrew after a couple of years. There are also converted K-marts - Kpmart closes a store and the landlord leases the huge store to Albertsons who opens an enormous supermarket. One of these has a "Staples" office supply aisle and a "Toys R Us" toy ailse.

Our local drug stores sold Estes stuff for a brief period in the 1980's or early 1990's in their toy aisle. That ended after they either did not sell well or someone realized that you needed a permit to launch them anywhere in CA.


I was in the Kroger grocery store down the highway from me to get a couple gallons of milk. I was buzzing through the store (the way that "guys" are famous for shopping) on a laser-strike mission to the milk cooler when something caught my eye. I had to look twice.

My grocery store is selling Estes model rockets.

They have an aisle in the middle of the store, full of summer toys and kid stuff. This is a new section that replaced all the Easter junk. They have a few RTF starter sets on a shelf, and W-mart-style threepacks of Estes motors, the kind of packaging with wadding and igniters included. I saw mostly C motors, and a few Bs. I must confess that I was so stunned to see this in a Kroger store that I stood there and stared for a minute or two, probably looking stupid the whole time.

Oh yeah, and the motors were priced at $5.19 for a threepack.

Anyone else have model rockets in their grocery store?

[JRThro]

I was in Wal-Mart and noticed a new kit, that's right, I said kit.;)

It was a 22 inch 18mm kit called the Ricochet. The box claims it to fly up to 1,175 feet. I might pick one up eventually.

From a pic on the box it appeared to have balsa fins, transition and NC.
Okay, who's going to tell him?
;)

[JRThro]

My grocery store is selling Estes model rockets.
Um, wow! I've never heard of such a thing.

I'll have to check a Kroger or three around here (northwest side of Houston), too!

[Mikus]

My grocery store is selling Estes model rockets.

Anyone else have model rockets in their grocery store?

Yes, the Signature Kroger next to me (W.Little York @ Eldridge for JRThro) has the same thing. Only one starter kit but motors at $5.19.

[JRThro]

Yes, the Signature Kroger next to me (W.Little York @ Eldridge for JRThro) has the same thing. Only one starter kit but motors at $5.19.
The Kroger Signature store at Jones Rd. and West Rd. in Houston has 3 of the RTF NSA Starship starter kits for $15.99, 12 packs of motors (8 C6-5's and 4 B6-4's) for $5.19, and 8 of the Estes free-flight electric planes for $8.99, whose name escapes me at the moment.

The regular Kroger store at Jones Rd. and Cypress North Houston Rd. in Houston has 1 of the RTF NSA Starship starter kits, 12 packs of motors (8 C6-5's and 4 B6-4's), and 4 of the Estes free-flight electric planes.

I wonder what prompted Kroger management to decide to stock Estes items for the summer season.

I noticed that while the motor 3-packs do include wadding and igniters, the igniters and igniter plugs are basically loose in the top 1/2 of the package, instead of being in a sort of "well" in the blister pack like I've seen them at Wal-Mart. Unless this is just new packaging and I haven't noticed the change at Wal-Mart yet.

[dwmzmm]

The Kroger Signature store at Jones Rd. and West Rd. in Houston has 3 of the RTF NSA Starship starter kits for $15.99, 12 packs of motors (8 C6-5's and 4 B6-4's) for $5.19, and 8 of the Estes free-flight electric planes for $8.99, whose name escapes me at the moment.

The regular Kroger store at Jones Rd. and Cypress North Houston Rd. in Houston has 1 of the RTF NSA Starship starter kits, 12 packs of motors (8 C6-5's and 4 B6-4's), and 4 of the Estes free-flight electric planes.

I wonder what prompted Kroger management to decide to stock Estes items for the summer season.

I noticed that while the motor 3-packs do include wadding and igniters, the igniters and igniter plugs are basically loose in the top 1/2 of the package, instead of being in a sort of "well" in the blister pack like I've seen them at Wal-Mart. Unless this is just new packaging and I haven't noticed the change at Wal-Mart yet.

Maybe we can ask Mike Dorffler over at YORF what's the deal with the Kroger
marketing. Must be a test to see if and what sells in the hobby category. Heck, I bought my very first electronic calculator at the Kroger store I worked
at (my first job) in Natchitoches, LA in 1972 (we sold them for a time back then). They were kind of expensive then (I think I paid $52 for mine, when minimum wage was something like $1.65 per hour).

[fxrs]

After reading the other post about good buys at Wal-Mart
I decided to try my local Wal-Mart. They finally have estes stuff back
in stock for the summer. The posted price for C6's is $4.97.
But just for giggles I took a pack to the self serve scanner
and to my supprise it scanned at $3. So I grabbed 3 packs of
C6-3's and 1 pack of C6-5's. I would have bought more
but my hours at work have been cut to 32 now. With no overtime
and now a 4 day work week I have to watch my spending.
On my way to the checkout I scanned the C6-5's and they
scanned at $4.97. <-- huh? I put the C6-5 back and got
another C6-3 and called it a day.