That's easy - it's the same phenomenon that made people (not just Wal-Mart shoppers, but a surprising amount of people elsewhere) think it was a good idea to detach the phone from their ear, hold it in front of their face, and talk on speakerphone.
I like looking at Wal-Mart as a store of contrasts - most notably the difference between the Sam Walton days and the modern era. I remember not that long ago Wal-Marts were clean, well-stocked, and had plenty of cashiers (lines over three people long were pretty rare where I shopped in the late '90s, and this was NOT at a small or low-traffic store.) More recently my experiences are similar to everyone else here - they don't look as clean, they're frequently out of what I want (and I"m not looking for anything that special), and checkout lines are so long I feel like it would be quicker to drive to target and buy what I need there. There's also a feel of cheapness to it - I can't really describe it any other way - that just makes me *feel* like I'd get higher-quality things in Target or somewhere else.
Something I find particularly interesting about wal-mart recently is how much it is like K-mart in the years leading up to the bankruptcy - Back then, K-marts felt 'cheap,' checkout lines were really long, and the stores certainly didn't look like they were cleaned regularly. It'll be interesting to see what happens to wal-mart in the next decade or so, given the increasing numbers of people (who can afford the choice) that shop elsewhere, and the fact that they seem to be making many of the same big mistakes that K-mart did.
This is EXACTLY RIGHT!!! We haven't had a K-Mart in our part of the world in SO long I nearly forgot... When I was growing up in the 70's, we had a K-Mart in Rosenberg, 15 miles away... it was the first "chain store" we had around in the area, and of course we did a LOT of shopping there. Walmart came in a few years later, but 40 miles away... Still my mom did a lot of shopping there...
Of course a few years later, Walmarts started popping up everywhere, including Rosenberg. Then the "super" stores started coming about, and the old K-Mart was looking terribly dated, so they built a new "super K-mart" out by the freeway, and pretty soon the Walmart started looking terribly dated... within a few years, they built a new SuperCenter on the other side of town from the Super-K and the competition was on...
We shopped at K-Mart quite a bit, because they were closest to us-- no need in fighting traffic all the way across town just to go to Walmart, which had the same stuff at the same price... but K-mart started going to pot... it was dirty, crowded, the lines were ALWAYS long, NEVER more than three checkers except right around Christmastime, poorly stocked, the store was hot and poorly air-conditioned... the sporting goods, electronics, and automotive sections were left unmanned and required you wait for 30 minutes or more for them to call someone and for them to finally show up to 'unlock the case' or otherwise get whatever it is you needed. Their shop went to pot-- you'd have to wait half the day to get a tire installed, etc... Sometimes I'd go looking for cheap work jeans or whatever... they wouldn't have ANYTHING because they quit stocking anything over about a 38 inch waist... (This is Texas-- I wore a 38 inch jeans in FIFTH GRADE!) It was rediculous and just not worth bothering with... we didn't even bother going to K-Mart for the last 2-3 years before they went toe-up... not worth wasting time to go there...
They went broke... all over Houston and SE/SW Texas... heck all over Texas for that matter... last K-mart in our region of the ENTIRE STATE was in Lufkin, nearly 200 miles away. I went in there one time several years ago going to a family reunion, and it was REDICULOUS... the place was filthy, dumpy, stuff everywhere in total disarray, and just looked like a Turkish dump more than a store... it was PATHETIC... I understand now that basically all the K-marts are gone... there might be some left in the far corners of the state (from here) but there's none within several hundred miles... although perplexingly they still ADVERTISE sometimes on our TV or radio... advertise stores that don't exist...
And, you're absolutely right-- Walmart is doing EXACTLY the same thing that K-Mart did which caused them to go toe-up... dirty, understaffed, understocked, and otherwise just a mess... I think they're reasoning is, "the competition is gone, therefore we can do whatever we want and people will just have to put up with it"... wrong... I find myself more and more going to the mom-n-pop hardware stores that remain (among other types of stores) to get stuff I need that I KNOW W/M, Lowes, and HD won't have... or to simply not have to deal with the level of BS going on in the big chain store... sometimes it's well worth paying an extra buck or two to get what you need and get out, without having to stand in line behind 50 other people trying to check out, or waiting 30 minutes for someone to show up and unlock the case to get whatever you need... it's rediculous...
I think these chain stores have gotten a little TOO BIG for their britches...
Later! OL JR
