Update XVII: I Ate The Strawberry (The REAL, AUTHENTIC Update)

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Al's earlier suggestion about cleaning municipal toilets sounds better and better, right?

[memphis]

Politics has nothing to do with it. Republican or Democratic, mass affluent (by which I don't even mean truly rich) people don't want to be anywhere near a WalMart. It's very much a NIMBY thing. Target's image is completely different though, and would make a fascinating case study for a business thesis.
In East Memphis and in adjacent Germantown, both of which are nice, dignified areas, there are three Target locations but zero WalMarts. That's not by accident. Germantown had a non-Super Walmart until about 2000, when WalMart's request to upgrade that location to a SuperCenter was denied by Germantown's notoriously difficult zoning folks, and, immediately, the store closed altogether and moved further out to greener pastures where they could be free to be as Super as they like. I don't think you'll find the country club types who lived near the old location shedding any tears. Aside from the store's aesthetics, they don't want the People of Walmart invading their preppy town either.
As for the pre-Walmart image of a poorer neighborhood's business, there's no need to get all sentimental though. It's not that glamorous either. Across the interstate from me lies Summer Avenue. No WalMart there either, but not for snobby reasons. Although it's not really scary either, Summer is sad, decrepit thoroughfare that boasts an abandoned bowling alley, a strip club, several abandoned fast food shacks, very shady used car lots, you get the idea. It's actually everything young white people say they want in a neighborhood: extremely racially/ethically diverse with the accompanying restaurants to prove it, cheap prices on nearby houses, authenticity. But the young white people aren't exactly eager to live there. It's a low prestige neighborhood. And it could really, really use a WalMart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0qDvgScpVM

[Joe Biden 2020]

Good Monday Morning!  This is the first official day of the job hunt.  I've got two places that I'm going to visit today and then this afternoon I'll work on the application to Walmart and make a few phone calls.  I'll be busy most of the day, and then I'll watch Monday Night Football tonight.

[memphis]

Isn't Target just Wal-Mart with warmer lighting, slightly less downscale clothing, and the occasional attached Starbucks?

There are a number of things Target does to differentiate itself. They also don't sell firearms or tobacco products. They are both value oriented general goods retailers who have embraced groceries (Target less so) in recent years.

[King]

Isn't Target just Wal-Mart with warmer lighting, slightly less downscale clothing, and the occasional attached Starbucks?

You act like those are minor details.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I think memphis is over stereotyping Wal Mart goers. I know plenty of affluent people who have gone there before. Not regulars, mind you, but they aren't afraid to go to Wal Mart if they are saving some money on whatever item they are looking for. I've never heard anyone say the things he's saying, like they'd never want to be caught near one, etc.

After all, you don't become rich by throwing your money away.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I think memphis is over stereotyping Wal Mart goers. I know plenty of affluent people who have gone there before. Not regulars, mind you, but they aren't afraid to go to Wal Mart if they are saving some money on whatever item they are looking for. I've never heard anyone say the things he's saying, like they'd never want to be caught near one, etc.

After all, you don't become rich by throwing your money away.

As a quite comfortable [upper] middle classer, I go to Walmart all the time.....why the fyck not save a ton on things.  I bought a grill there for $128. and it has 3 burners + a side burner.....works better than the $250 grill I bought last time at Home Depot.

I mean c'mon people, Walmart is just fine.

[King]

I have a WalMart credit card and buy a lot of stuff online from them. Interest free for three to six months on purchases.

[Hatman 🍁]

I only go to Walmart (and very rarely at that) because it is literally the closest grocery store (13 minute walk). I don't mind the extra walk (19 minutes in total) and the extra expense to shop at the next closest Grocery, Farm Boy.

[memphis]

I didn't say well to do people won't shop at WalMart. I said they don't want one in their neighborhood. There is an enormous difference.

[angus]

Good Monday Morning!  This is the first official day of the job hunt.  I've got two places that I'm going to visit today and then this afternoon I'll work on the application to Walmart and make a few phone calls.  I'll be busy most of the day, and then I'll watch Monday Night Football tonight.

Good morning to you!  Best wishes for your job search.  

[memphis]

I didn't say well to do people won't shop at WalMart. I said they don't want one in their neighborhood. There is an enormous difference.

Many affluent people - particularly in the suburbs - don't want anything in their neighborhoods.

I wouldn't go that far. For the most part, well to do suburban people want conveniences. They actually need them because they are extremely busy people, constantly trying to keep up with the trappings of mass affluent life. They need supermarkets, schools, boutiques, restaurants, banks, and all the rest within a reasonable distance. They just want it done in an aesthetically pleasing way. A Wal-Mart, however, is not a good image for an upscale neighborhood. If you borrowed $500,000 over 30 years (and, granted, you'd probably be savvy enough not to in the first place) to buy a house, you'd be protective of what opens up nearby also.
FWIW, in the old days, most of the shopping and nightlife and healthcare and commerce was downtown. That's long gone, and it's a pity that most of the people who go around criticizing suburbia (and there's still a lot of valid thing to criticize) are stuck in a 1950s timewarp regarding what suburbia is all about. A primary difference between suburbia in 1950 (when the wife usually had all day to run errands) and suburbia today is that the conveniences are closer by. We're not living in Leave it to Beaver anymore.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Everyone here thinks having Bushie in a management position would be a good idea. Huh.

I'm kind of torn. On the one hand, it's Wal-Mart, so yeah they deserve him. On the other hand I'd feel for the minimum wage working stiffs under him.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I think memphis is over stereotyping Wal Mart goers. I know plenty of affluent people who have gone there before. Not regulars, mind you, but they aren't afraid to go to Wal Mart if they are saving some money on whatever item they are looking for. I've never heard anyone say the things he's saying, like they'd never want to be caught near one, etc.

After all, you don't become rich by throwing your money away.

My only visits to Wal-Mart have been just after moving to a new town, when I need to purchase things quickly and cheaply and I don't know the area well enough to do that anywhere else.

Otherwise, hunting for used goods is as cheap or cheaper, and the quality is usually higher. The trade-off is that this is time-consuming and requires some local knowledge.

I don't thumb my nose at Wal Mart or Target, but it baffles me that some people shop at these stores so frequently and spend so much money when they do. If it's the best nearby place to buy groceries, though, I suppose that makes sense.

I'm talking purely for household goods. I don't grocery shop there and I don't know anyone that does, especially for produce, but for other items like trash bags, grills, household items and the like, I don't know many affluent people who swear they'll never go to Wal Mart for those things. Like most people, if it's cheaper there, and the drive isn't outrageous, I'll go. And a hint for memphis: the rich are worse when it comes to cutting corners and trying to save a penny than many middle class people I know.

Sure, the affluents don't want one in their neighborhood, but most don't want anything in their neighborhood, not just Wal Mart.

[ilikeverin]

Here's a possible "job" that'd work well for Bushie. Medical companies often do studies and pay pretty well for them, you can make over $1000 for something that just requires a 72-96 hour on-site stay and after that about 4-5 once a week or every two week checkups. I see them advertised all the time in alternative publications. The only reason I haven't signed up for one is they don't work well with someone who's employed full time and no doubt mostly rely on unemployed people who have infinite free time, but as this is Bushie....plus with all his medical problems he'd be a goldmine.

It's a bit more complicated than that... ethical precepts say that researchers should discourage participants who need the money from participating in the studies, because it basically amounts to coercion.  We want to make sure all of our human participants are participating voluntarily!  That's some of why there are (unofficial) caps on how much we can renumerate people for participation in human studies.  For studies like the ones I run, where participants are essentially not under any risk of negative consequences, we usually pay about $10/hour for participating; it would be seen as uncouth to offer much more.

Hearing this stuff makes me happy to live in a Wal-Mart blackhole. I used to make a big deal out of boycotting Wal-Mart, but that's kind of pointless now, since it's not convenient for me to shop there anyway: http://www.walmart.com/store/finder?location=55404

Note not just the lack in Minneapolis, but that area to the west of it too. That area is full of people who 1-don't shop at Wal-Mart and 2-probably consider shopping at Wal-Mart beneath them, even if Republicans. This is especially noticable in the immediate SW suburbs, most notably Edina and St. Louis Park, which have a very rich feel to them, but not in trashy giant McMansion way. Think tons of luxury apartments and expensive jewelry and fashion stores. Rich Democrat land basically, probably the people most likely to find Wal-Mart repulsive.

A MN-03 native checking in to confirm... rich Democrats (and, heck, rich moderates and rich conservatives... note that the Walmart dead zone goes out to Medina and the shores of Lake Minnetonka!) are too good for that Walmart nonsense!  We have Target for all of our big-box store needs.

[Lief 🗽]

Isn't Target just Wal-Mart with warmer lighting, slightly less downscale clothing, and the occasional attached Starbucks?

I think you're under-estimating how much us white folk care about lighting and Starbucks.

[WalterMitty]

this wal mart chat is pretty boring.  though i was delighted to learn that one is supposed to report even the mention of the word 'union.'  it really is a great company. 

anyway, bushie,  *DO NOT QUIT* tomorrow.  go in and face the music.  if you get fired (which is 99% likely). so be it.  but dont quit.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

this wal mart chat is pretty boring.  though i was delighted to learn that one is supposed to report even the mention of the word 'union.'  it really is a great company.

anyway, bushie,  *DO NOT QUIT* tomorrow.  go in and face the music.  if you get fired (which is 99% likely). so be it.  but dont quit.

Walter, you don't have to go blue... But at least give green some thought.

[memphis]

this wal mart chat is pretty boring.  though i was delighted to learn that one is supposed to report even the mention of the word 'union.'  it really is a great company.

anyway, bushie,  *DO NOT QUIT* tomorrow.  go in and face the music.  if you get fired (which is 99% likely). so be it.  but dont quit.

Walter, you don't have to go blue... But at least give green some thought.

I remember back in the day, Walter was an R-MA. He's under some sort of delusion that there can be mass prosperity (and by mass, I don't just mean the quarter of people who are legit professionals) without unions. A true believer.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I don't think Bushie can go in and quit tomorrow. I'm pretty sure he'll be greeted at his desk by his boss and let go. I don't even know if they'll have a "talk." I think his boss is just fed up with his performance and didn't even want to wait until November 1st.

[WalterMitty]

I don't think Bushie can go in and quit tomorrow. I'm pretty sure he'll be greeted at his desk by his boss and let go. I don't even know if they'll have a "talk." I think his boss is just fed up with his performance and didn't even want to wait until November 1st.

im afraid bushie wont go in at all.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

I don't think Bushie can go in and quit tomorrow. I'm pretty sure he'll be greeted at his desk by his boss and let go. I don't even know if they'll have a "talk." I think his boss is just fed up with his performance and didn't even want to wait until November 1st.

im afraid bushie wont go in at all.

I think, at least I hope, he'll go in. It sounded like he planned to beg earlier, but maybe he's backed off of that idea.

[Hatman 🍁]

Bushie will quit first, just like he did with Allison. And then his boss will say that he wasn't going to fire him at all.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I don't think Bushie can go in and quit tomorrow. I'm pretty sure he'll be greeted at his desk by his boss and let go. I don't even know if they'll have a "talk." I think his boss is just fed up with his performance and didn't even want to wait until November 1st.

im afraid bushie wont go in at all.

I will go in.  Whatever decision comes down is made easier with the job search already in progress.  I'll go in and man up.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I just applied to the assistant manager position that BK PM'd to me, so I am following through on his recommendation.