let's be honest, fair reviews of Wal-Mart are going to be rare. there are so many irrational haters…read moreout there, you just know that if for some reason Wal-Mart were to hand them a million dollars, they'd complain that some of the bills were a bit crumpled. also, people make unfair comparisons, like saying that Woodman's has a much better selection. of course they do, Woodman's is a huge dedicated grocery store. Wal-Mart is not, they are a retail store with a grocery section. using that same logic, you must then complain that Woodman's has a terrible selection of sporting goods, clothing, electronics and automotive products.
here's the negative, the reason the one star is missing: they quite often have empty spaces on shelves. it's not as bad as some will make it out to be. on my bi-weekly grocery trip, there will probably be 2 or three things that I will not be able to get because they have not restocked the item. it's frustrating, but this problem is not unique to Wal-Mart. one small example: I need a new cat litter scooper, Wal-Mart is sold out. went to target today to get one, their cheapest one is twice the price of Wal-Mart and, yep, also sold out.
here's the good: as a retail store, their grocery section is huge. target and menard's have copied them, but there really is no comparison. if you need to have 200 kinds of ice cream and 400 kinds of coffee to choose from, Wal-Mart is not your place. for me, they have everything I need to complete my grocery shopping. prices are also competitive with everyone around. some items at other places are cheaper, some are more expensive. but, if there is a printed sale ad from someplace else, Wal-Mart will match the price. quite often though, I see other store that have sale prices that bring it down to wal-marts regular price. in target today, saw they had 12 packs of pepsi products on sale, 3 for $12. regular price is $5.09 each! wal-marts regular price is $3.99 each. thanks for the big sale, target!
also, compare their selection of products to other stores. Wal-Mart has a really decent automotive section, offering many different types of oil, filters, air filters, bulbs, spark plugs, wiper blades etc. I think the automotive section at target consists of a few travel mugs. Wal-Mart also has a big selection of camping and fishing gear, along with archery equipment, firearm ammunition, and they recently started selling firearms as well. what do you find in the sporting goods aisle at target? a couple of sleeping bags, that's about it.
another feature of Wal-Mart that sets them above the competition: the other services they offer. in this particular store there is a Subway restaurant, some place to get your nails done, a vision center, a pharmacy and a tire and lube express, where you can buy tires, get them rotated and repaired, get your oil changed, have car batteries installed and if you change your own oil like I do, you can take your old oil and filters here to be recycled.
basically, love them or hate them, no other retail store around offers as many products and services as Wal-Mart.