When it comes to shopping there are 3 things: service, quality and price. The catch is you're lucky to only get 2/3 of these with any shopping experience, Walmart is no exception. The prime motivator for going to Walmart is generally always price, going in with expectations of exceptional service is just asking for disappointment. Quality here is reasonable enough, so there's your 2/3: price and quality. Leave your expectation at this and you should be okay!
With the Walmart Macleod Supercentre I go in expecting to save money because of lower priced items that still meet the quality of a big name store, and this is exactly what I get. Walmart has all your major departments you'd expect from a department store: appliances, auto, baby, clothing, electronics & entertainment, furniture, health & beauty, home & pets, jewelry & accessories, office, outdoor, sports & rec and toys. What makes it a Supercentre location is the Grocery and Pharmacy, this location also includes a vision centre, photo centre, wireless solutions, McDonald's, Mr. Lube and Western Union.
The primary reason I visit this location is for home and grocery, so I'm actually quite happy that this is a Supercentre location. The prices for the grocery items blow the competition nearby out of the water (Safeway and Co-op), but is still pretty comparable to Superstore. Their grocery selection is a little more limited to traditional items compared to a primary grocery store but it's not lousy by any means and they get some newer items as well. They're a little more limited for health food items, but they have some choices. Produce is actually quite decent here and priced great, as is their bread, dry goods and frozen items. Their meat is probably where they suffer the most, it's very reasonably priced but the quality of these items tends to be a little bit lower than other grocery stores. They also don't have a fresh deli, although their selection of deli items is quite large. So I usually stock up on all my major items on my visits and just grab my meats elsewhere.
One thing I hate about this store is how narrow the aisles are. It's hard enough to get around with the crowd this store draws, but when you add in aisles that aren't wide enough for two carts it can be a tad bit annoying. Nothing they can really do to fix this either since the store layout is at capacity and the problem is likely just limited room more than poor organization. So often you'll find yourself barely squeezing by people or backing out of aisles, not an easy up and down aisle kind of store. While on this topic it's also very busy in general and the parking lot can be a nightmare, I'm surprised I haven't seen an accident here with how packed it gets. Close parking is also rarely an option. Even though the cashiers get backed up on a regular basis the staff does to a good job getting people through quickly, and they're actually trained pretty good for produce codes for a department/grocery store. There's also the express lane that works in a logistically efficient first in/first out method for small volume purchases. As mentioned earlier service is not something you generally get with your visits, the staff are rarely happy and almost never go above and beyond to make your visit exceptional. Most seem to be there as an ends to a means and don't take pride in their role. Don't expect to be approached for help either, if you need assistance you're probably going to have to ask.
The electronics section can be an exception to this at times, I think the staff in this area are typically trained a bit better and have more invested interest in their department. The rest of the store is pretty neutral, but one plus is beyond the grocery area things quiet down a little and the shopping experience improves. Kind of ironic because the grocery store is my primary reason I come here but also the part I end up getting most frustrated with lol. To summarize: come to save some $, but don't expect too much more! read more