Have you noticed that Walmart isn't so cheap anymore.

Paladin1950

Paladin1950

Still love 50's & 60's music!
Location
Mohawk Valley, NY
Over the last year or so, I've noticed that my local Walmart has done away with some low priced items, and replaced them with another brand that costs way more.
I discovered 3 things. Others have probably discovered other items.

I used to be able to buy a 4 pack of Iso-Heet dry gas (red bottle) for $4.98. Now they make you pay $2.98 for a single bottle. Four bottles now, would cost you $12.
I used to be able to buy a can of deicer spray for my car windows for $1.98. It was a cheaper brand, but it worked. Now they make you pay $3.98 for a can of Prestone deicer spray. There is a little ice scraper on the top of the can. I don't need it. I have my own scrapers.

I used to be able to buy Walmart's brand of decaffeineated tea for $1.99 (later it was $2.19). Now they don't carry it. They make you pay $5 or $6 for a more famous brand.

There are probably other examples that I'm not aware of. My original reason for going to Walmart, was to save money.
 

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Walmart's groceries have been noticably higher than the local supermarket. That said, the supermarket here has been doing away with my lower prices favorite products, trying to force me into a higher price level. Amazon! I buy my k cup coffee at a much better price on Amazon. 😉
 
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You are quite right. And, across the board all prices at Walmart have risen. There are three primary reasons.

First, nearly all of the cheaper things were made in China. Presently, shipments from China are being reduced with Mexico becoming the primary source of imports, today. These items are now more expensive. The second reason is because the U.S. dollar does not buy as much as it used to of imported goods because its value has begun to decline with the United States' increasing deficit. And, lastly, some products are American made which means the rise in domestic wages makes these products much more expensive to produce and handle.

You also must remember that Walmart, like everywhere else, is paying higher wages today than a few years ago. It all comes down to this. For most people their incomes have stayed up with inflation. But, for older people on fixed incomes their purchasing power has declined substantially. So everything is more expensive to them.
 
Nathan said:
Walmart's groceries have been noticably higher than the local supermarket. That said, the supermarket here has been doing away with my lower prices favorite products, trying to force me into a higher price level. Amazon! I buy my k cup coffee at a much better price on Amazon. 😉
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K-cups are definitely cheaper on Amazon.
 
Nathan said:
That said, the supermarket here has been doing away with my lower prices favorite products, trying to force me into a higher price level.
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I remember when Fed Chairman Allan Greenspan said that when people are affected by higher prices they can switch to other products that are cheaper. Seems that businesses were listening to this as well and have reduced the choices available. And, thus means they will make more profit from the reduced choices. (You wouldn't have to worry about K cup prices if you stopped having the need for them. If you can't find something cheaper then the only choice is to stop using or doing what you have been doing.)
 
Yep. 90 tablets of Natrol Melaton is $8.96 at Walmart. 200 tablets of the SAME product is $9.56 on Amazon!

Another example: Hefty 13 Gal Trash bags, 40 ct at $8.54 at Walmart and $6.77 at the Menards a few hundred yards down the road.
 
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Well they've crushed about all of the competition that they're going to. They've also changed their image from somewhere you'd slink into, hoping nobody will see you, to almost normal where you can risk showing your face. Walmart hasn't changed, the customer base has. Nobody minds looking like a sucker who cares nothing for his fellow man any more. Once you found a wallet and you tried to get it back to the rightful owner. Now you pocket the cash and trade the credit cards to a junkie.
 
Walmart an’t so cheap any more now that they have run all other business away. Do you recall the warnings should Walmart be built in various cities and towns. Walmart built a SuperWalmart in our town with the stipulation of a given time period in which no other new business being built certain distance and time period. Sadly our town was stripped all identifying shops and businesses that made our town what it was. Now it’s like huge crater of muck and Walmart
 
I go to the Walmart in Herkimer, NY. Not far away, there was a Kmart. I went to both stores. There were some things that I preferred to get at Kmart. But Kmart has joined the likes of Gimbels, Korvettes, WT Grants and many others.
 
Your so right,our walmart is so high now on most things but they know they have us all and we have to shop there. Years ago they came in with low prices and local and chain stores closed that could not compete and they slowly started raising their prices and we have no place else to shop . It is just my opinion but I know prices and walmart is no longer "cheaper on most items".

Their quality of their items has certainly diminished too!
 
Mr. Ed said:
Walmart an’t so cheap any more now that they have run all other business away. Do you recall the warnings should Walmart be built in various cities and towns. Walmart built a SuperWalmart in our town with the stipulation of a given time period in which no other new business being built certain distance and time period. Sadly our town was stripped all identifying shops and businesses that made our town what it was. Now it’s like huge crater of muck and Walmart
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Back a few decades ago, a small town in the area I lived at the time successfully blocked Walmart. Residents have to drive 30 minutes to buy a pair of socks, but the $10 cupcakes were safe!

WAL-MART BATTLE CENTERS ON FEARS EAST AURORA WOULD LOSE ITS FLAVOR
 
Paladin1950 said:
Over the last year or so, I've noticed that my local Walmart has done away with some low priced items, and replaced them with another brand that costs way more.
I discovered 3 things. Others have probably discovered other items.

I used to be able to buy a 4 pack of Iso-Heet dry gas (red bottle) for $4.98. Now they make you pay $2.98 for a single bottle. Four bottles now, would cost you $12.
I used to be able to buy a can of deicer spray for my car windows for $1.98. It was a cheaper brand, but it worked. Now they make you pay $3.98 for a can of Prestone deicer spray. There is a little ice scraper on the top of the can. I don't need it. I have my own scrapers.

I used to be able to buy Walmart's brand of decaffeineated tea for $1.99 (later it was $2.19). Now they don't carry it. They make you pay $5 or $6 for a more famous brand.

There are probably other examples that I'm not aware of. My original reason for going to Walmart, was to save money.
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I've gone to Dollar General. I buy a big bag of dog food for almost $30 at Walmart whereas at Dollar General it is literally halfprice! Do some comparison shopping at the cheaper stores. Now, I am shopping more at Dollar General.
 
fancicoffee13 said:
I've gone to Dollar General. I buy a big bag of dog food for almost $30 at Walmart whereas at Dollar General it is literally halfprice! Do some comparison shopping at the cheaper stores. Now, I am shopping more at Dollar General.
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I like Dollar General also, and have found that a lot of things are about the same price as Walmart, but some things are more (mostly food items), and some things are cheaper.
Our Dollar General has almost empty shelves, and all of the shopping carts have disappeared (stolen most likely) which makes it harder to shop there if you are getting anything large, or very many items. It sure is much easier to find a place to part at the dollar store than at Walmart.

I do order my groceries from Walmart because i have the Walmart+ Assist with free delivery. They have pretty much eliminated all of the checkers at Walmart, so we seldom shop inside the store now anyway.
 
Paladin1950 said:
But Kmart has joined the likes of Gimbels, Korvettes, WT Grants and many others.
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I remember WT Grants. Was a better form of Newberry's and Woolworth. Growing up in the 1950's those were the stores less well off working people shopped at. A step up was JC Penneys and Sears; both shadows of their former selves, today. Seems to me Walmart did not put them under; rather poor management and peoples' changing shopping habits. So, I am not so sure Walmart is the culprit everyone makes them out to be. What about Target? More expensive than Walmart but competitive to it. Explain that. The world is forever changing. Walmart will see its day of eclipse one day too.
 
We've also lost all of our local landmark department stores and small chains. One of those from my hometown wasn't where we shopped, but they had great Christmas window displays.

It's still living on through a minor role in "The Polar Express."
 
Yes. I usually do my main shopping at the military commissary. Wal-Mart is down the road and convenient and I use it for things the commissary doesn't carry, emergencies, etc.
Like others have said, a few things today were $100.
It's the holidays and I've gotten a few things several times!
 
Robb.hisself said:
Walmart isn't giving you anything. Rather it is forcing you to play its game
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That may be true, but it is also what works best for me. My husband does not want to drive me to the store and shop, so I have to order from somewhere for delivery , no matter what. And you have to have some kind of a program from the store or a delivery service in order to have groceries delivered.
Walmart has the Assist program that is for low income people, so it costs me less to belong to their program than to use Instacart, or one of the other delivery services.
And we have no other grocery stores close to where we live, so if we do shop elsewhere, we would have to drive quite a ways from our house to do that.

For me, in my circumstances, it is about the best option, at this point in my life.
 
Happyflowerlady said:
My husband does not want to drive me to the store and shop, so I have to order from somewhere for delivery , no matter what.
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My husband and I are not quite at that point yet but we're getting there. That's why, although I'm a pro-union, pro-small business person, I've been ordering more and more from both WalMart and Amazon. We do what we have to.
 

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