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Does Walmart Causes

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“I’m going Walmartin’, Walmartin’, going Walmatin’ today.” This cute little ditty describes the place Americans spend $36 million every hour, and a family of four spends $4000 of their “cold hard cash” per year. Most Americans can speed to a Walmart within 15 minutes of where they live. Is this not convenient (Weishar, 2013)? But what causes American shoppers to spend a portion of their income to help support this American Icon located in Bentonville, Arkansas? The following causes may explain American's fixation with Walmart. The first cause is a social one: Walmart is a gathering place especially for the senior citizens. Many seniors citizens such as Wilma and Fred go to Walmart just to see who they can see, and while …show more content…

Walmart tends to carry more “specialty” items over the local grocery. Usually, these items are new products a company is touting, for example, Coca Cola’s Fairlife milk. Usually, new products advertised can be found at Walmart because companies are willing to greatly discount their items in order to get their items on Walmart shelves (R.S. Clark, personal communication, March 18, 2016). Sometimes, these cut-rate discounts are not financially feasible for the “mom and pop” grocery. Also, Walmart is able to offer “more of the same” such as yogurt. A yogurt connoisseur has a vast selection from which to choose--from Zero to Great Value Greek yogurt plus all those in between. The connoisseur can also choose just as many flavors to tingle his or her taste buds such as vanilla bean, key lime pie, lemon meringue, raspberry with chocolate bits. The vast availability of items is a second cause why shoppers drop their nickels and dimes into Walmart’s …show more content…

Gone are the local dry goods store which sold blue jeans and khaki pants for school or work. Some local specialty shops may sell items like the Southern t-shirts or designer sweaters; some may sell “designer-like” skirts or pants. However, the dry goods store finds it very difficult to compete; a small town which may have had four clothiers no longer has one. Where does this leave Fred and Wilma to shop? Their choice is to shop at a non-locally owned store. Hence, Fred and Wilma are back at Walmart looking for a pair of jeans for Fred to wear while mowing the yard. (Wilma’s love affair with Walmart’s deli help to increase Fred’s waist!) Many local hardwares no longer sell lawnmowers. The answer is clear: people would rather pay greatly discounted price at Walmart for a Murray push mower. Saving nickels and dimes is important to most American consumers. Patio

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