About three miles south of us, they're building a Wal-Mart. This does NOT make me happy, because I just don't like Wal-Mart. Let me explain...
There was once a time when I loved Wal-Mart. Growing up in Northern Virginia (inside the Beltway, for those of you who know about those things), I had heard that such a store existed, but I had never actually been inside of one. There were no cheap stores like that in my area; it was Giant, Safeway, or bust. So when I went off to college and entered a Wally World (my personal name for it) for the first time, I felt like I had entered a new universe. There was a Super Wal-Mart about twenty miles from my campus, conveniently located at the same exit as a Perkins, and both were open 24 hours a day. Prime fodder for college students. I spent many hours and lots of money at Wal-Mart, because it had EVERYTHING: groceries, cleaning supplies, makeup, clothes, organizational stuff, etc etc. You could even eat there, because it had a McDonald's. I was a junkie.
I continued to be a loyal Wal-Mart shopper through seminary, because it was cheap and since James and I were both in grad school, cheap was GOOD. When we moved to Danville we had more income, but Wal-Mart was pretty much the only show in town. There were a few Food Lions, but they never seemed to have everything we needed. Wal-Mart always did, so that's where we shopped. But I was getting sick and tired of it...the crowds, the lack of customer service, how it would frequently be out of stock of stuff, etc, etc.
When we moved to Chesapeake, we suddenly had lots of options in terms of grocery stores. There are four different grocery stores within five miles of our house, and the nearest Wal-Mart is eight miles away. We went to Wal-Mart the first few months we lived here, and just got fed up. Again, the crowds, the lack of customer service, being out of stock of something critical (to us) no matter what day of the week or time of day we went. Why were we driving all this way just for a miserable experience? Was it really worth it? And Wal-Mart is known for treating its employees badly. Why should we give them our money?
So, when James took over grocery shopping almost two years ago, he began shopping at our neighborhood grocery store. And guess what? Our grocery bills have not increased very much at all. He stocks up on things when they're on sale (and this store has some great sales), uses the customer loyalty care, and every once in a while I hand him some coupons to use (I'm horrible about clipping coupons). He also buys the store brands if they're a good equivalent to the brand name, and is very good about sticking to the list I give him each week (based on what I want to cook for the next week).
The benefits have outweighed the slight increase in our grocery budget; there are fewer lines, excellent customer service (anytime I have both kids with me someone always insists on helping me out to the car, no tips accepted), higher quality produce, easy proximity to our home (less than two miles away), and they even have the option of ordering your groceries online and having them ready when you pull your car up (OK, there's a $5 service fee. But I plan on using it next time James goes out of town. I think not having to drag two kids through the grocery store is worth $5). I also like the fact that I'm really and truly keeping my dollars in my immediate community.
Just to cement our decision, the other week I was coming back from work and dashed into a Wal-Mart to pick up a few supplies for Halloween. I got what I wanted easily enough, but when I went to check out, all I saw were lines of people at least three deep. No self-checkout stations were open. It was about 8:00 pm. I decided that it simply wasn't worth waiting in line for twenty minutes, and put my stuff back.
So, long, Wal-Mart. I won't be missing you.
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