Lisa DiGregory-The ShopGirl

Wednesday night, I headed off to the Walmart on Monocacy Boulevard with my three sisters and little brother for some fun and to review my second store. Walmart Discount City opened in Arkansas in the year 1962 and was founded by Sam Walton. Sam Walton was a past employer of JCPenny, but he had a desire to open a store with high quality yet low priced merchandise. By 1969, Walmart Discount City’s name was shortened to Walmart, and it became a thriving business. Walmart stores are quite similar to Target stores except Walmart normally has better prices, lower quality and less trendy clothing, and a more discount store feel to it. Today, Walmart is still extremely popular with low prices attracting many of their customers. Although I prefer to shop at Target, I shop at Walmart when they have better deals. I did though enjoy shopping with my siblings while rating the store.

           I began my rating process with, of course, the atmosphere of Walmart. Walking through the exit doors (Yes, I am a rebel as my younger sister stated.), I smelled Subway mixed with sweat. It reeked, smelling like rotten sandwiches. Yuck! Thankfully, the scent weakened as we walked towards the back of the store. Walmart had music playing, but only near the electronics’ department. Although the store played music, it kept cutting out which was so irritating.

After observing Walmart’s atmosphere, my attention was drawn to the surroundings. The lighting in Walmart was intense. I am happy when the store I shop in is very bright. Walmart is always crowded. Personally, when I am shopping in Walmart I am constantly looking over my shoulder. The people in Walmart sometimes scare me a bit. My sister gripped my little sister’s hand, while I tightly held my brother’s hand just to be safe. There were absolutely no interesting displays. The only displays Walmart had were the televisions on the wall in the electronics section and the gun display. This does not appeal to young women who enjoy seeing displays with fashionable outfits.

Once I finished observing the atmosphere and surroundings, I focused on the cleanliness. Walmart was mostly a dump. The reason I say ‘mostly’ was because surprisingly the clothing departments and electronics’ department were neatly organized. The toy department was a complete different story. There was absolutely no organization at all. The toys that were supposed to be hanging neatly were all over the shelves. In several aisles, there were even toys all over the floor. (I tend to know a lot about the organization and cleanliness of the toy department because I often have my two little siblings that love toys with me.) In addition to barely any organization, there were stains on the floor throughout the entire store. It was also very disgusting. My sandal was sticking to the floor in several areas of Walmart. Although I normally rate bathrooms, I have heard disturbing stories about many Walmart bathrooms including that specific bathroom. I decided not to enter the bathroom; instead I examined the area around it. The area was filthy and very smelly.

            The staff there appear to all have the same attitude: like they have no desire to be there and literally hate working at Walmart. I had contact with at least six different employees, and only one smiled. My brother wanted me to ask the electronics department employee if they had any more Disney Infinity characters. The employee had no idea what I was talking about. I had to walk him to the characters to show him what Disney Infinity was, just for him to tell me there were no more in stock. The woman that checked us out was unfriendly. She said maybe two sentences at the most to us.

The Disney Infinity character that my little brother wanted, but could not find.

            I was very pleased with Walmart’s merchandise and clothing. This section of my review was fairly positive for Walmart. Astonishingly, the products sold at Walmart were popular, enjoyable, and, for the most part, decent quality. Walmart had a wide variety of merchandise including toys, clothing, makeup, movies, etc. The quality of the merchandise was pretty decent, at least for me. I have had no problems with any of the products I purchased at Walmart. The merchandise was well stocked. There were a ton of movies that would satisfy most people. The prices at Walmart were unbeatable. You can purchase movies that are a couple of years old for $5. Prices for other movies can range from $1.99 to $19.99. The toys and electronics were also priced lower than other similar department stores. In addition to great prices, Walmart also had great sales. For example, the new Hunger Games was on sale for $14.96. The clothing section was fantastic. Walmart had very stylish and hip clothing. Their variety of clothing was wide-ranging. There were graphic tees, adorable jeans, colorful leggings, and spring dresses. Seeing as they had a great variety of clothing, the clothes would have appealed to everyone’s style. The clothes appealed even more, because their prices were low. A pair of leggings only cost about $10, which I found completely reasonable.

            The total outcome for each item was:

Prices: 5

Cleanliness: 3

Bathrooms: 1

Appeal: 5

Popularity: 3

Merchandise: 5

Displays: 1

Staff: 2

Atmosphere: 2

The total rating for Walmart was twenty-seven. Next week, I look forward to rating Target.