WAL MART – THE NEW TOWN SQUARE
I just got back from my daily pilgrimage to the holy Mecca of small-town capitalism. In other words, I just got back from Wal-Mart. As I walked into the store I saw a live blue grass band in the parking lot fronted by at least two dozen “70 something” square dancers in full square-dancing attire (there is something about a 75 year old woman wearing what is basically a frilly miniskirt that is just wrong. It could be worse, though. Square dancing could involve the use of tube tops). Also out front, was a group raffling off someone’s very-used 1972 Corvette, some kids collecting money for a mission trip, and at least three different girl scouts troops selling cookies. Once inside, people had their carts pulled aside while they chatted with their friends, a young guy with more acne pocks than teeth was trying to score with a girl in the jewelry department, and two-middle aged guys with beer guts and breath to match were standing in sporting goods having an intense debate over the merits of a new fishing lure.
Wal Mart has become what the town square used to be. It’s no longer just a place to go shopping….it’s a social event. In some towns, going to Wal Mart is the most exciting event of the week. Shopping disguised as entertainment is sheer brilliance and you can be quite certain that every facet of it has been researched and orchestrated by the folks in Bentonville.
I know of what I speak, because Wal Mart is one of my customers. I do AV work in their corporate offices, Information Services Division, and in their distribution centers around the U.S. I’ve spent a lot of time in Bentonville and I never cease to be amazed at the strategy that goes into their business plan. There is one building I’ve been in that is about the size of three football fields. Inside this building is row after row of displays like you would see in any Wal Mart. There are hundreds of people in this building meticulously determining how to arrange products in these displays so that when you and I visit our neighborhood Wal Mart, we will leave with as little money in our pockets as possible.
That kind of strategizing has made them a behemoth that will pass 500 billion in sales this year. This means that almost a nickel of every dollar spent in the U.S. is spent in a Wal Mart. I remember telling them during one meeting that my company does about 50 million a year in business. I felt pretty smug about that number until I went home and did the math. Wal-Mart does 50 million in sales every hour.
My prediction is that “Wal Mart as a social phenomenon” will continue to evolve. Pretty soon people will be getting married at their local Wal Mart in the Chapel section, and you’ll be able to stop in for open heart surgery right before they wheel you over to the in-store McDonalds for an ice-cream sundae. You’ll be able to pay for it all, because your bank will make you a loan next to frozen foods, and if the marriage that took place at the chapel doesn’t work out, just stop by the divorce court located right next to the automotive department.
Even though Wal Mart is one of my best customers, I refuse to be manipulated by their mamoth marketing machine. But right now I’ve got to get down to the super-center because they are putting up a new lawn mower display and I don’t want to miss it.
Comments (5)
As much as I hate Wal-Mart, there is little I wouldn’t do for a super-center in Manhattan where any deli that has more than ham and cigarettes is considered a grocery store.
I LOOOOOOOVE Wal-Mart! My stepdad use to tell me that I had a gold shopping cart and my own personalized parking space there because I visit so much! I think the biggest laugh I got one time was when my husband and I went to a mall (which we NEVER shop at the mall) and there was this gal in there shopping, and she looked at me and we said HI and stopped and chatted for quite some time. When we left there, my husband asked who that gal was and I said “oh I don’t know her name but she works at Wal Mart and I see her in there all the time.” He has NEVER let me live that down. I absolutely LOVE this post your wrote. VERY GOOD!
I was in the rebel Girl Scout troop–we did not succumb to the use of the “evil empire” as a sales point for our cookies. Our booth was at Sutherlands
Haha, you always have the best posts of anyone I am subscribed to!
I used to live in a very, very small town (only 1 stop sign) and once a week my roommate and I would drive to the next town over (which was 45 minutes away) and go to walmart. As soon as word got out we were going, it seemed like the entire town showed up and would ask if they could tag along too! Haha, it was always fun and such an adventure to make the weekly excursion to Walmart. It ended up being an all-day event.
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<TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width=”100%” background=”" height=250 UNSELECTABLE=”off”>My family used to go hang out at Wal-Mart when we were bored. I had a boyfriend once who said that in my mind Wal-Mart was the mall. Sigh…so true. All those people who say WM is sooo bad because they are taking over should go climb trees.
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