WAL-MART VS. TARGET: Showdown of the two superstores

VS.

As I am fairly confident many of the readers of this comparipost will recall, I remember the days when the word superstore did not exist. I grew up in a town where the local grocery store frequently bought fresh fruit and vegetables from local residents to place directly onto the racks to turn around and sell. I accompanied my parents on various occaisions selling squash, beans, and tomatoes to Mendenhall's market. For the weekly shopping we would travel to the local Reams, Smiths, or Storehouse Market, Maceys(No, not Macy's the department store) all of which were local grocery stores at the time, two of which are now out of business. I do not claim to be a protester of injustice with those stores as I understand the Circle of Life. Wal-Mart entered my life at the age of about 9 years old when my family moved to a larger city. I still was completely unaware of the percieved evils of Wal-Mart because the only thing I connected Wal-Mart to was the chance to see what new handheld Ninja Turtle Games had recently become available.

My first encounter with someone hating the Superstore was in my freshman english class in college when it came time to write an argumentative and three different people had to fight over who got to write on the dire need for more regulation on Wal-Marts ethics and practices. Alhough surprised, I didn't care much at the time because I had just purchased Napoleon Dynamite for $9.00 at Wal-Mart the day before. Over the past several years I have come to find many reasons why people would choose why to or not to have their loyalty remain in the doors of the store best known for always having the best prices, Yes Always per their claim. Who wouldn't love a store that makes sure you always get the best price.

Over the last few years I have been led in a different dirction of thinking. Upon marrying my wife, I found a few things started changing. I started to understand the problem with wearing slacks with Nike Basketball shoes and a T-shirt. I also started straying away from Little Caesars 5.00 pizza for a standard lunch. Among the things that I learned was the value of Target Superstore.

You see, I have always viewed Target as "the rich people's grocery store." Who would blame me. The store is extremely clean. All of the employees seem to be very presentable people with no bones in their noses and pink mo-hawks. Not only are the products not dented and torn, but they are not in their boxes on the shelves, rather they are neatly stacked and orderly. Clean white floors replaced the stained cement warehouse floor that I was so used to, and painted walls replaced the palets of stacked extra inventory. I figured the costs they had spent in having a clean store had to be incorporated in the buying of Circus Animals, Honeycombs, and of course my oh-so-coveted handheld Ninja Turtle game. My wife and I would argue about which store she would travel to in order to buy the weeks groceries, as I was so certain that the reason for our poorness was due to the weeks that she had decided to shop at Target, rather than the fact that we are just college students, and that is somewhat normal for people in this stage of life.

I argued with her about this to the point of driving her to do a comparison of costs of a list of common groceries that we would buy. She compared the total price of the list at Target, along with two other stores in the area that I have always considered to be great priced stores. I was shocked when she came back with the results that target had won the competition by about ten dollars. I argued no more, and ever since then have been enjoying the luxuries of a clean store with great products and prices.

Approximately a month and a half ago my wife chose to, as she likes to put it, make a deal with the devil, in that we decided to use a 300.00 gift card at Wal-Mart for our groceries for two months. This was a big step, in which we have learned the differences between Wal-Mart and Target. I feel the only place Wal-Mart beats Target on pricing is in Electronics and Furniture. They also have a reputation for a crazy return policy also known as the Wal-Mart Rental. Target tends to have a much better selection due to Wal-Marts strict standards of packaging, etc... that many companies fail to comply with.

Many have strong loyalties to where they will spend their money. Where are yours and why? Have you ever tried, or considered trying to cross the line? If so, what have you found? If not, I invite you to try crossing the line. You might be pleasantly surprised with what you find and may change loyalties altogether. On the other hand, the worst it could do is strengthen your loyalty to where ever it may lie. Which is better: Walmart or Target? Feel free to share personal experiences which has led you to this conclusion. The time has come for everyone to weigh in, and for you to decide.