LISSA’S: Wal-Mart Fact 2: Black Friday and the BLITZ Day Blunders

I know thousands of you will go to the Sherman Wal-Mart this Friday for the new advertised "specials" that will be coming in the mail this week, or for the 5 hour BLITZ sell starting at 5am, or the Special Two Day sale, or even Wal-Mart's newest "Secret Sale" which will be happening. Or maybe you will go just because it is Black Friday, and since there is nothing else to do, you will go hang out at Wal-Mart and try to look cool as you always do. But there is a good chance you won't have the shopping experience you normally do.

Just a behind the scenes view of what is going on at this time. For the past two weeks, Store Manager Bryan Lambert and Co-Manager Donnie Baker has pulled Department Managers out of their departments to work grocery. Instead of preparing their departments and getting items on the floor for sale, they are having to go over and stock the grocery shelves. The grocery side is so short handed that they cannot get the shelves stocked. Overnight stockers are not expected to do anything anymore and it doesn't matter if the job gets done or not. It is now up to the rest of the store to sacrifice their workers to come rescue the grocery side. The shortage of workers doesn't just stop there. The General Merchandise side also has a shortage of workers. In many departments, the Department Manager is the only who is working. So, instead of getting their departments ready for the onslaught of Black Friday, nothing is coming to the floor so they can make sure you have Lucky Charms and Pop Tarts for the morning of Thanksgiving. Yes, Department Managers are scattered through the grocery side, including areas not typically associated to Thanksgiving. So, don't be surprised if the selection is not as good as other Wal-Marts. I have heard many of the associates talking about how much is in the back and that they are not able to get it to the floor.

And if you think that there is still this week to get ready, just know that the time spent in grocery has been doubled for this week for all Department Managers. Today, they will be spending the day outside working in all of those pretty trailers littering the parking lot. For the first time in the Sherman store's history, Mr. Lambert decided to put everything on the trailers, but had no organization plan. Items and Electronics for the BLITZ are outside on these trailers, and no one knows where. So, they are going outside to organize and find all the items that are needed for the 5 hour BLITZ sell. This will be an all day event, when they are not working in grocery. But let me also say, does anyone else notice how humid it has been the past couple of days? How hot it has been? Those trailers are not moisture proof, and they cook like an oven in the sun. And yes, I did say the Computers, Laptops, Playstations, and Electronic Toys are all out on that trailer. Baking in the moisture. Has anyone paid attention to what the weather is supposed to do here in the next couple of days? Oh, that's right, we have a cold front coming through. Temperatures are going to drop from the 80's to the 30's..... Cold on the outside of those metal trailers with all that hot moisture inside.... Last time I saw that, it rained on the inside of those trailers from all the condensation. Congradulations, you just bought a wet television for your home.

But they still got Wednesday, right? No, all day in grocery. Thursday, they are off for Thanksgiving. Department Managers will clock in at 4:45am Friday morning. Giving them 15 minutes to set up for BLITZ and start stocking their departments. After two weeks of sales, they will be getting ready for the Black Friday crowds with 15 minutes to do it, but they have to set up the BLITZ items first.

They are wanting sales, right? Uh, think again. There are many items that never see the light of day. So many items that have to be sold in a certain time frame, but because Bryan Lambert doesn't want them out, they get sent back, never coming out to the floor for sale. Have you noticed the big box of calendars where the books used to be? Mr. Lambert didn't like the calendars in his area, so he forced the vender for the books to pull his rack with hundreds of books out of the area the book company leases, so Mr. Lambert could put his rack of calendars there. So, now there are books that come into the store and get sent back to the distributor with never being set on the floor. This is the same throughout the store. Items come in throughout the store, and get sent back because Mr. Lambert choses not to allow them on the floor, or Mr. Baker decides that you, the shoppers, would not like them.

Yes, management has the option to decide what to sell in their store, and they will send items elsewhere that they do not want to sell. Items they think you do not want.

And then look at prices. Isn't it suspicious how Texas prices are cheaper than Oklahoma prices for the same item at the same retail chain? They said it is because of the law in Oklahoma not allowing people to sell at below cost. But wait, let's look at prices from city to city. A refrigerator in Gainesville, TX is $10 more expensive than the same refrigerator at the Wal-Mart 30 miles down the road in Sherman. Both refrigerators come from the same distribution center. In fact, it is closer to Gainesville from the distribution center than it is to Sherman.... Food cost at McKinney is cheaper than it is in Sherman.... McKinney is further from the grocery distribution center than Sherman, but it is cheaper. Okay, let's get specific.... Great Value Bread, retail price in the Sherman Wal-Mart - $1.08, Great Value Bread, retail price in the Galveston Wal-Mart - $0.58. Same bread, same store, same state, from the same vendor, almost half the price. Oh, and a thought for Thanksgiving, that same bread company has brown and serve dinner rolls at the Wal-Mart Everyday Low Price of $1.16, same bread company, same rolls, different package at a different store in the same town - $0.69

So, keep shopping at the place that makes your decisions for you, jacks up the prices just like a monopoly would, and really doesn't care if you get your items or not. Just like I overheard a member of management say once, "The only thing in the store that is important is the front end. We need to get the customer's money and get them out the door. Everything else can come later."