Walmart observations

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TW-Upstate NY
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by TW-Upstate NY »

cjd wrote: September 4th, 2020, 8:15 pm I did also notice at the grocery exit, the receipt checker was not standing inside the main store as in the past, but stationed in the foyer, right inside of the door leading directly outside.
I saw that too at one of their local stores the other day so it sounds company-wide. Another thing too is they now have someone outside the entrance before you go into the store. This person has a hat on which says "Security" and I really can't tell if it's a company employee or an outside contractor. And they're really not doing anything either-just standing there with no customer interaction whatsoever. There's also a large cardboard box next to this person which is marked face-masks so maybe they're handing them out to people who don't have one. And on that, gotta admit people at this store are pretty good about mask-wearing. Only ones who really aren't complying at times seem to be employees and I hope their supervisors are getting on them about that. It just strikes me as odd that they are paying somebody (or paying a contractor to pay somebody) to just stand there and do basically nothing. Not something you usually see at a Wal-Mart who have seemed to turned employee multi-tasking into an art form.
Last edited by TW-Upstate NY on September 5th, 2020, 1:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by cjd »

TW-Upstate NY wrote: September 5th, 2020, 10:40 am
cjd wrote: September 4th, 2020, 8:15 pm I did also notice at the grocery exit, the receipt checker was not standing inside the main store as in the past, but stationed in the foyer, right inside of the door leading directly outside.
I saw that too at one of their local stores the other day so it sounds company-wide. Another thing too is they now have someone outside the entrance before you go into the store. This person has a hat on which says "Security" and I really can't tell if it's a company employee or an outside contractor. And they're really not doing anything either-just standing there with no customer interaction whatsoever. There's also have a large cardboard box next to this person which is marked face-masks so maybe they're handing them out to people who don't have one. And on that, gotta admit people at this store are pretty good about mask-wearing. Only ones who really aren't complying at times seem to be employees and I hope their supervisors are getting on them about that. It just strikes me as odd that they are paying somebody (or paying a contractor to pay somebody) to just stand there and do basically nothing. Not something you usually see at a Wal-Mart who have seemed to turned employee multi-tasking into an art form.
I think the person is an employee. I feel bad for them having to enforce the masks! And yes, they are handing out white paper masks. This morning I went and there were two older ladies in front of me with no masks, so the lady standing there gave them some and told them they have to wear them inside. "Sorry, we haven't been here in a while," the ladies said. Apparently the give away masks are a new thing because a couple of weeks ago when I went the lady had stopped a teen who didn't have one and asked if he had a bandanna or something to put on. Walmart mask compliance is pretty good, although I still see usually about 5 people with none on. Walmart is the strictest about enforcing masks of all the retailers here it seems.

I don't go to Walmart much anymore. The grocery only entrance and exit thing is just a hassle, having to walk across the whole parking lot and all the way to the very far end of the sidewalk, even though there isn't a line waiting to go in is just getting ridiculous.

Not to mention funneling all of the traffic out of the store gets crazy too because inevitably you have some poor old person trying to get off a scooter at the exit or trying to hobble out the door. I try to be patient and wait, but invariably somebody behind me wants to cut in front of me - I don't take to that too well. Happened just this morning, poor lady who had hip surgery, getting off a scooter and the couple in front of me stops to help her pick up her sunglasses - they're blocking the door and I'm waiting ok. Guy comes barreling up behind me and says "what the F-!" and tries to go around me. I just blocked him and walked out after the people moved over a bit.

All of this has made Walmart just annoying to me, and I wonder how long they'll need to enforce all of this stuff. They must be having some real issues if they're having to go to all these theatrics to avoid theft and such. I can't imagine all of this stuff being permanent, but starting to wonder... None of the other big box stores seem to have such crazy regulations.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by Alpha8472 »

Security guards at Walmart are usually employed by an outside company. They are not Walmart employees. Some of them seem to be awful. I have been in Walmart when customers were about to riot and the security guards literally walked away and hid in another part of the store despite being paged over the speakers to assist.

Remember that Walmart that was looted and set on fire. I was there, and I had to run for my life along with hundreds of other customers. There was nearly a trampling of customers when everyone tried to squeeze through that single exit as employees told everyone to evacuate.

They need to fire whatever security company they are using. These observations were in the San Leandro, California area which is a very crime ridden area. One time a man was swinging a bat at customers and security was no where to be found. The police had to shoot the criminal dead.

Limiting customers into and out of the store cuts down on shoplifting. The security guard stares down the potential shoplifters and you see who comes inside. Shoplifters are weary that security guards will remember and recognize them.

The loss prevention people are watching for shoplifters constantly on the cameras. The traffic jam at the door is the perfect place to catch the shoplifters.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by storewanderer »

All of the Wal Marts in Reno/Carson City now play music out on the sidewalk. I guess people were sleeping in front of the stores overnight and this was to discourage that.

Some Wal Marts provide masks at the entry if you do not have one and others do not. It is my understanding it is up to the store manager if they want to supply masks or not. I watched the third party security guard deny entry to a teenager who had no mask at one of the Reno Wal Marts. No offer of a mask (did not see any there) yet at other Reno and Carson City Wal Marts they have boxes of masks at the entrance to take one if you do not have one of your own. Same at Sam's Club- there is a box of masks at the entrance if you don't have one.

There is no more traffic jam at the doors except at the worst Reno Wal Marts (Kietzke Lane and Second Street) where they still check receipts and there is still a line up to get out. All of the other locations the "greeter" is standing far out of the flow of customer traffic and people come and go freely.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by TW-Upstate NY »

storewanderer wrote: September 5th, 2020, 11:33 pm Some Wal Marts provide masks at the entry if you do not have one and others do not.
I've always been surprised at what I see as a lack of continuity between some of their stores that are in close proximity to each other. Good example is what's going on at the two stores most local to me which are both around 10-12 miles from where I live and they're maybe located about 15 miles apart. The store I most frequently go to has (again) gone to paper bags only while the other one is still plastic. That store has also removed limits on purchases of hand sanitizer while the store I go to has a strict limit of one despite not having signs stating said limit. Yes the managers have large sway over what happens in their stores but don't they have district managers who can assure a little more uniformity store to store? Customers see this going on and after a while get tired of it and will go someplace else and maybe they don't come back.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by Alpha8472 »

There are tons of unsold hand sanitizers at various Walmart stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. There are some that smell like kerosene and are not selling very well. The store probably wants to get rid of those.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by cjd »

storewanderer wrote: September 5th, 2020, 11:33 pm All of the Wal Marts in Reno/Carson City now play music out on the sidewalk. I guess people were sleeping in front of the stores overnight and this was to discourage that.

Some Wal Marts provide masks at the entry if you do not have one and others do not. It is my understanding it is up to the store manager if they want to supply masks or not. I watched the third party security guard deny entry to a teenager who had no mask at one of the Reno Wal Marts. No offer of a mask (did not see any there) yet at other Reno and Carson City Wal Marts they have boxes of masks at the entrance to take one if you do not have one of your own. Same at Sam's Club- there is a box of masks at the entrance if you don't have one.

There is no more traffic jam at the doors except at the worst Reno Wal Marts (Kietzke Lane and Second Street) where they still check receipts and there is still a line up to get out. All of the other locations the "greeter" is standing far out of the flow of customer traffic and people come and go freely.
The Walmart here has been playing music, but I thought maybe it was more for the pickup area, to make the experience more pleasant. The music seems to be mainly playing at the health/pharmacy entrance and that entrance is closed, but it's closest to the pickup carport area.

Interestingly the last few times I had been to Walmart they have that mask checker at the door with a box of masks. Well this evening I went and the railing down the sidewalk had been taken down. So you could go straight in without having to wait single file on the sidewalk. There was nobody around checking for masks, and people were walking right into the store with no masks on.

There were two employees at the exit door checking for receipts but they weren't paying any attention to who was coming in. I also again did not see any receipt scanning. Just watching to make sure people's items were bagged and they had a receipt. One of the two employees did not have her mask on. It was pulled down under her chin. In the electronics department the guy had it down under his nose.

Not sure what is going on at this Walmart, this is the first time in months I had seen no mask enforcement. Granted I don't go all that often but it's been a quite a while the single file/mask check was going on.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by Super S »

cjd wrote: September 18th, 2020, 8:14 pm
The Walmart here has been playing music, but I thought maybe it was more for the pickup area, to make the experience more pleasant. The music seems to be mainly playing at the health/pharmacy entrance and that entrance is closed, but it's closest to the pickup carport area.

Interestingly the last few times I had been to Walmart they have that mask checker at the door with a box of masks. Well this evening I went and the railing down the sidewalk had been taken down. So you could go straight in without having to wait single file on the sidewalk. There was nobody around checking for masks, and people were walking right into the store with no masks on.

There were two employees at the exit door checking for receipts but they weren't paying any attention to who was coming in. I also again did not see any receipt scanning. Just watching to make sure people's items were bagged and they had a receipt. One of the two employees did not have her mask on. It was pulled down under her chin. In the electronics department the guy had it down under his nose.

Not sure what is going on at this Walmart, this is the first time in months I had seen no mask enforcement. Granted I don't go all that often but it's been a quite a while the single file/mask check was going on.
The Walmart near my house has gotten rid of the railings and has reopened the other entrance, but does still have an employee and security guard at both doors. I think we are seeing stores in general back off a little on mask enforcement, even in states where they are required. I think stores are realizing that some people are a bit on edge and are trying to prevent confrontations. I have yet to hear of a store being fined in any way for this.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by storewanderer »

Super S wrote: September 19th, 2020, 7:50 am
cjd wrote: September 18th, 2020, 8:14 pm
The Walmart here has been playing music, but I thought maybe it was more for the pickup area, to make the experience more pleasant. The music seems to be mainly playing at the health/pharmacy entrance and that entrance is closed, but it's closest to the pickup carport area.

Interestingly the last few times I had been to Walmart they have that mask checker at the door with a box of masks. Well this evening I went and the railing down the sidewalk had been taken down. So you could go straight in without having to wait single file on the sidewalk. There was nobody around checking for masks, and people were walking right into the store with no masks on.

There were two employees at the exit door checking for receipts but they weren't paying any attention to who was coming in. I also again did not see any receipt scanning. Just watching to make sure people's items were bagged and they had a receipt. One of the two employees did not have her mask on. It was pulled down under her chin. In the electronics department the guy had it down under his nose.

Not sure what is going on at this Walmart, this is the first time in months I had seen no mask enforcement. Granted I don't go all that often but it's been a quite a while the single file/mask check was going on.
The Walmart near my house has gotten rid of the railings and has reopened the other entrance, but does still have an employee and security guard at both doors. I think we are seeing stores in general back off a little on mask enforcement, even in states where they are required. I think stores are realizing that some people are a bit on edge and are trying to prevent confrontations. I have yet to hear of a store being fined in any way for this.
In Nevada, multiple Wal Mart Stores were fined by the state's OSHA unit for not enforcing mask rules earlier this summer. That set a ripple effect across all retailers to this day. Everyone is enforcing mask rules here strictly with most retailers stationing someone near the door to monitor compliance. The Wal Marts in this area still have railings out front and still only have one entry open (which I really wish they would get both entries open again). The only retailer where I have not seen someone at the door lately is Safeway (early on in COVID they had someone there who was cleaning carts, etc. but that seems to have stopped). It is spotty at other grocers (Smiths, Raleys, Save Mart) - sometimes someone at the door and sometimes not (the "not" tends to be later in the evening) and does seem to vary a bit by location but many of these stores have a table set up near entry with sanitizer, masks, etc. for customer use. Customers are very compliant though. We are really fighting the good fight around here.

I was in a Northern California Wal Mart last week where less than 50% of customers (probably closer to 25%) and about 20% of employees were wearing masks. The black polo "Health Ambassador" was standing at the door greeting everyone... he did have a mask on... I was actually shocked with what I saw. I would literally walk into an aisle and see 4 different customers/customer groups browsing with no mask and no sign of a mask. It was like old times. Could not believe it given it is State of California mandate plus Wal Mart policy to require the masks to be worn in the store. This particular area doesn't have many cases and clearly the people there are less than concerned. I went to a Safeway nearby and only a few customers were not wearing masks there but all of the employees were.
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Re: Walmart observations

Post by veteran+ »

Vons/Pavilions in Los Angeles usually still have the attendant at the opening, cleaning and controlling entry(depending on traffic).

Ralphs.................NOTHING (including Rock n Roll Ralphs where they had that HUGE outbreak)!
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