We’re not “nuts” about Walmart in general, however, we find ourselves going there many times per month! Whether you have feelings about a massive corporation or not – they do sometimes have ways to help people save money.

Each time we visit – we find things that deserve some conversation at least. Hence – the new category we created called Walmart Whatnots.

Every month, we’ll try to collect an array of curiosities or questions we have about the products they sell, prices, and other oddities that can be topics of discussion.

Walmart is the store of the USA

No matter what our opinion (or your opinion) of Walmart is – the fact of the matter is that they’re the largest “brick and mortar” operation in America. Millions of people shop there daily. A fact of life.

And while we do not necessarily agree with the impacts that Walmart has had on the rest of the country – and wish it were different – it is still a reality we have to contend with for the time being.

So what is Walmart Whatnots?

We plan on this feature being random tidbits about our own personal observations of what may be the most influential and impactful shopping store in the country.

We’ll identify trends, miscues, and other aspects of this venue that catch our attention.

Some may be interesting, and others may be something else. Our minds work in mysterious ways.

Walmart Whatnots for September 2018

Below is the inaugural entry of Walmart Whatnots for September 2018!

We’ll try to include three interesting observations per month. And no, this isn’t as superficial as the “People of Walmart” blog. We like that – but this is more pragmatic, sorry.

LED LIGHT BULBS GALORE!

Walmart was extremely late to the LED lightbulb game. Beyond late.

Walmart caught up to the LED light bulb phenomenon – but very late!

Places like Home Depot and Lowe’s were crushing it when it came to LED household bulbs WAY before Walmart “caught on.” When other places had hundreds of great choices – Walmart had a handful of very bad and over-priced options.

However, they have caught on in a big way. With (in our estimation) about 90% of their bulb offerings are now LED. They have a small obscure section of regular incandescent bulbs available. Buy them up if you value them.

CLOROX WATER SOFTENER?

WTF? Clorox water softener?

Clorox is known for BLEACH. Most people who need bleach, will say they need some “Clorox!”

However, Clorox brands not only include their namesake bleach and cleaning products but also Brita water filters, Burt’s Bees, Formula 409, Glad bags, Hidden Valley, Kingsford charcoal products, Kitchen Bouquet, KC Masterpiece, Liquid-Plumr, Mistolin, Pine-Sol, Poett, Soy Vay, RenewLife, Tilex, S.O.S., and Fresh Step, Scoop Away and Ever Clean cat litters.

Yeah – I think a lot of people will choose other brands!

Knowing that extra info makes it easier to accept that they also make (or market) WATER SOFTENER SALT!

Not a good branding extension if you ask us.

Most people will associate Clorox with BLEACH. And to have a bleach company sell water softener salt is a bit “icky” as I overheard some folks say as they observed the same slab of rock-salt I was looking at.

My bet? In five years, Clorox will pawn off this aspect of their business to some other company.

And fire the dope that made that decision.

Walmart Price Musical Chairs and Shell Game

I’d like to start this last section by saying that the prices in each and every Walmart differ. Sometimes greatly.

The prices for these jumper cables were LOWER online – and they would NOT price match. Bastards!

They price the products based on various aspects. Like demographics. Demand. And more.

The price differences between Walmart locations can be profound. The prices in Clinton are much higher than in Phillipsburg, for instance. At least on the items we recall seeing.

Another thing is that ONLINE prices are often lower than in-store prices. For instance this set of jumper cables (16 gauge) that I bought. They were $14.99 online, but $15.87 in store.

They would not match their own website – because they said that the website is “a different company.” Odd, because you can buy it online and have it shipped to that exact store that told you that lie. In the end, it’s an accounting “trick,” that will eventually get them in trouble. Watch my words. They will not get away with that under the current adminstration, and expect some kind of hurt to come their way before 2024.

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See you next month hopefully!

About the author

NJroute22

NJroute22 (site admin) is an avid traveler along NJ Route 22 (and almost all of central New Jersey!) Family man, pet lover, and property owner who has a natural curiosity for everything around.