Common Sense: Win some, lose some at Walmart

The strawberries, in the regular plastic box with a lid, were 99 cents for the one-pound container.

Ah yes, they were fresh with bright green tops and they cost me half the price I would have paid, had I bought them down the street at the other store where people from miles away come to purchase the great produce.

A politically incorrect Walmart Neighborhood Market opened recently here on the westside of Altadena, in spite of much protest.

“And just why are you shopping here?” I inquired of a woman loading a few groceries into the back seat of her car.

Her answer explained quite well her view of knowing how to spend money wisely. No, she’s not going to be a supporter of the new kid on the block because she knows, she said, that overall, their prices really aren’t low.

“It depends on what you’re buying,” she proclaimed.

She’s been providing groceries for her household for more decades than she wanted to reveal and knows the should-be price for everything she buys. Establish a price range, she said, and know what’s your limit, and you’ll come away leaving many an item on the shelf. And that’s just what she did at Walmart.

Me, I hit the check-out line spending three bucks for three pounds of strawberries and headed down the block to Super King, the market with the fabulous fresh produce, and did my shopping for the morning.

As usual, the place, unlike Walmart, was swarming with shoppers.

“You what?” shrieked a politically correct friend of mine I encountered in the leafy green vegetable section.

“No way am I going in there,” she said, but adding that because price is a huge consideration for many people feeding a family, she understood them spending their money with a corporation that underpays workers and neglects to provide benefits.

“Don’t go back,” she said to me with a fixed gaze.

I passed on her admonishment as I left the store. I smiled at a shopper, leaned in close and said, “Remember not to go up the street to Walmart.”

Shirlee with a double standard? Say one thing and shop another?

I went to the grand-opening, ribbon-cutting ceremony where a bunch of so-called community leaders were swarming everywhere. Were they shopping? Didn’t see nary a one with a basket.

The store manager handed out grants to a few nonprofits, who more than likely, against the protest, supported the store coming here. The John Muir High School Drum Corps had a few neighborhood folks moving to the beat, a local school board candidate was handing out vote-for-me stuff, and the head of the Altadena Chamber of Commerce had words of welcome.

Me? I’m hanging with the folks who drive from afar to shop at Super King. But I’m going to Walmart for just one thing: the hook-you-in-the-store item. Shoppers who watch their money will be documenting the win-some, lose-some prices at Walmart.

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SHIRLEE SMITH is an Altadena resident, parent and author of “They’re Your Kids, Not Your Friends.” She can be reached by email at shirlee@talkaboutparenting.org and online attalkaboutparenting.org.