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LNahid2000
Senior Member
The Kmart at Penn Station in NYC is HUGE. It's 3 floors and they do sell everything a Walmart sells. I don't see how it's any different from Walmart.
EDIT: I just did some research and it's 140,000 sqft...that's bigger than a lot of Walmarts.
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
So, where in Toronto is that?
ChesterCopperpot
Senior Member
Seeing as there are no Kmarts in Canada - nowhere.
Your assertion that Kmarts are a small department store that is 4 to ten times smaller than a Walmart is being disputed.
Your assertion that Kmarts are a small department store that is 4 to ten times smaller than a Walmart is being disputed.
Johnny Au
Senior Member
HBC bought all the Kmarts in Canada and almost all became Zellers. Target bought most of the Zellers leases.
The Walmart Supercentre in Dufferin Mall is very small for its format.
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ChesterCopperpot
Senior Member
I'm well aware of that fact
nfitz
Superstar
The discussion was clearly about NYC. So why try trolling about the location now?
gabe
Senior Member
A lot of Walmarts have grocery sections in them. I asked some people i know who live downtown why they shop at Walmart? They said cost. Walmart is a lot cheaper than Metro,Loblaws,Sobey's and Walmart's quality is just as good as the other grocery chains. I don't shop at Walmart but i was surprised to hear that.
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Hipster Duck
Senior Member
Yeah, their grocery section isn't bad but it only sells the basics. You wouldn't be able to find anything more exotic than a mango and practically no specialty herbs, spices, oils, etc. or any interesting cuts of meat. It kind of reminds me of what grocery stores used to be in small towns about 25 years ago.
That's the thing with Walmart and the thing that people are constantly missing when they say it'll kill Kensington: Walmart just sells basics. They don't sell fancy shoes. They don't sell fancy bikes. They don't sell cheese that doesn't come pre-sliced. They compete with other big box retailers who sell basic, high-turnover, low-medium quality household items. These same retailers buy their products from the same Chinese suppliers and pay their workers the same wages. The only reason Walmart gets all the flak is because it's the largest retailer and therefore a symbol to hang your grievances of the whole retail industry on. It's similar to McDonald's. Nobody makes movies about how unhealthy it is to eat at Burger King or Taco Bell, but you're putting the same garbage in your mouth. Or worse.
RC8
Senior Member
On a separate note:
One of the major problems with these types of stores is that they cannibalise existing markets and replace them with much lower quality products - thus hurting the market's long term prospects.
There's plenty of demand for bicycles in the suburbs, for example, but Canadian Tire and Walmart offer such cheap pricing that it's next to impossible to compete with them. The real problem is that the bicycles they sell - while cheap - are for the most part very poorly constructed, and fail to perform as intended while needing repairs almost straight away.
The end result is that while customers saved $200 on their bicycle, they will need to spend about $100 on it over the following year to keep it running, and will be turned off of bicycles in general. People who are already clued-up on bikes have to go out of their way to find a good store, and younger customers who didn't know a thing about bicycles are unlikely to return not just to Walmart and CT, but to cycling as a whole.
One of the major problems with these types of stores is that they cannibalise existing markets and replace them with much lower quality products - thus hurting the market's long term prospects.
There's plenty of demand for bicycles in the suburbs, for example, but Canadian Tire and Walmart offer such cheap pricing that it's next to impossible to compete with them. The real problem is that the bicycles they sell - while cheap - are for the most part very poorly constructed, and fail to perform as intended while needing repairs almost straight away.
The end result is that while customers saved $200 on their bicycle, they will need to spend about $100 on it over the following year to keep it running, and will be turned off of bicycles in general. People who are already clued-up on bikes have to go out of their way to find a good store, and younger customers who didn't know a thing about bicycles are unlikely to return not just to Walmart and CT, but to cycling as a whole.
picard102
Senior Member
RC8
Senior Member
I work closely with the bicycle industry, and they will point out that the vast majority of working bicycles in Toronto streets are either non-Big Box bikes, or older ones from back when Canadian Tire bicycles were still well-made (they were!).
The ones they sell today are so poorly built it's unreal, and I personally know many people who grow up to think of bikes as toys because of how unreliable and underperforming Big Box bicycles have become. It doesn't help they encourage people to buy mountain bikes for riding around the city - but what do they know...
The ones they sell today are so poorly built it's unreal, and I personally know many people who grow up to think of bikes as toys because of how unreliable and underperforming Big Box bicycles have become. It doesn't help they encourage people to buy mountain bikes for riding around the city - but what do they know...
W. K. Lis
Superstar
GenerationW
Senior Member
Yes, it must be because of the low quality of their bicycles.
W. K. Lis
Superstar
Or more like keeping up with the Jones or Zhangs.