We are, thankfully, not very close to a Walmart Super Centre, but on the rare occasion, we do visit. The Supercentre is 9 km away. Yesterday, Wednesday midday, was such a day. . In summary, the Super Centre is larger with very slightly more variety, their food section is quite good, but their checkout process tortuous. Store location: Walmart Supercentre, Eglington/Warden, Toronto, Canada.

I am not usually an advocate of big for big’s sake, nor am I a huge advocate of Walmart. None the less, the Walmart Supercentre is like a regular Walmart with double or triple the inventory. More stuff, but only marginally more variety. While my local Walmart often runs out of products that I want to buy, and seems loath to reorder, this is less likely to happen at the Supercentre. Still, I was looking for badminton grip tape, which was out of stock at my local store, the Supercentre was also out of stock.

We walk and walk, and marvel at the acres of “Made in China” stuff. Wow. Ok, this is getting boring. Our local Walmart has the same exact stuff, with the same, exact prices.

The grocery area is the highlight of the store. If Walmart had a grocery store locally I’d definitely shop there. Prices were comparable or slightly lower than local grocers. This is a good thing. The variety of goods surpasses all my local grocers. This is a great thing. The grocery area is so large that we quickly ran out of time browsing aisle after aisle, so we bee lined it to our target.

The checkout was the downfall of this shopping experience. How about having 2 express lines (express lines are cashiers for customers with less than 10 items, we had 8), only to find they were 30 customers deep. One express line had 2 cashiers, and the other had 4 cashiers. There were also 4 other cashiers. It was like they quadrupled the size of the store, invited everyone to come shop and kept the same number of cashiers as my local Walmart. It took us 30 minutes to check out, longer than our shopping time.

Is it worthwhile to double the time for your shopping trip in order to save a very little money? My verdict is that a trip to the Walmart Supercentre is not worth the hassle of the lineup. The store was clean, well stocked, grocery area well laid out, but not enough to offset the time wasted lining up for a cashier. They do most everything right but take my money quickly enough.

It was faster waiting in the regular, non-express line. This is counter intuitive. We won’t be going back any time soon.

Shopping Experience Rating: C.

___Nofrills, Kennedy/Finch, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Objective: Sale priced tetrapack apple juice and general weekly shopping.

This week Nofrills continues their two week flyer with an additional single page of specials. None of the products in the extra flyer were very appealing. I specifically searched for their advertised Allen’s apple juice in tetrapack, 24 x 200ml for $3.33. This sale product was not available in the juice aisle nor on the aisle ends, but was available in their overstock sales aisle. At least have a sign in the juice aisle to acknowledge that there is a sale on juice. Very little stock was left, so for sure they will run out before the weekend is over. The juice was well displayed with a price.

It took 3 tries to get a shopping cart that I could somewhat easily push. I’m tired of getting shopping carts that take great effort to push around the store. I find it a great waste of energy and distracts me from having a good shopping experience. Sure they have all wheels, but with a lack of maintenance the carts have cracked parts, some have wheels that lock up, or the wheels don’t turn easily. The one I chose badly needed oil. At least it did not squeak.

In general the store was merchandised very well and was clean. I was able to find all the products I wanted. Corned beef I usually buy was out of stock and has been this way for about two weeks. I still await regular or halal corned beef for $1.99.

Today there were no skids of stock waiting to be unpacked but blocking the aisles. I’m always amazed when staff block aisleways so cannot get my cart through. Once I was almost run into by a small electronic forklift. She was not looking as she backed up, but I was. Otherwise she would have flattened me. Her passing remark of “This machine is dangerous, please stay out of the way” was relayed to the store manager upon checkout. But today there were no theatrics.

Checkout was fast and efficient by my favourite cashier. I’ve been shopping here long enough to know who is good and who will work slowly, so I choose my cashier carefully. Some cashiers get flustered with vendor coupons, or store sales events. At $28 on a credit card, no signature was required. Cardboard boxes were readily available for customers, as expected and always appreciated from this store

___Experience Rating: B+ A good shopping experience with merchandise well layed out and priced. This is why I prefer shopping here.

Walmart, Kennedy/Sheppard, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

___Walmart, Kennedy/Sheppard, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Objective: 4 pack of “D” batteries, 4 pack of 9v batteries, apple juice.

Because it was early in the day there were few customers. There was no greeter. Shopping carts were plentiful and in good working order.

I have had terrible experiences with the electronic department of this Walmart. I found them on multiple occasions to be unhelpful at best and downright lazy at worst. On this occasion I found 3 associates yakking together, laughing out loud, with the main troublemaker in the middle. Is this coincidence? As such, I would never buy an expensive ANYTHING electronic from this store.

The battery aisle was clearly sorted by brand and then by battery type. I, however could not find a 4 pack “D” type in the brand I wanted. Other more expensive brands were available. As I walked the 15′ aisle I noticed that beside the battery display there was a separate and distinct “bulk” battery area, which happened to have my 4 pack. I don’t know why this bulk battery area was not merchandised with the rest of the batteries by brand and type, but if I was not such a particular shopper i would have missed it. At least all batteries were clearly priced.

As I walked to the cashier I noticed two additional battery displays. While most batteries displayed here were duplicates of the main battery area, an additional brand was not. I dropped the 4 pack I had previously chosen and picked up a different brand name.

Down the juice aisle I found my apple juice in can. The price was clearly marked, they had stock and the display was clean and tidy. To be sure I asked my daughter to price check a can. The nearby pole price scanner was broken and turned off, so she had to go to the kidswear area. This scanner has been out of order for some time. A vendor rep told me this was common, and from my observations I agree. At least the display of juice, unlike the last time I was here, had a clearly marked price.

I picked up 10 cans of apple juice. The cashier was fast end efficient, scanning one and doing a multiple to charge me for the 10 cans. In the past some cashiers insisted on me putting all 10 cans onto the conveyor belt so they could scan each and every can. This is such a waste of time. Thankfully this cashier realized that each and every can was identical. Payment was uneventful.

___Experience Rating: B. Walmart usually has very professional merchandising, allowing the shopper to conveniently find merchandise. I’m unsure why there’s this anomaly in the battery section. All wall scanners in the store should be in good working order. The pole of the nearest price scanner was only marked as having a scanner in the East-West direction, and not the North-south direction. No wonder I have problems finding scanners. Clearly marking scanners is inexpensive, so why not do it? And why has this scanner been broken for so many weeks?

___Shopping trips should not be gladiator style struggles between good and evil. A customer should be able to view a sales flyer at home, and along with his shopping list, find, select, purchase and pay for products with little difficulty. This is not much to ask, but seemingly very difficult to achieve.

Disadvantages include signs only in Chinese, an intimidating variety of new fruits and vegetables, and often a sad lack of cleaning. No matter, you’re shopping there, not eating off the floor. Traffic in and out of your Chinese grocer can be harrowing at best and dangerous at worst. Many Chinese in my area can’t negotiate the parking lot safely, so stay alert and expect odd movements, such as driving on the left side of the road. Oops, I forgot we’re not in HK.

Very often I see non-Asian shoppers at our local stores, so if you have not tried your local Chinese green grocery, I encourage you to pop in. you might actually like it, eat better, and save money as well. If you don’t know where to go in your local area, make friends with your Asian neighbours and ask them where they shop. The locals know, and if the locals are dissatisfied, they’ll vote with their feet and take their business elsewhere.

1. If you’re frustrated, leave. Vote with your feet. Is the checkout line 40 deep? Drop your buggy and leave. Let them cleanup. After all they should have more cashiers at the checkout shouldn’t they? Walmart profits on a “No/low service” philosophy. You are rewarded for this lack of service through low prices, but that does not mean you need to like it.
2. Understanding Walmart’s pricing strategy. Is Walmart really cheaper? Not really. Yes, they are cheaper for about 200 of their most common goods, and very competitive on many goods, but if a product does not sell in large quantities watch the price. Is the item you need common or uncommon? If uncommon, go elsewhere.
3. Walmart will price match. If you see something in a printed advertisement of another store that has the same exact product but lower take the ad into Walmart and they will price match it. There’s no need to actually go to the other retailer when Walmart is more convenient.
4. If you don’t like the service, call the store manager. Contrary to popular belief, much of the staff at Walmart only follow strict rules, often incorrectly. These rules may not even be set by Walmart, but made up for the convenience of the staff. I know the store manager at my local Walmart, and he’s very reasonable. You may have to wait, but it’ll be worth it to other shoppers to get some idiot rule changed.
5. If there is a huge lineup and you REALLY need the item, consider an alternative checkout area. Alternatives include jewellery, the drug store, electronics, and the auto centre. They’re often not busy and will help you out. Ocassionally you’ll find an area that believes they are above taking products from other areas of the store. Persevere. If you get mad, leave.
6. Look for sale items. Yes, often they will have sale items on a rack at he very back of their department. Remember that most products in retail can be marked up 300-400%, so don’t feel bad when it’s marked down 50% or more. They are still making a profit.
7. If you don’t like what you purchased, return it. There are exceptions, but you need to do returns within 3 months. Ideally do returns very early in the morning to avoid a huge returns line. The staff at the returns desk can be pretty ornery, but you would be too if you saw the number of scams they have to deal with. Persevere. if you don’t like something call the store manager. Please don’t scam any retailer with a fraudulent return.
8. Buy seasonal items early in the season. Don’t expect Walmart to have a product all through the season. Products are shipped mid to late the previous season and are in the stores early. Mid to late in the season they purposely run out of product. This is so they have no excess products that they have to discount or send back to their supplier. Walmart is there to make money, not to ensure they have your product when you want. Go buy elsewhere if you don’t shop how Walmart sells.
9. A cheap price for a shoddy or poor quality product is not a good buy. Walmart sells both in spades.  Do not buy it. If you do, return it.
10. If you’re frustrated, leave. Vote with your feet. Did I mention this already? Shopping at Walmart can be maddening, but don’t let them give you a nervous breakdown. This is the service they offer and you like it or leave. Keep smiling and maybe give other retailers a go.

I shop at Walmart as if I’m playing a game. Good buys benefit my family and myself. Bad buys are returned. They aren’t going away any time soon, so if you’re dealt lemons, make lemonade.