What’s going on at Walmart?
I went into Walmart today just to get a bag of flour. What’s going on? everything was covered, some shelves weren’t stocked there was a line of people at the door and they said “ cash only!”
Are they closing?
Tina no they are not closing. Ugh
Power went out for a little bit and messed up their registers.
Jim L 
Botheredbyuu2 
Bug3They are remodeling too but powers been out. This is second day. Can only pay cash at register.
maja2 
Acl76 I was just there today but I couldn't find a anything because they're reorganizing the whole store. So frustrating. What was wrong with the way it was? And on top of it all, having been a Saturday, I had to deal with waiting for employees stocking shelves getting between me and the items I was trying to buy while dealing. with the weekend crowd Like, it isn't bad enough I have to check out my own stuff. I left my list unfinished because I couldn't find them.
Rachel A 
Guilty-Remnant Here we go again. Complaining about everything. The power goes out and they get slammed. The store is ultimately making improvements but they get slammed trying to better themselves. You were inconvenienced. So what. Nobody got hurt except you didnt get a few items. Make one extra stop on your way home and you're done.
"Isn't it bad enough l have to check out my own stuff?"
-Rachel
Boo hoo hoooooo. And you don't have to...they have both self check out and cashier lanes.
Eperot When I stopped in Friday, it would have been nice if a person was at the front of the store as you walked in and said, “Cash only,” but there wasn’t. So being the nice person I am, I went through the store and put back the stuff I didn’t really need, since I didn’t have that much cash.
Blackcat 
“Boo hoo hoooooo.”
Well, in her defense, maybe this is the item that couldn’t be located...
Mark Mc. Hey....complain away. I skip Walmart food JUST because of checkout. Hope the redesign helps that.
StrangerDanger Self checkouts are a way for businesses to directly shift labor costs onto customers. IMO if I'm doing self-checkout I should be getting a discount for the cashier Walmart didn't have to hire to do the job that I'm now doing. In addition, this reduces the overall store headcount and therefore costs jobs. Really the only beneficiary from self-checkout is the business.
As far as the timeliness aspect that I'm sure many will use to refute my arguments; have you ever seen the difference in scan speed between a self-checkout and a normal terminal? The self-checkouts are slow because the store does not trust you. They have to idiot-proof the pos system and install a weight sensor to make sure your taking the item that was scanned. This all takes about double the amount of time to process each item. This is not a big deal for under 10 items, but when you spend 30+ minutes ringing out 2 cart-fulls of junk, it really gets bothersome. Especially for the people behind you with 10 items waiting for you to figure what to do on the computer that's different for each store.
Tl;Dr self-checkout is a scam - poison presented as the cure...
Common Sense A couple of days ago I was asked in the store why not go to self check out. My response was "No thanks, I don't work here". The look on the persons face was priceless.
auntiel 
Lion I wish they never built all that crap, over there. It ruined the beautiful setting and didn’t lower our taxes. Remember the old “stop Walmart” signs along rt 57? Most folks didn’t even want all that garbage. Especially when there was so many empty buildings, at that time, on Mt. ave.
I love self checkout and probably run in there to grab something more often because of them.
Not sure how you can say the stuff is garbage. Most of the stuff I buy is brand name stuff like
Pampers, shampoo/conditioner, cereal and so on. I go where my money gets me the most
Nosila I actually prefer the self checkout as well. I almost always use it.
As an aside, the comedian Bill Burr has a great bit about self checkouts. It's on Youtube. Funny stuff.
Greg The best Walmart was in Ledgewood Mall and closed out of nowhere! Is it going to be part of the new mall there? That was the cleanest and fastest checkout Walmart in the area without the seedy people you find in the Hacketttstown one.
resident08
I'd read recently that the Ledgewood store was going to be revamped and enlarged as a part of the new complex. What that means for the Flanders one (if anything), I'm not sure. Hopefully it will remain as easy in and out as it has been in the past, but it's likely they'll make a huge customer "self-checkout" area. :-(
Just looked up some links for that, apparently it's to be a Supercenter that's 50,000 sq. ft. larger than before:
https://www.dailyrecord.com/story/news/2019/04/16/walmart-roxbury-demolished-replaced-supercenter-grocery/3472574002/
https://www.tapinto.net/towns/roxbury/articles/super-modern-supercenter-planned-for-roxbury-walmart
Phil D. Guilty and resident 08- when you bought your houses over in that area, you must have seen the signs that all that land, where Walmart is and beyond, was zoned COMMERCIAL. So what the hell did you think was going to be built there?
As for garbage and seedy people, how would you know if you dont shop there? Obviously you do, so that must mean you are seedy and you buy garbage.
Thanks Phil D. for the information.
Bothered - went there once in Hackettstown and you were probably there as it is dirty and a mess there. The ledgewood store was not.
I never made an inference about commercial zoning - I can read signs, you on the other hand are just an angry person. Go apply to work at the Hackettstown Walmart you would blend right in there.
I think you’re always going to find some seedy people wherever you shop, Whether it’s Ledgewood, Mansfield, Upper Saddle River and so on.
Resident08, obviously you weren’t at Mansfield Shoprite when Bothered was there...it would’ve been clean with less seedy people.
Positive O8- it was addressed to you and another poster about both opinions.
I did work there wise guy. Very clean store with great co-workers.
I guess you should shop online so you're not seen in seedy places. We see you at Walmart. Lmao!
I always wonder if people see me at Walmart and say look at her, what a weirdo, lol. Why do people have to be so nasty, that’s what I don’t understand? Does sitting behind a keyboard give us the right to be demeaning, malicious and overall rude to everyone and anyone. I just don’t get it!
Bessie Come on. We all can live, laugh, and complain a bit After all, I can go into any store in H-town and see a certain type. The types that live here. I swear when I go into Walmart, I see something different. Not terrible, but different. And I swear many are not from town or local and I just know I can’t be right in that. For my 3am visit, I am pretty sure I looked really weird too. But when your kid feels sick..... And how about that parking lot — is it full 24x7 or what?
Same thing happens every year for me at Sussex County Fair. I just don’t know how every tattoo in NJ, PA, and NY ends up there on the same night ;-) Inch for inch, more tats than the carney folk....
Not that’s there’ anything wrong with any of this, for the most part, very nice people is all that I’ve met. It just is what it is.
Bessie, you never know what celebrity you might bump into at a Walmart!
How about Dakota Fanning? Wouldn't that be cool.
The possibilities are endless ...... Beyonce, Jillian Michaels, Britany Spears, Rihanna, Holly Madison, Snoop Dogg .......
....... and many others .....
they have all been seen shopping at Walmart.
Enjoy your shopping, Bessie, and ignore the nasty people!
"Isn't it bad enough l have to check out my own stuff?"
-Rachel
Boo hoo hoooooo. And you don't have to...they have both self check out and cashier lanes.
Someone better never leave a dirty dish in the sink or a sock on the floor...
dodgebaal Bothered.....I was here 10 years, before they built the Walmart. There were no protest signs, at that time. I had no idea what they had planned for that beautiful farm area. I just know that we were promised lower taxes, with the “revenue” this plaza would bring to the town. All they do is call the cops 10 a week for shoplifting...a costly resource. I never liked Walmart. It almost wiped out downtown Hackettstown. Walmart did create jobs....one good thing. I’ll give em that.
Actually, I've heard that both Joe Piscopo and Lou Reed (when he was alive, of course, RIP) have both been seen shopping at the Mansfield Walmart before. Lou Reed lived in the Blairstown area and Mr. P. lives somewhere around here, LOL. My old boss saw him once there and just smiled and nodded to him since he said he didn't want to intrude on his personal life.
Personally I tend to go to checkouts that have a living, breathing associate at the register, rather than the self checkouts where one hampered associate is running back and forth fielding questions, paper jams and mis-scans, etc. The companies will say they have them to save you money, but it's about maximizing their profit and making do with less associates.
That's just like credit card and other companies that want you to "go paperless", claiming you're saving the environment. It saves them on printing, envelopes, postage and then on the back side saves in not having to open and process paper checks. It puts the weight on the consumer as to whether you wish to print and save a hard copy of the statement for a period of time for tax or other purposes in which case you're still doing the printing, albeit more inefficiently. You could also say you're saving the gas in transportation of said mail, but the larger onus is on the cheaply sent "junk mail" IMHO.
In any case, having been in retail (in earlier years) and formerly married to someone in retail later, I see that Target is, or at least was, doing it right. While they now have self-checkouts too, their retail strategy was to have cashiers on duty that were sent out onto the floor to stock shelves. As soon as any lines would hit the back of the "impulse area", the Front End Manager on duty would either direct people to the Service counter if it wasn't busy or to start calling the closest cashiers in from stocking duty to ameliorate the overage until things calmed down again. It was easier for them to do this partly because of the design of the register area. Since it was staggered and deeper, rather than a long line of single registers/cashiers that were spread out, the F.E.M. could more easily see what was going on and respond much more quickly. I never saw the same thing at Walmart either, as the cashiers on duty seemed to be all they had and I never saw them calling people from the floor to "take a register". It could be that they did, but the lines and the pages never seemed to show that.
I remember back when all that controversy happened too. All the "Save Historic Beattystown" signs killed me. While I'm a huge history buff, that section of Mansfield Twp. looked like a DUMP for the most part. Historic does NOT mean letting your property go without standard maintenance for years and years, nor having so much overgrowth that it looks as though the woods are going to take over and reclaim the land. The Beattystown area itself (aside from the Walmart) looks much better than it did at the time. I definitely miss the lovely old Victorian with the wrought iron fence where the RiteAid is now though. That was a huge loss of a house that would have been marvelous if properly restored as many people are doing now, but weren't back in the late 90's and earlier 2000's.
That said, I definitely try to shop as "locally" as I can, rather than the local "big box stores", if possible. They (Big Box Stores) are also employing local people, though sometimes management is more likely to live further outside the community from what I've observed (mostly PA).
Also, just so you know, there are systems in place (not sure if they're in the Mansfield Walmart) that employs overhead and other cameras linked to the scanner at the registers with cashiers and those without that link the movement of an item and whether or not a scan took place and it flags the transaction so that security can either nail the person who purposefully avoided the scanner or catch a cashier who is defrauding the company, either for a friend or an accomplice.
Here's a couple of articles about it for anyone interested:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/03/stealing-from-self-checkout/550940/
https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/features/executive-viewpoints/how-to-stop-those-self-checkout-thieves
https://www.stoplift.com/solutions/scanitall-checkout-vision/
"I definitely try to shop as "locally" as I can, rather than the local "big box stores", if possible." A nice sentiment but...….
I try to shop where I get the best price and the best service. Many aspects of "local," fit that bill. If they have a good price, good hours, convenient parking, knowledgeable people I trust, etc. The last one is local's best asset in that often local stores have smart people that have been and will be there unlike the revolving door that can be big box or non-local. Even if you are buying a commodity, if you need advice, local is often king. And a repeatable experience. Neither of which a big box can promise.
Once SRite had "Tim" the fruit man who could pick you a perfect cantaloupe in January. He was so good I was buying much more fruit and veges than average. Then he was so good that he got the bump to another store and now we can KMAYOYO --- (kiss my a..., you're on your own.). Small store probably would have made Tim a partner :>)
Another big difference for local can be product itself. Local can have local. Can be custom. Can be specialty versus mass. So places like Tracey's which stock local and specialty goods can be the greatest reason to shop local.
However......the bit about local economy I think is a bit misleading. From building to inventory, most store elements, except local/customer goods, are similar between local and not. One big difference is often the local store is run by the owner and one or a few helpers. Usually only one person is getting rich. The owner takes the profits, the helpers may not look different than those at the big boxes for take home. And the big boxes, while never having enough people in the right places when you need them....,, usually hire quite a few more people. So, as far as the local economy goes ---- pretty sure the big boxers help the locals more even with the corporation, shareholders, etc. taking their fair share. So I think going local to help the local economy is kinda bogus.
So, if you have distinctive product, great service, knowledgeable people with years in, and either I like your product distinction OR need your trustworthy advice ---- > local it is. But I don't necessarily think it advantages local economically more than a big box except to keep Main Street storefronts full.
Let's use Tracey again. I can go big box and there's a wall of candy, all modern, at great prices. At Tracey's there's a world of legendary candies and fresh made choc's n stuff at reasonable prices combined with Tracey or other behind the counter to carefully guide me in my purchase if needed. I always come out with more than intended and never have second guessed my, NO OUR, purchase decision.
UPDATE: In the brave new world, many locals seemed to have figured out how to have it all: storefront, regional commercial distribution, and even internet sales. So, while they have a store front, they are delivering to different regional business concerns or even national/international via the net. Appears this segment is exploding given all the new names you can see. Just look at the banners on HL to see all those new small businesses. I wonder how many of our new local stores, and we have a lot, are benefiting this way? Any ideas?
SueR 
Calico696 Phil D. -Walmart has employees that stock shelves. Cashiers do not stock shelves. They stand at their registers waiting for customers.
Botheredbyuu2
That's partly my point. I'm somewhat surprised that Walmart doesn't follow what many in retail have been doing for years. I'm not sure if I read Sam Walton's take on it (that is if he even mentioned it) when I read his book "Made in America". That is an inefficient usage of personnel.
Even back in my Rickel Home Center days (as a Dept. Manager), I was cross-trained on register. As a Store Manager at R&S Strauss I trained cashiers and we always tried to have associates that were cross-trained so that if a normally sedate time turned into a busy time, we could put someone on another register to help speed customers through the lines, rather than watching customers drop their items near the registers and leave.
That's something I've witnessed before and it's something that shouldn't happen. Also cashiers should never "just" be standing at their registers waiting for customers. If they have no customers, they should be actively cleaning their counter, checking and straightening the impulse area, etc. While doing that, they can (and should) also keep an eye out for lines at other registers and direct customers to their register.
Sam Walton is quite the interesting character, and I recommend "Made in America". It's an interesting read. It's his wife though, that I give much respect to, because she was the one who "pushed" him into starting to provide medical benefits to Walmart Associates. I think he'd be turning over in his grave about the way the company's run now, but then he also was a bully towards his suppliers, insisting that they make and supply items at the price point HE wanted to to sell them at. In essence he wanted a good value for the customer, take profits for Walmart, yet deprive his suppliers of a moderate and fair profit.
Sam Walton and his brother Bud Walton founded WalMart.Sam Walton was cheap and had learned retailing from working at J.C.Penney.Sam Walton married into a rich family.They supported his early efforts as a Ben Franklin store owner.Sam Walton also used to buy cheap substandard goods known as "seconds" to stock his early WalMart stores.
I'll never set foot in that dump. The Walton's and chinese are laughing all the way to the bank while manufacturing jobs evaporate, small businesses close down, and taxpayers get to pay for the walmart employees benefits. Their a malignant retail cancer. The Walton family are greedy pigs!
Denis Bug3
Amazon is a free market. You can choose from a wide variety of products. Made in the USA or China if that's what you like. They certainly put a lot of retail stores out of business, but they don't dictate to sellers, and manufacturers what they have to sell there products for, and don't ask manufacturers to try and price compete with products from China were workers make $2.00 an hour. I had a small business for 15 years and sold about 75K worth of products on their platform a year. It was actually a boost for my small business. I do have a problem with some of the advantages they have over small businesses, and tax incentives they get, but it's not at all the same as Walmart.
Go behind any Walmart including Mansfield and they ALL have some weird retention/run-off pond behind them....yup run-off - sure.
Weis/Home Depot - no run-off pond behind it. Rockaway Mall - no run-off pond behind it. No other malls have run-off ponds except behind all Walmart's. Think about it.
Peace out
ru What the heck are you talking about?
There is a detention basin between Weis and the movie theater.
There is a detention basin by Rockaway Mall along Mt. Pleasant Ave. (by Target) and some smaller ones along Mt Hope Ave.
Just about any property with huge amounts of impermeable parking lot surface will have a basin/pond of some sort.
The Weis pond is in front, across the street from the movies, for storm water run off from the lots. Its a good thing. Think about it.
Roywhite Mark: I don’t think size matters ;-). Just about any new development in WCounty has to result in zero addition to the storm sewer system. Even single houses have them.
Lowes is to the right.
Maybe Darrin can explain how the new CVS did it? Or Jim L on how WaWa did it.
And Mark nailed it; retention basin, not detention.
Only reason I know is once we tried to connect massive run-off directly to the system underground vs. on top to save erosion and to drain a swamp. County called for an above ground bed o rocks as a retention affair. I had quite the bureaucratic set of meetings to prove I wasn’t adding water but instead only giving it to them a bit faster and a whole heck of a lot cleaner of silt. Better than a dry bed of rocks for sure.
“And Mark nailed it; retention basin, not detention.”
My understanding is “retention” means it’s always filled (could be used to help with high water tables), “detention” means it can sometimes be dry (temporarily slows runoff water down to not overload the stream/sewer systems).
Retention basins are permanently wet ponds, detention basins need to fully drain within 72 hours of a the end of a rainfall event.
https://www.nj.gov/dep/stormwater/bmp_manual/NJ_SWBMP_9.4.pdf
https://www.nj.gov/dep/stormwater/bmp_manual/NJ_SWBMP_9.11.pdf
ianimal Oops, my bad, congratulated a guy backwards...…flip it around, that's what I meant to say....
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