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Old October 17, 2010, 11:23 AM   #1
BGutzman
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Wally World locally hiding ammo on customer?

I went to my local Wally World (Shakopee, Mn) that I have been going to on and off for a couple of years looking for ammo as often they have better prices than most places.

The last few months there has been no 45, 40 or 9mm ammo available at all and several times (more than 5) I have asked the people who work at the desk stationed right next to the ammo when there going to get in more 45 ammo. I have been given a universal and consistent answer from several different people who worked at the station that they didn't know when they would be getting more ammo but that a lot of other people had asked the same question.

Yesterday, I asked a young man at this same Wally World this same question and he told me they had some, I looked at the still empty shelves not seeing any signs indicating they had anything and thinking wow I got it as they were unloading a new shipment or something.... I looked around and saw no boxes or anything and the guy started calling another sales person for a key.

A few minutes passed and finally a lady appeared (she didnt look very happy) and opened a shelve containing at least 6 different types of ammo in stacks and stacks, 45, 40 and 9mm ammo sitting as pretty and hidden as could be.

So my question is do you think this is just my local store trying to lower the sales of 45, 40 and 9mm ammo so they can discontinue carrying it after claiming very low sales or what or is this some silent regional or national campaign. I also suspect that either the other employess didnt know there was a good stock of ammo in there or they were told not to sell it or something along those lines.

When I asked the manager why there wasnt a sign telling customers that they had these types of ammunition she said she had been told by home office to not put up a sign until they told her too, it sounded like it might have been a conversation that happened a while ago..

Maybe its all a simple mistake but I have my doubts, what do you think?

Last edited by BGutzman; October 17, 2010 at 02:26 PM.
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Old October 17, 2010, 11:28 AM   #2
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I'd be very surprised if there was some kind of coordinated effort to lower ammo sales, since Walmart in general is in the business of making money, and ammo is certainly a lucrative business as any reloader knows. Maybe it's an issue with the local store, you might want to feel out the manager to report the issue and to see what kind of vibes you get. I think that people of a particular mindset sometimes live in a bubble and honestly think that anything having to do with the gun culture is somehow undesirable.

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Old October 17, 2010, 11:35 AM   #3
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One near me started 'hiding' the 45 ACP as well, but it was because local retailers were coming in first thing and buying them out. So they stopped putting out their entire inventory.
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Old October 17, 2010, 12:11 PM   #4
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my local wally world has all the ammo in glass case. you ask for them to open it and you pull out what you want.

of course the other one in town carries neither ammo or guns.
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Old October 17, 2010, 12:17 PM   #5
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I know at my wall-mart that if you are not there with in a few hours of there shipment that the pickings are pretty slim
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Old October 17, 2010, 01:58 PM   #6
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My Wally World has all the ammo in plain sight, locked in the glass cabinet along with the pepper spray, brass knuckles, and silly string.

I don't think there's a conspiracy at your Walmart, probably just poor salemanship and management in that instance.
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Old October 17, 2010, 02:01 PM   #7
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i remember seeing guns and ammo at walmart before. that was when i was uninterested in them. now they dont cary that stuff anymore. thanks unfair world
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Old October 17, 2010, 02:28 PM   #8
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In this case all the ammo was actually hidden in the station desk in one of the lower drawers with a pair of wooden locking doors.
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Old October 17, 2010, 02:29 PM   #9
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Ours stopped carrying guns entirely, but this is California.
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Old October 17, 2010, 02:49 PM   #10
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yeah ours no longer carries hand gun but still you can buy rifles and shot guns.

the ammo is cheep but they all ways run out very fast.

I remember once they got a bunch of 222 rifle ammo and I thought good luck selling that but with in 2 days it was all gone.
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Old October 17, 2010, 02:59 PM   #11
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Quote:
A few minutes passed and finally a lady appeared (she didnt look very happy) and opened a shelve containing at least 6 different types of ammo in stacks and stacks, 45, 40 and 9mm ammo sitting as pretty and hidden as could be
Probably more like Walmart employees too lazy to go to the trouble of customer service. Our ammo is in a glass case - you can see what they have but more times than likely - no one has the sporting goods key or doesn't normally have that department. I had a poor guy trying to sell me ammo and he kept screwing up the register....he had to have their IT guys "clear" his machine 3 times...pfft...
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Old October 17, 2010, 03:03 PM   #12
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Heres an idea... stop being cheap and trying to save a dollar or two, and support your local gun stores instead.....
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Old October 17, 2010, 03:06 PM   #13
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I don't buy anything from China Mart, if I can help it. I get my ammo elsewhere.
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Last edited by Big Bill; October 17, 2010 at 04:37 PM.
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Old October 17, 2010, 03:09 PM   #14
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Mine hides it sometime under the counter where the register is. They leave a couple boxes on the shelf behind the glass though. Thing is, I don't think they realize that I can see what they have stashed through the reflection in the glass Anytime I've got the last 2 boxes on the shelf and asked if they have more, they've reach under and got it for me though.

...
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Old October 17, 2010, 03:18 PM   #15
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I know our local Walmart sporting goods guys pretty well. They generally put it all out on the glass shelves - generally. It comes in late afternoons on trucks, is put on the shelves late evenings for the next day. Sometimes the night people don't put it all out for several reasons, one they are too lazy to look for it, two they know someone who will come in later the next day or two to buy it. They figure out of sight is out of mind knowing all along they have someone in mind who wants to buy it.

When I am on the road I hit several Walmarts and the only ammo I can't find now is 380. Everything else is in huge supply here in Kansas. Not always the types or sizes of bullets I shoot but plenty of ammo - way plenty.
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Old October 17, 2010, 03:20 PM   #16
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Mine hides it sometime under the counter where the register is. They leave a couple boxes on the shelf behind the glass though. Thing is, I don't think they realize that I can see what they have stashed through the reflection in the glass Anytime I've got the last 2 boxes on the shelf and asked if they have more, they've reach under and got it for me though.
Many walmart employees aren't the sharpest tools in the shed
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Old October 17, 2010, 03:22 PM   #17
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Hey gang,

My Wal-Mart in north San Diego has ammo but some calibers are slim pickins... I bought about 10 boxes of 9mm Federals for $9.47 each. Recently I purchased 1k rounds from a gun show for $149.00 and they are even cleaner and a bit hotter. Last week while in WM, I noticed the 9mm are up to $10.47/ box of 50.

Not sure what is going on but the WM pricing is going the wrong way

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Old October 17, 2010, 03:27 PM   #18
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I'd be very surprised if there was some kind of coordinated effort to lower ammo sales, since Walmart in general is in the business of making money
+1. If Walmart wanted to cease sales of ammo; they would. Since they are in the business of making money, and they seem to be doing that pretty well, I doubt they would resort to hiding stock in order to stop selling ammo.
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Old October 17, 2010, 03:28 PM   #19
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HKFan9 Heres an idea... stop being cheap and trying to save a dollar or two, and support your local gun stores instead.....
WalMart IS a local gun store. Just as JC Penney, Dillards, Sears, Target, K Mart and Montgomery Wards once were local gun stores.

Explain how paying $25 for a 50 rnd box of ammo at Uncle Bubbas Gunz n Bait is better than paying $14 a box at WalMart.

Competition is good. Competition between WalMart and mom and pops makes the mom and pops do their job better. While Uncle Bubbas Gunz n Bait may not beat WM on the price of a 870 Express or a box of bulk pack .22's that shop has way more flexibility in the firearms they offer than does WalMart. Last time I checked there were only a very few WalMarts that still carried handguns (Alaska?). Competition keeps prices low and puts a premium on quality service as well.

Sorry, subsidizing a local gun store simply because they are a local gun store is as distasteful to me as paying for someone else's healthcare plan.:barf:
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Old October 17, 2010, 03:28 PM   #20
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One of our Wally Worlds here removed ALL of the handgun ammo and unlocked their glass case. I never bothered asking if they had any hidden as I just will not shop there any more. I too wanted to buy some more of the Federal 9mm for like $9.79 a box of 50. Shot a box or two and thought it shot well and clean enough.
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Old October 17, 2010, 03:39 PM   #21
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Well I don't see the point in going online and crying to others about poor service at Walmart. They are what they are, they don't care about you, they are just there to take your money the most efficient way they can. I would rather go to a local gun store, pay about a dollar more a box, and enjoy some free coffee and banter with like minded people if I am not in a hurry. Walmart prices don't beat out gun store prices around here that much. Plus all I hear about Walmart anymore is ammo shortage, raising their prices on it, and now that they hide it even when they do have. So why waste your time in going?

Even during the ammo shortage scare I never had a problem getting all the ammo I wanted at the same price I paid for by years because I visit local shops and the owners DO take care of their regular customers before the upset Walmart customers who come in running because Walmart is out of .380 FMJ's.

Even during the the craze of buying AK's and AR's I had a few ordered in for me, and would be filling out the paperwork as the shop owner is explaining to customers he never see's in his store that he can't order them an AR.

Yes the shop owner is there to make money, but they are a lot more likely to help out a customer that does business there regularly then someone just stopping in and saying Walmart is out of the ammo I need.
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Old October 17, 2010, 03:58 PM   #22
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Just for the record HK, I shop at China Mart for ammo and not much more... Its still a some what almost free country.

Im not knocking Wally World customer service so much as this felt like a political move and little to do with wanting to make sales.

I could care less about Wally World politics, except if they dont want to sell it then take the lablels off the shelf and tell me they no longer carry it.

As far as my local gun stores, what local gun stores? Major name companys are my local gun stores, if I knew a Tom or Dicks or Harrys within 15 minutes, Id drive there so long as prices are somewhat close but they aren't.

The only place I know close to home has a good 50% mark up over almost anywhere else I go.

Lastly all the above is more or less commentary. The root of the matter is who knows how many times I walked in and asked for ammo and they had it and they didn't say anything or even the employees didn't know or heck maybe the shelf was empty but I find it doubtful.

If it happened here it can happen elsewhere and forewarned is forearmed with at least knowledge.

I found the matter just a little disturbing.

Last edited by BGutzman; October 17, 2010 at 04:22 PM.
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Old October 17, 2010, 04:08 PM   #23
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Long story about 300 Wby, ignorant non gun clerk and poor customer service with store manager and corporate headquarters. End result is I am paying more for my prescriptions, my groceries and my electronics but I will kiss a rattlesnake and sleep in a pig sty before I ever buy one more item from those people.

I remember when it used to be an American store owned and operated by Americans and sold American products. I might have to look in more places and pay a slight premium to get what I want but I like going into a store where they smile and greet me by name and are happy to help me find what I am looking for up to and including calling other stores to save me driving time. I never got that from Walmart.

Shop at Walmart you get what you deserve including their little snot nose attitude concerning guns, ammo and handgun shooters in particular. I have never ever seen a more ignorant dysfunctional anti-gun crew anyplace including some college classes where I was the token conservative in the room.
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Old October 17, 2010, 04:22 PM   #24
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What old grump said.
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Old October 17, 2010, 07:42 PM   #25
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Heres an idea... stop being cheap and trying to save a dollar or two, and support your local gun stores instead.....
My local gun store owners love me...but I still get most, not all, but MOST of my shooting ammo at Walmart....because it IS less expensive - simple math.

Frankly - I would estimate that the money that I have saved over the years has got me one of my pistols...yay me!
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