MargeD

Since I'm not able to stand for more than a few minutes or so at a time, I can't apply, however, I think it would be a great job part-time. Can't say that I blame you for not wanting to teach 5 days a week and grade papers all weekend, unless your school has substitute teachers to fill in when teacher are sick or out for some reason or another. Since you are obviously a quilter, or you wouldn't have joined the QB, I think you would be an asset to the fabric department. When Wal-Mart first opened near me in NH, a quilt guild member worked there as manager for a number of years and really enjoyed it. I'd say go for it, try it you might like it. LOL

granny64

Why not? Walmart has special stock options for their employees. I know a lady that didn't need to work, but she wanted to get out of the house. She put almost all her pay in stock. I can say, "Welcome to Walmart".

Carol34446

She is a merchandiser, I used to work for a book company in K-Marts and Wal-Marts and loved it. Didn't have to wait on customers (unless it was a book) could work the hours and days I wanted as long as I get each store (had 5) done every week and many only took 3-4 hours except one bigger one and it was 4-6 hours. Got to meet lots of help and store managers and they were happy to have someone who actually DID THEIR JOB, as I had no one to supervise me, I was in El Paso and Eastern New Mexico and closest boss was Dallas. Great job and I would do it again, knees or not if I had the chance.
Too old and have an old man 81 heading for 82 and knees would not allow me to be on them for long, but I worked for Wal Mart and it was a good place to work, and material craft department, dream job. I used to be stocker and filled in material when they went to lunch and it was great.

quiltjoey

I say, "Go for it!" If you don't like it quit!!! We've had one LQS close (for retirement) recently. Joann's came in about 1 year ago or so which was just down the street from the LQS. Joann's couldn't possible come close to the quality of fabric or service they gave. I will miss them terribly. However, we do have another LQS which has lovely, quality fabric and we are hoping people will shop from it, to keep it from going out of business...

cashs_mom

I probably would not, but I'm phobic about Walmarts. I live less than 5 miles from one and have not been in it in about 5 years. I only went there then to buy a crockpot because I couldn't find the one I wanted anywhere else. Just my 2 cents.

Jeanette Frantz

Wow! You hit the nail on the head! I know that working in retail in any store is difficult. I daresay WalMart is no worse that a lot of others -- you hear more about the company because it is a monumentally large business chain. If I needed a job, I'm certainly not "too good" to work at WalMart or any other place, as long as the work is honest. Just MHO!

Jeanette

moonrise

I've got several friends who work at Walmart (all at the same store), and to be honest, none of them seem to love their jobs. The shelf-stockers always have more than they can get done, and the cashiers seem stressed all the time. The cashiers mostly stay put, although I've seen a couple of them putting up stock a few times. The shelf-stockers get moved around to different departments a lot.

DH and I shop in the wee hours of the morning, and the fabric area doesn't have a regular attendant at that time of the day. It's kind of funny, because we never know who's going to cut the fabric. It could be the guy from the sporting goods department, it could be one of the cashiers, it could be one of the shelf-stockers, or it might even be the assistant manager. (I like it when the assistant manager does it. He always gives me a smidge extra! LOL!)

I'm pretty sure the night shift manager at this particular store runs a tight ship. She's friendly to us, but I've seen her upset with employees on more than one occasion. She's a tiny little thing ... probably not even 4' tall ... but she definitely keeps everyone on their toes! I don't know how the day shift manager runs things.

I'd say that the management has a LOT to do with how happy the employees are, so if your store has great management, go for it!

donna13350

No...not at Walmart...you would probably rarely, if ever work in the fabric department...and the customers there can be really awful toward the staff. If you want to work with fabric, why not ask at a local quilt shop? For me..that would be a much healthier atmosphere! Better quality fabrics to spend your paychecks on, too! If you have teaching credentials..you can ask about teaching classes at the shop..even if you don't feel qualified to teach an advanced quilting class..there are always newbies that want to learn everything from pinning, cutting, pressing..choosing colors...but no...I would NOT choose Walmart!!!

quilt938

I"d have to really need a job or be able to quit at any time to work at mine- I've bought stuff there (though not in the last few years) and it was awful some of the local shoppers - picky about every single thing and so demanding and rude. and sooo many buying that vinyl on those huge heavy rolls...the worker said they usualy get them to cover their tablecloths - and they'd have a big strong man with them yet the little 4 foot somethng 60 yr old employee had to lift and carry it...the one in the town where I was raised isn't like that.

quiltingshorttimer

From my family & friend's experiences, large, "box" retail stores mostly have only a handful of full-time employees--every one else part time. That allows them to not provide benefits and too keep wages low--hourly rate usually goes up when you hit a certain # of hours, but you rarely hit it consistently. Also, you will be assigned hours that change weekly, are usually anywhere from 9-10 or midnight, including holidays and weekends. You are assigned to different departments/duties as need arises. Having a "good" manager sure helps, but they too answer to regional supervisors, etc and the "bottom line" is what drives all decisions--including employee management. Some find the conditions fine for what they need--others do not and will move on--turn over is fairly high at big box stores, unless your area basically offers no other jobs. Most of us in small towns are resentful of how the big box stores like WalMart have driven out the small business owners because they can buy, and sell, at such lower prices that customers (myself included unfortunately) will shop there to get those prices.

I too retired after 37 yrs in education and have no desire to sub! I have found that working as a test proctor for AP testing, etc does give me a little extra as I work on getting my long arm business making more $$. But for the socialization you mentioned as your reason, I belong to quilt guilds and
like my quilt friends and through them do community work. I can make a difference in my community but do it without being away from home for hours--maybe that is behind your DH objection to volunteering?