Walmart Shuts Down For 3 Hours After Shoppers Go Crazy

[Are_grits_groceries]

Black Friday brought out the rowdy side of Wal-Mart shoppers early this morning when the Upland location shut down for more than two hours after customers caused a ruckus inside.

Store management called Upland police at 2:44 a.m., asking for assistance in dealing with customers who were “fighting inside,” said Lt. Jim Etchason.

About 300 people were in the store, which had remained open all night as a security precaution after a Wal-Mart worker on Long Island, N.Y., was trampled to death last year on Black Friday when a surging, impatient crowd rushed the doors after the store opened.

But in Upland, employees said, customers began tearing into merchandise that had been shrink-wrapped and were supposed to be opened at 5 a.m.

“This was without a doubt the worst I’ve ever seen it,” said one employee, who said she has worked a dozen Black Fridays.

“They wouldn’t let people line up,” she added. “They were belligerent. They just bombarded the store.”

Several officers were sent and stood by as shoppers were kicked out and the store closed down, Etchason said. The bargain hunters were told to line up in the parking lot.

Meanwhile, the carts were emptied and all the items returned to the shelves, employees said. But they said that outside, people began “yelling and screaming,” pounding on the glass doors and trying to sneak into the store through the lawn and garden section.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2009/11/black-friday-walmart-in-upland-temporarily-closes-after-fighting-inside.html

Nice try except for the merchandise that wasn't supposed to be opened until 5am. Fools!

[Mimosa]

1. Materialism and greed are ugly.

I don't understand people being so obsessed with things.

[izquierdista]

9. If you saw what they saw in the mirror

You would be so depressed that you would need to go buy some things to cover it over.

[Kievan Rus]

18. It's an addiction

There are a lot of people in this country that are addicted to stuff.

They're no different than gambling addicts or drug addicts. Anything for a fix.

[Lorien]

28. I wonder if the same kind of shopaholism exists in other countries?

I have a good friend who is slowly overcoming a severe case of it. I have another buddy who still can't admit that he's got it-even though he's now jobless with 60k in credit card debt and no home. I don't recall shopaholics pre-1980 or so. What does everyone else think?

[MadMaddie]

34. I agree with you

It started in the 80's with Reagan. In college I remember the first Credit Cards in our college mail, the CC companies knowing that no one had a job etc. More, More, More was the mandate of the 80's......

[Thothmes]

46. You are wrong

In the 70s the basement sale at Filenes in Boston was a riot. thousands of folks waiting to get at the "good deals" at 6 am in the morning.

[MadMaddie]

56. Would you say that the materialism was worse in the 70's or

worse in the 80's?

I am in my mid 40's so I really can't use the early 70's as a point of reference for my experiences.

[treestar]

44. Could be

There is a series of novels about a Shopoholic that take place in the UK. Funny as hell.

[onager]

58. Saw some examples of it in Egypt - of all places...

The Egyptian equivalent of Wal-Mart is Carrefour, the French super-store chain. Carrefour, like Wal-Mart, sells all kinds of Chinese-made crap: clothes, electronics, toys, tools. And groceries, including a few American items. Like hot salsa (intermittently), I was happy to discover...

I lived in Alexandria, but was working once in Cairo for a couple of weeks. My Egyptian driver wanted to hit Carrefour for a big special sale they had on 27-inch color TVs.

It was amazing. Customers in TAXICABS were leaving with two of those big TV sets strapped to the roof of the taxi. Most Egyptian taxis are very small cars, with the ancient Russian Lada (a license-built Fiat 128) being a favorite.

Others were hauling TV sets out in shopping carts, precariously balanced while they argued with mini-van taxi drivers about shoving the TV inside the mini-van.

There's also a Black Friday equivalent in Egypt, only it's Black Thursday - the day before the two big Eid festivals start (which is always on Friday, the holy day).

Carrefour at that time is absolutely jammed with people, and the checkout lines go for miles. I've seen many huge screaming matches when a shopper tried to cut in line.

In Alexandria once on a Black Thursday, I was in Carrefour when a fellow with a huge load of stuff confidently got into the "10 Items Or Less" line.

The young woman cashier told him to go get in another line. (They were speaking Arabic, of course, but my Egyptian driver translated the action for me.)

The dumbass started loudly berating her, which was common in Egypt when women had the audacity to try and work. Many men over there don't like the idea of women working at all, and think their gender automatically gets them a pass, but especially when they are dealing with a Mere Woman in public.

The (male) manager came over and told the dumbass he would have to go to a regular line.

Customer, just like an American, screamed that he would never set foot in a Carrefour again.

Manager said he hoped the Carrefour chain would not to go bankrupt without this customer's business...

:rofl:

...but he WOULD get out of the express line, or the manager would call security and have him removed from the store. Customer eventually did move to another line, with great amounts of insignificant but funny huffing and puffing.

[Initech]

48. It is - watch the show Hoarders. Scary shit.

:scared:

[saltpoint]

2. One time I watched two alligators fighting over the same fish.

Both of them wanted that fish.

No matter that there were many other fish in the lake. They both wanted THAT fish.

The ferocity of the dispute was something to behold, what with much howling and growling and thrashing and splashing.

Whatever was left of that fish likely wasn't worth eating.

Swamp reptiles.

Charles Darwin, phone home.

[Cirque du So-What]

5. Despite the ruined fish

hardwired greed & ferocity appear to have worked out well for the alligator, seeing that they've remained essentially the same these past ≥200 million years. In our own Darwinian journey, humans have seen fit to retain - from some primordial ancestor - some of that unbridled greed & ferocity obtained; I just hope it's not an evolutionary dead end in our case.

[formercia]

27. The difference between Homo Sapiens and Alligators

Is that Alligators kill each other one at a time. "Humans' have managed to elevate Murder to an Industrial Process.

[Truth2Tell]

47. Actually, I don't think alligators deliberately kill other alligators

at all. They fight, and occasionally an injured one may die as a result, but very rarely. Very very few species of animals ever kill their own.

[saltpoint]

45. The impulse to ferocity and territorialism is stronger in some than in

others, thankfully.

Stronger in say, Rudy Giuliani, than it is in say, Russ Feingold.

Stronger in Virginia Fox and Phyllis Schlafly than in Barbara Boxer or Amy Klobuchar.

The trick is to get people who own the pond to share its fish.

[marmar]

3. Brainwashed zombies.......

Perhaps human beings have fallen into irretrievable stupidity.

[crim son]

4. "Fallen into"?

We live there!

[Stevenmarc]

6. Crap addicts

[Shagbark Hickory]

7. Seems like such an easy solution.

The line to enter the store ends 300 yards from the front door. Guards armed with pepper spray and tazers use hand tally counters to count the number of people entering the store and the number of people exiting to store to ensure the ratio of customers to security is such that security will never be overwhelmed. They let in blocks of 10 people at a time, about every 5 to 10 minutes. when 10 people exit the store.

That's all there is too it. It's that simple. Disney world figured this shit out decades ago.

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. Disneyworld has cops with tasers and spray at admission sites???

Never been to a Disney place, never want to.

[spinbaby]

24. If you misbehave at Disney...

...they put you in the Goofy suit. Horrible, just horrible.


:evilgrin:

[Lorien]

26. No, they don't. Neither does any other theme park-though maybe

Walmart should. Walmart black Friday shoppers seem to be rather, er, "unique".

[rcrush]

20. You think Walmart is going to pay for all that extra security?

[Shagbark Hickory]

53. PFFFT. Yeah. Silly me. They get all that free press when people get stampeded and trampled to death.

No incentive to maintain order and prevent deaths.

[MadMaddie]

35. It' so simple it's sad!

Walmart creates the frenzied atmosphere...I don't shop there so they don't get my hard earned dollars.

[fasttense]

8. I can't help but blame Wal-Mart for a lot of this.

Why do they limit the number of items on sale to just a few? People are rushing in to get just a handful of bargains. There has to be a better way then to cause such hate and discontent.

[beyurslf]

10. We can blame Walmart for plenty of things but that is people being greedy and stupid.

When they don't think the rules apply to them and they can do whatever they want, people get hurt. I commend Walmart for quick action and the police for helping keep everyone safe. Remember, Walmart has 1000's of stores. It was this one that had a problem. That says something about the people there, not the company.

[Hannah Bell]

15. no, we can blame walmart for advertising a "sale" with only a few sale items.

that sets the conditions for people to fight. it's well-known.

this happens every year, but their policies/procedures don't change, so apparently this is the result they want.

[beyurslf]

25. I suppose you might say that. Of course, this is the only store I heard that

this year and I can only think of the one last year. Seems to me it is the people at those stores. I have done Black Friday shopping at WalMarts and other stores for years and years and I have never seen or had a problem. People are responsible for their actions, even during sales.

[Hannah Bell]

43. & walmart is responsible for *its* actions. there are stories like this *every* year.

[beyurslf]

55. Sure, every year at one, maybe two, stores.

Where are the stories about the 3000 stores that had no problems, no police, no violence, no mayhem? Again, it is the people at that one store who caused a problem, not the company with thousands of stores.

[anigbrowl]

49. Apparently you didn't read the story poperly

Police were called at 2am. Customers were refusing to wait on merchandise that was not supposed to be on sale until 5am. There was nothing about a shortage. You could say the merchandise should have gone on sale at mignight but then you would just have had customers fighting to get their hands on it at 10pm.

Of course, if you want to get into blaming retailers for having insufficient amounts of merchanise, I could tell you some stories about shopping in Moscow during communism, where this was a regular occurrence :-)

[Hannah Bell]

50. "where this was a regular occurrence" = so why be surprised when shortage has the same effect

at walmart.

& there obviously was shortage, or they wouldn't have had to unveil the merchandise at a special time.

[Daemonaquila]

54. Nope, this one is Wal-Mart's fault.

Let's see... taunt crazed bargain hunters with special deals... but there are only a couple items per store they might score in any of the categories... stay open all night... create a frenzied atmosphere by having people lining up outside... and then taunt them some more by putting shrink-wrapped merchandise right in front of them but telling them there's a magic time of day that has to arrive before they can actually touch the stuff.

I'm glad nobody was hurt severely, but the stupidity on Wal-Mart's part was mindblowing.

[anigbrowl]

57. I disagree. your argument presumes zero common sense on the part of buyers

I mean, you'd have to be seven kinds of an idiot not to appreciate the fact that a sale starts at a certain time. If they didn't put items on sale people would just complain they were trying to milk every $ from their customers, when they do people blame the retailers for trying to attract customers. Personally I've never had any problem waiting in line or behaving myself while shopping.

stay open all night... create a frenzied atmosphere by having people lining up outside...

Obviously, if they're open all night people don't have to line up outside...that was the whole point of keeping the doors open. All they had to do was be patient, and waiting inside the store sounds a lot less stressful than waiting outside in winter weather. But apparently this is too much to ask of some people.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

14. Why? So that people will buy full-priced merchandise when the deals run out. n/t

[FarCenter]

11. Shopper review of Upland Walmart

http://www.yelp.com/biz/wal-mart-upland

Wow. And you thought the Rancho Cucamonga location was bad. Upland's is even worse. I don't even know if I will be able to remember everything I want to cover, so wish me luck.

1. The parking lot is terrible. I don't know if it's the layout or what, but it's crazy. Every time I go, I almost get into a car accident. I don't know if it's how people drive, or what, but there it is.

2. You are guaranteed to get accosted by solicitors as you go into the store, some of which don't seem to speak English, and get pissed because you don't speak their language. And there are others who conveniently forgot what the word "No" means, and have no intentions of leaving you alone.

3. The store is a mess. I mean, it's not clean, in front or inside. Stuff is strewn about everywhere in the store, and getting around inside can be quite a challenge (similar to the trial by fire that not getting run over by palettes is at the Rancho Cucamonga location).

4. Customer service is a forlorn, strange, unknown, or otherwise banished concept at this Wal-Mart. Actually at every Wal-Mart I've ever been to, it's this way, but this particular Wal-Mart takes gold in terms of how bad it is. The employees don't know where anything is. They aren't helpful, and they can't seem to move anyone through the lines to save themselves.

5. Is saving 10% (or sometimes less) worth coming here over going to Target, or some other store which resembles something less than the pit that is this Wal-Mart.

Recommendation: stay away. Your money can be spent just as well somewhere else....be it a Wal-Mart or otherwise. And if you decide to brave the depths, run at the front door, screaming "Once more unto the breach, my friends," Maybe it will at least keep the solicitors away from you.

[rcrush]

23. I think customers have some nerve complaining about customer service in a place like that

When THEY contribute to the store being a mess. What kind of employee is going to be polite to you after you and 1000 of your idiot peers just trashed their store and ruined their whole day?



4. Customer service is a forlorn, strange, unknown, or otherwise banished concept at this Wal-Mart. Actually at every Wal-Mart I've ever been to, it's this way, but this particular Wal-Mart takes gold in terms of how bad it is. The employees don't know where anything is. They aren't helpful, and they can't seem to move anyone through the lines to save themselves.


I WONDER WHY? I would spit on this persons face if I worked at that Walmart.

[malletgirl02]

51. I agree

Also, I think the reason why Walmart probably has a problem with customer service, is low wages. If you pay crap wages of course you aren't going to get knowledgeable sells people. These people go to high end places where the pay is decent. to put it more simply you get what you pay for. Also like you inferred in your post. if you had to deal with rude people all day of course customer service will be bad, one would have to either be a saint or on Prozac, not to respond in kind by the end of the day.

[SoCalDem]

13. I've heard of food-riots..but apparently now we have trinket-riots

in Walmart..

It's really sad, isn't it.. people whose upward-mobility has been outsourced to china, will fight each other at 2:15AM for the right to purchase slave labor made junk they don't "need", so their kids might "love them" a little more, and might forget a little that because Mom & Dad have to work round the clock at shitty little jobs, they have no time for those kidlets:(

[scarletwoman]

21. Wow! Stunningly succinct and well-put!

The current state of our society. :(

sw

[earth mom]

29. Well put! That deserves an OP of it's own! It's all a dead end, isn't it?

:thumbsup:

[MadMaddie]

37. Yep you have summed it up nicely!!

or should I say sadly?

[proud2BlibKansan]

39. +1

[Kievan Rus]

16. At least nobody died this time

[dixiegrrrrl]

36. Well, didn't die in the physical sense, anyhow.

Seems like a lot of brain ded people there.

[chrisa]

17. Animals

[stevedeshazer]

19. Could Doug from Upland be involved?

He's a prominent Freeper.

[SoCalDem]

30. Isn't he the Upland CA freeper? This happened in Upland NY

at least I think that;s what the article said

[stevedeshazer]

31. Maybe I got the wrong Upland.

:shrug:

[SoCalDem]

42. I was the one who mis-read it.. It was CA..

Upland Doug does not strike me as the type who would get up that early though...unless it was to join Sarah Palin for pancakes at the 24-hr IHOP:)

[proud2BlibKansan]

40. I thought it was CA

[SoCalDem]

41. Oops..My mistake.. I read the Long Island part and did not catch

the fact that they were referencing it from the incident where the man died..:spank:--->me

[Brother Buzz]

33. I believe they pipe his crappy music through the muzak system

The SARAHCUDA loop has been playing nonstop since her book was released. It's Guaranteed to agitate even the dimmest wit.

[Hawkeye-X]

60. Came here for that

Leaving satisified

[blues90]

22. I have never been in a wal-mart , there is one miles from me

I have never shopped on black friday noe would I stand in some line just to get some crap I can live without.

One would be lucky in a mob like this to get out of the store without breaking their new TV set or get robbed of it once outside.

This is insanity.

Are material items so important to people to even think about going through this?

[HughMoran]

32. lol

I don't miss that place.

[havocmom]

38. Work long & hard at creating emotional, ravenous need then surprise when it happens?

Not unlike GOP pols exciting, exhorting, inciting wingers then finding their creations go bad and get out of their control.

Does no one read Mary Shelly anymore? ;)

[InaVanDownByTheRiver]

52. Chinese Imports at What Price?

I used to shop at Walmart. I stopped several years ago due to the company's poor track record. The recent incident only adds further evidence to support to my case. I would rather forgo the rock-bottom prices, support a responsible company or go without than "buy into" shoppers mayhem.

Most of the crap sold at Walmart is made overseas, mostly in China. In order to compete with them, other retailers are forced to carry the same or similar merchandise and to pay employees lower wages or fewer benefits to cover additional payroll for extended hours. Manufacturers are put into the position of having to outsource their products to keep prices low. Now, I might be fine with that if it wasn't such dangerous gar-bage that ends up poisoning kids (think lead paint), breaking after a few weeks or months and getting tossed into the ever-growing trash heap of America before ending up on the recall list with all the Dollar Store imports. I'd guess that 95% of all recalled items are imports. Subscribe to <https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx> and get all the recalls sent to your mailbox daily if you don't believe me.

Walmart is not the same company it was when it started out. It has created it's own economy and rules people with money (or lack of it in the case of it's employees). It is notorious for barging into an area and, ten years later, relocating down the road into the next township. Just ask the people of Fairless Hills, PA, where the local Walmart just moved a few miles over to the next town so it could get more tax breaks. (Ironically, to a location with a view of the local trash dump. Really!) Now, the giant box store sits vacant and all the merchants left there are hurting for business. Is that the American Dream?

Honestly, I can't imagine why people are so desperate to fill their lives with such junk. Any time I feel the temptation to save a few bucks by buying from China, I think of my poor cat who I poisoned with contaminated pet food (a.k.a. melamine) and I am reminded that I'd be better off without it. May he rest in peace. :cry:

[Deja Q]

59. There was once a story about two women who wanted to adopt the baby.

An adjudicator stepped in and asked both women for their stories as to why they deserve parenthood more.

Both told their stories.

Moved equally by both, the adjudicator offered a suggestion:

To cut the baby in half, so each woman could have half of it.

One woman, shocked, quickly screamed "NO! If that's the case, let the other one have it."

She became the custodian of the baby.

Can wal-mart afford adjudicators?

Or are they all a gaggle of babies?



Oh, sorry to paraphrase from the Bible. I know there's nary a single passage in there that has any merit today... especially "Thalt shalt not kill" and all the fluff on what happens to the greedy who push over others' livelihoods to get what they want. (If religion is so bad, why aren't the naysayers bothering to replace an outdated structure with a new one that still says what's wrong is wrong? But I digress, big-time.)