The Wal-Mart in Bedford is one of the 154 stores the company opted to close across the nation this month. If you think Wal-Mart is generally hell on earth during normal business hours , imagine then what it might be like to stroll through a store when everything is on sale and rummaged and pillaged and no one really cares because the damn place is gonna lock the doors for good in a matter of days.
We certainly don’t want to experience that ourselves, but thankfully Michael Sharpe (SharpicusPhotography.com) went so we didn’t have to. He posted the pics of his experience and some thoughts on Reddit and graciously allowed us to republish them here.
“On this day, I tagged along with three friends to this Wal-Mart Supercenter in Bedford, Ohio. The one friend had informed us that the store will be shutting down, and on this day the store’s inventory became 50% off. We were not exactly prepared for what was within.”
“Upon pulling up to the store, the parking lot is packed. I expected no less. When we first walked in, the first thing I noticed was the three officers at the door. I believe I had seen more officers walking about but am not 100% on this. The store was packed with people searching around like starving people looking for a scrap of food.”
“Most aisles were empty, and what was left was all thrown sporadically on shelves. Items lay on the floor as people carelessly dropped them or knocked them down. There was no longer a system. Just chaos.”
“The emptied food aisles made me think vaguely of the Y2K panic. I was just a child then, but I remember it feeling hectic during those times.”
“People opened and ate food without hesitation. I had found opened snacks, sodas, and even a beer or two at one point. This does not shock me.”
“The footwear seemed to have been the least disturbed. I guess nobody wanted 50% off shoes. Still though, people just knocked them off shelves or dropped them on the ground when disinterested. No surprise, once again.”
“he electronics section was destroyed. Security cases all opened, no longer any sense of security or order. Only lesser games and some previous console games remained. FarCry 4 on PS3, Cabela’s on Wii. It was strange to see this in such disarray.”
“Though the front of the store was the least crowded and cleaner, it was still a tad dirty. Stuff hanging off shelves and the like. This is not the best photo but I wanted to take pictures with as few of people as possible.
“On this day was the most registers open at a Wal-Mart that I had ever seen. It was very startling, made getting out a lot easier. Makes me believe that the excess of registers is now solely for this as there were more active than Black Friday. With this being said, I hope I never have to relive this experience again.”
This article appears in Jan 27 – Feb 2, 2016.
The Muzak should have been a continuous loop of Velvet Underground’s “Sister Ray”.
White people
You’ve obviously not shopped much at Steelyard Commons WalMart.
It looks like this most every weekend, including the open beers.
How the mighty have fallen. The Octopus is in trouble. Boo fucking hoo.
Looter mentality prevails? Why am I neither shocked nor surprise? Just like any typical race riot in any large American city. Less chaotic, actually, because people weren’t rushed and frantic. No cops kicking ass or shooting at them as they sample food or throw stuff around.
I feel more sorry for the poor bastards in Bedford than I do for The Octopus…but at least they have alternative retail outlets to turn to in their hour of grief and need. ‘
Pity the poor denizens of East Jesus, Texas, or Butt Fuck, South Carolina. Thanks to The Octopus, all their mom-and-pop stores are shuttered and long gone.
Imagine a thirty-mile round-trip for a frozen pizza and few Cokes. I don’t have to imagine…I’ve experienced it. Union-buster China Mart was something of a godsend to such folk. Now they’re screwed…again.
Not shedding any tears for The Octopus…but for the poor shmucks who go there, I can spare a few. They already have a good deal more to cry about.
Chuckles the Clown
It’s really irresponsible for WalMart to come into certain communities, kill off all the competition, and then to pack up and leave. But hey, assuming they would do something different than that would be to assume that they actually give a **** about the communities in which their stores are based, and we know that’s a joke. WalMart is a friend of your community as long as there is money to wring out of you or something that they want. Once you are dead and the feeding ends, they fade into the night.
I laughed when I found out it had closed. The people there were rude as hell. Good riddance.
Hey AdamHall, Mr. Genius – I think Walmart is your friend until they can’t run a store anymore and make money, like any business. If the residents of Bedford had any sense of dignity they would have embraced the only place willing to operate in the Meadowbrook area. Instead, they stole until they had to leave. They can’t have nice things…