Wal-Mart creates online shopping lists for kids and draws fire

Gettibg a wiah list is a good idea but you could have worked out a better story line for sure!! As for getting rid of the layaway plan, you're making a BIG mistake!! Lots of us average working people have families, large house payments (be it renting or buying)vehicle payments, household expenses, "just to name a few". Christmas is expensive and most of us don't have the money just lying around waiting to be spent. My husband & I have 2 teen sons and are also raising and fully suporting 3 small grandchildren. Needless to say this is expensive, we usually do most of our shopping at WalMart as it helps stay within our budget. But with Christmas & having to buy for so many we can only afford it with layaways. So WALMART, if you're doing away with layaways, we'll be shopping elsewhere that still allows them. I'm sure we won't be the only ones doing this. Taking away layaways will only decrease your sales over the holidays for sure. Merry Christmas!!

The wish list is a great idea! As for the layaway program being discontinued, people were using it as their own personal closet. Putting things on layaway and then waiting until they go on sale in a month or so and getting them out and receiving the sale price. It's things like that, and people like that (and there are a huge number of them) who pushed the layaway program out. Don't be mad at Walmart...be mad at yourselves!

Walmart is ok in some ways and bad in other ways. To be a big store their selection is horrible. They hire too many people and use the employees that get paid less. They or course are bad for small businesses. They gave money to Gay and Lesbian charity, bad!

Good is they keep my grocery bill low, they employ a lot of friends and family. There are some charities non political they donate to.... They just need to make some changes. The Christmas list thing is a great idea!!!!!!

it is fun to make a santa letter but i also thank that childern should bet at home when you get there gift if possable i am a great grandmother and my childern get what we buy for them jo

I think the point is being missed. Yes, registries have been around a long time and are helpful. But ask your child to make a list if you need one. The point is that it is a marketing ploy. One it gives a child the impression if a child doesn't buy something someone will suffer. That can and will carry over the more they are exposed to it. Let's face the fact. The elf is part time with no breaks or benefits but the marketing staff is full time. The strategy also gives Walmart huge advantage on expected profits for their stakeholders in January. They know what you are buying before you even get to the store. Do you like that kind of invasion into your spending habits? You also have to remember that 99.9% of the items in Walmart are made somewhere else other than the U.S.. To save a few dollars (and trust me I know about that) but I also take into account the bigger picture and I'll give a few bucks to the locally runs stores if given a chance. I'm off my soap box. Sorry but it is just food for thought. Take it for what it is.

It is not a REGISTRY when you have elves saying they will lose there jobs if a toy is not put in the list.
Only a poor dumb redneck would think that's great. But then again that's who shops at Wal-Mart. Go to Target go to K-mart go anywher but Wal-Mart. Eeewww

Just because Wal-Mart sends you this information you do NOT HAVE TO follow it. It is very easy to shred the list if you are not interested.

When my children were young enough to be "requesting" toys, it was in letters to "Santa." They understood that "Santa" couldn't possibly bring every child EVERY toy they asked for, so it WAS a wish-list of sorts. As parents, we decided what was appropriate and chose gifts accordingly. Parents need to control the amount of 'things" their children covet and receive, without resorting to blaming an industry whose sole purpose is to make money. I don't blame Wal-Mart for trying new marketing techniques. Parents MUST find ways to say "no" when necessary.

I think every ad on Nogin, Disney, Cereal boxes, etc is targeted to children. Unless its harmful to them(maybe cereal needs to be looked at)what is the problem? I would say however that if Walmart is diconinuing its lawaway, which is a service to it's customers, it would have a negative effect and reminds me of "The Miracle on 34th Street" when they were reminded how servicing the customers has a positive result. I will inform the Walmart Stockholders that I know about it so that they can be a voice regarding it.

Here's the deal with layaway. For average Joes like me who don't exactly make the big bucks, it's a great way of making no-interest payments on higher dollar items that can't normally be bought all at once. But there's one key word in what I just said... "no-interest". Wal-Mart is cutting layaway so people will turn to credit financing options, an option they will undoubtedly soon offer. They say the reason they put a stop to layaway is that people put things on layaway and never pick them up, or use layaway as some sort of savings account and then cancel the transaction. Let's get real. In my opinion, this is just foreshadowing Wal-Mart's quest to establish Wal-Mart credit cards and eventually open the First Bank of Wal-Mart.

If you don't want your child to do a wish list @ Wal-Mart.com then DON'T let them on the internet unsupervised or, God forbid, tell them NO! Hand them a pencil & paper and have them write it down. Also, if you don't like Wal-Mart then just don't shop there - there is not a single business in the world that someone, somewhere doesn't have a problem with how they do things.

Considering walmart is cutting out the layaway department across the board, of course they have to find another way to make money. Alot of 1 parent families need layaway in order to have Christmas for thier kids. Alot of those families CAN'T afford a computer.
WALMART--GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR BUTT AND SEE HOW BAD YOUR HURTING THE LITTLE GUY IN ORDER TO MAKE MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I went to the site...I rejected toys that came up, the elves only made the "lose your job" comment once. Yes, they clapped when I chose toys...big deal! Since when do parents HAVE to buy everything kids ask for? I never have. I always ask for lists, my kids use ads and catalogs to make their lists, this is just an online ad/catalog. Don't we have more important things to worry about in our world today??? Be a parent, teach your kids respect, values and moderation and stop blaming stores, video games, and peers for everything! I know my parents didn't allow me to shift blame to someone or some thing else...I can still hear my parents say..."you were taught better than that...if your friends jumped off the cliff, would you do it too?...what happened to teaching our kids to think for themselves?

I feel I was hired for a campaign reason, to represent Walmart, and to do a great stragedy towards the young adults. No one likes to find a BB gun under the tree when you are 15 yrs old... My son would approve this, but thats another story...

I felt that when I was hired by the big giants that I was marketing young kids who knew exactly what they wanted. The Teens for instance, wants if they can have it, its IPods... and Music CD's... the younger set want Video Games, but these choices are all good and well, but they do cost a family much more than Betsy Wetsy from the 60's. Most games cost a parent, who is on a fixed income or whatever at least if not more than 30.00 a pop... So for the person who put up Talking Shaking Elmo on E-bay at auction and sold it for 5000.00 he is a smart person we need to hire him... but for someone to shoot over a toy is ludicrious!!!
I feel that my job stems to help Mom and Dad to find the right gift for that child, and to eliminate the fighting on What do you want Santa to bring you?
In our house, Santa is Big Bob Dad and we have 8 inbetween ones... 4, 9, 12, 15, 17, 18, 21, 25... its hard after the age of 17... You give them gift certificates of their favorite shops. I feel that giving them a gift certificate and a picture of their toy would benefit them and show them how much things really cost. I feel that this was the best Idea we came up with. Since I was hired I got well over 100,000 hits per day keeping me employed for the next 10 years, thanks for that, But we have had registries for sometime now for the bridal dept and babies, why not everyone?

I feel that this is the best way to shop... I hope you will continue to buy the quality and for the price where can you beat Walmart, Not Target they are too pricy and too snotty people there.
Loretta

I like Walmart. They do a lot of people good and offer a great selection of goods. What I don't like are whiners who try to paint everything Walmart does as negative. Target is the store I DO NOT like. They kicked out the Salvation Army, the people who most help the poor! Walmart matches what the Salvation Army brings in. I haven't shopped Target since they hurt the poor & Salvation Army.


Kent in SD

Thanks Ken Dunn(1:07PM Oct 16). Earl Gilbert(2:05PM Oct 16), the competitors aren't surprised, they know Walmart is an economic pedophile, that preys on kids sexuality, like it did a few years ago, when it used infants and toddlers to sell Walmart's thongs made for the little ones (Shame, shame, shame!). UFFDA(3:31PM Oct 16), did you get a count on how many kids wore Walmart thongs made for them, check Walmart's list, it's part of registry, it's been around for years! Joseph Francis(3:59PM Oct 16), Walmart is Iraq, it oppresses, discriminates, and economically brutalizes its workers, so tell Walmart to shut up and put out! Walmart does have its suckers, huh, Karen Kinnane(6:24AM Oct 20), its easily seen that you're one of those busy relatives who wants to buy and do buy ''...EXACTLY WHAT THE CHILDREN WANT TO RECEIVE.'', I know you're ready for Walmart's christmas blitz, helmet and knee pads for safety when you run into Walmart to buy ''...EXACTLY WHAT THE CHILDREN WANT.'', I wish I was your niece, so that I can have all the latest game systems and games, and a few of the best cell phones out on the market, oh, and by the way, Walmart's low prices is due in part to its robbing of wages and benefits from its workers. Janet(6:38AM Oct 20), you're so right about Walmart not being a Grinch, because the Grinch had a change of heart, Walmart hasn't and I doubt ever will.

There are several things wrong with this picture -- a wish list or registry is a great idea for adults. But these are children who are being fed a story that if they don't get the adults in their lives to buy these things these poor elves are going to be out of a job. The story line goes too far. And the other point I would like to make is that the majority of these comments miss the point of Christmas -- I'm so busy I don't know what to buy for this child, it is so much easier for me. How about getting to know the child, talking to the child and picking out a gift. It really misses the point of a gift. A gift is something you have picked out and given to another person. Not oh pick an item from list and buy it for me. I am sad for all of you!!! And yes, I have raised two wonderful children and have never used a wish list for them and they were not disappointed at Christmas and new what a gift was.

As a grandmother I like the shopping list concept for kids and family members. But I like it short and sweet. The problem that is really a no brainer is not having Laways. What is up with that? Wal-mart will show a decline in profits this Christmas.

To the person that was bashing Wal-Mart loosing the layaway department and now kids wont have a christmas.. Whats that all about?? What ever happened to putting a few bucks away every week and then spending it on christmas gifts for your kids? Its not Wal-Mart job to hold someones stuff til they can afford to pay for it. It was something they did cause they wanted to, not because they had to.
Im all for the Christmas list. GO WAL-MART!!! anything to make my life easier, I might even shop for that stuff online and have it shipped to the house.

What's the big deal? Wal-Mart is a BUSINESS, people! As a kid, I remember going through the Sears Wish Book and compiling my Christmas list per my parents request every year. I also remember being taught what Christmas was all about by MY PARENTS...not SEARS. I think I turned out o.k.
Sorry..I'm on Wal-Mart's side on this one.