The Wal-Mart Weekly: Those shoes aren't fit to run in

I buy shoes made in China at Wal-Mart for $12-15. I used to buy Reebock and Nike for over $100. Since I'm not a serious jogger, Wal-Mart's serve my needs just nicely.

I bought a pair of Walmart's sneakers simply to wear for Friday casual day at work. They're the absolute worse shoes I've ever worn in my life. I won't even do yardwork in them. No matter what their price or how cute they appear to be, Walmart won't get any more of my money for those things.

Wait! Who has the time to read evfry little word? A person buys shoes if a runner is on the package that is what it's for! Icon based just like you computer!
If you should not use them for that purpose then the box logo and wording should reflect that fact.
Styled as a "running" shoe means consumer confusion. We are in a hurry and have little enough "free" time!

Now that Adidas has leveled this accusation at Wal-Mart and it's "Athletic Works" shoe supplier, the stage is set for anyone to bring legal claim of injury against Wal-Mart for a "premature" structural failure of those shoes which results in actual injury.

The filing of the accusation by Adidas shall satisfy the element of negligence in an injury claim if a plaintiff can prove to the court that the shoe failed prematurely under "normal use". Plaintiff will be able to cite the Adidas claim and thereby submit to the court that Wal-Mart / Athletic Works should have known there was a potential for injury. All that will be needed is for the court to determine what constitutes "normal use"and an acceptable product life expectancy. That's what Adidas is looking for here, so consumers can make informed purchasing comparisons.

Adidas has put Wal-Mart into a very dastardly catch-22. Either Wal-Mart must pull the shoes from the shelves in a recall, or they had better define and declare a life expectancy for those shoes and define normal use. Otherwise, the matter shall be tried in the courts some time in the not so distant future. For Wal-Mart to do nothing at all about this, would be the worst choice the retailer could make.

Kudos to Adidas, this is mercantile warfare at it's very best.... May the best shoe win!

Nice hit job Brian, and I can see your motive as a holder of Wal-Mart stock.. One thing though, why not show pics of the crappy Wal-Mart shoes next to the adidas ones? Oh I know why.. Pure Spin.. Crap. I wanna see you run.

Can see we have more morons here who think that China is going to pay their SS and are clueless as to why gas prices are like they are.

Bottom line is that even walmart has never been able to change the fact that you get what you pay for, and they never will.

I once bought some brand-name walking shoes at WalMart. They hurt my feet bad enough that I will never buy that brand of shoe again from any store, and I will never buy any kind of shoe from WalMart again.

I am careful not to buy anything at WalMart unless the quality is a matter of federal law, or I am personally able to judge the quality myself.

WalMart is notorious for squeezing margins so tight that suppliers have to cut corners just to stay in business. If I was a supplier, I would not let WalMart have more than 5% of my business -- any more than that, and WalMart has you by the gonads, and they won't hestitate to squeeze.

They play similar games with other vendors. I know of a store-fixture contractor who simply returns WalMart RFQs with "no bid" stamped on them, because he got burned by trying a loss-leader bid in hopes of getting follow-on business. Guess what? The follow-on business went to another contractor with another loss-leader bid.

If you are a vender and you aren't big enough (or smart enough) to be able to say "no" to WalMart, they will destroy you.

Yes, Walmart sells cheap crap. We all knew that.
------
Maybe someone needs to hire a proofreader for this guy. These Athletic Works shows are "not suitable to run it," according to Adidas?!

Re: your comment, "the pursuit of lower costs almost invariably leads to inferior quality."

No offense, but do you have any work experience in manufacturing?

I do, and perhaps the most valuable thing I learned is that it is quite possible--even easy, in some cases--to reduce cost and improve product quality at the same time. The company where I worked did it many times, and we were just a stamping house making fabricated metal products, not a high-tech firm.

What has happened to the price and quality of consumer electronics, especially computers, over the past 2 decades?

Re: your comment, "However, major manufacturers may give a lower quality product -- in the same package -- to Wal-Mart due to the retailer's pricing demands."

I suppose that's possible, but I would like to see some examples.

Also, many manufacturers already provide "good, better, best" grades of product. Power tools are a good example. Black & Decker makes contractor-grade stuff, but don't look for it at Wal-Mart.

What I do find occasionally at Wal-Mart is name-brand stuff in GV packaging at a lower price...and I mean the exact-same stuff, not an inferior version. Again, because I worked in manufacturing, I understand how & why this is possible...and profitable for the manufacturer.

I also shopped at Wal-Mart in the 1970s. Product quality now is much, much better than it was then.

WALL MART, THE ANSWER TO THE SHOES PROBLEM IS:
SELL SHOES MADE IN ITALY.
CALL ME I KNOW A FEW.
REGARDS FROM THE SHOE EXPERT

Inferior by some people's standards but for myself........I have only worn Athletic Works Transfers for many years because no matter what shoes I tried.....be they Nike, Adidas, Reebok........all of them in a matter of weeks made it difficult for me to walk much less stand for more than a few hours. Everyone's feet are different and for 15 years I have not been able to find a shoe that fits my feet better. I unfortunately am having a more and more difficult time finding the Athletic Works Transfers at Wal-Mart or if they have them..........not in my size. While the shoes I buy may only last 4 months, I walk 3 miles round trip to work each day, 7 days a week, and stand on my feet for most of the 9-10 hour days I work. That equates to 360 miles. An interesting point I would like to make though.......for some reason I thought at one time Wal-Mart claimed to only use American made products?

I bought a pair of "Athletic Works" shoes at Wal-Mart. They are so comfortable, I love them! The only problem is they are now worn out and I can't find another pair. They are worn out because I put hundreds of miles on them last summer both walking and running!! I am in no way hurt or damaged. I WANT ANOTHER PAIR!! I've worn Reebok and Nike...whatever...brand name crap for 3 times the money. Give me "Athletic Works" anyday!

I bant the athletic works shoes back. Wal-mart switched to the danskin now shoes and they aren't even fit to walk in. I bought three pair and have gone through two in less than a month the other is going back. They cost a few more dollars than the athletic works and they aren't worth two cents. The soles fall apart as soon as you start wearing them the break apart under the padding inside then the bottoms break in half and the heel cracks they are awful. Never again. Wal-mart has changed brands on a few things and not for the better. Junk Junk Junk