Walmart Schmalmart

[Deckard7]

Recently I drove around to the three Walmarts within 15 miles of where I live and discovered a disturbing thing (of the three, only one is a Supercenter). The one closest to me is not the Supercenter and has a large display area for collectible cards, but it is nearly completely bare. The containers where the boxes of cards are supposed to be are there, just not the boxes or packs themselves. At least not for Topps product, the ony thing I buy. There were a few boxes of Donruss and other brands of football, but I don't collect football cards. I've made three separate trips there weeks apart, and the card shelves are always like that.

The other two Walmarts, one of which is the Supercenter, don't carry any cards at all! After wandering the aisles in vain looking, I asked at the help desk and in both places they said they hadn't carried any cards there in at least two years.

This seems really odd to me, especially considering there are Walmart exclusive boxes of some Topps cards with Walmart-only cards in them. They may do the same with other brands too, I don't know.

Has anyone else experienced this with their local Walmarts, especially a Supercenter? Apparently each store has some discretion about what it wants to stock. I realize I can order their products online, and I have, but it's not quite the same as being able to drive to one and get what I need immediately.

[RebelCoyote]

Two Walmarts in the city here. One doesn't carry while only one did

[Deckard7]

Thanks for the reply. There is another Supercenter Walmart a bit further away from me that looks like it carries cards, but I won't know for sure until I check.

That pretty much just leaves nearby Targets, and local overpriced card shops to buy cards from at retail for me.

[pwaldo]

Do you live in a bad area or one that is target by theft or opening of blasters? If so they just phase out things like cards that get targeted so they don't continue to lose money on them. Mine stopped carrying a lot of stuff years ago because of this.

[Deckard7]

I hadn't thought of that possibility, though I'd say only the Supercenter might be in an area considered lower middle class. The other two are in solidly middle class areas. None of them are in poor areas.

That doesn't mean it wasn't a problem for the two Walmarts that no longer carry cards. Given the high value of cards these days and the chance for finding a valuable card in a pack, perhaps it was just too much risk and they did have high losses from shoplifting.

Thanks for the input.