Wal Mart of Dongguan
First, I bet there were only 30 parking spaces. No huge lot in front. Of course, that is the case everywhere here. Cars are for the rich, and most transport by other means. There were, however, too many cars for the few spaces available. We had to wait and squeeze into a space. I could barely get out.
The entry was a big three-story structure that looked huge. Only later did I realize that the Wal Mart was only on the first floor, and shops were on the other floors.
The next, and maybe most striking difference had to be the greeter. Yes, they were consistent in the theme with a greeter at the entry, but she was sure younger than any greeter I had ever seen at a Wal Mart before!
Then, The layout hits you. It is low ceiling type store, and you have to maneuver through the clothing to get to the rest. So the feel was much different. Similarities in shelving and stock were prevalent. Of course, Chinese characters replaced English. And the help was a lot more than any store I had ever been around. On many aisles, I bet there were five salesgirls anxious to help. Unfortunately, none spoke English!
As I mentioned, my driver’s English was pretty limited too. I was doing pretty well with finding most everything. But I can tell you the differences in the way they do things here makes it pretty difficult. For example, bedding here is usually just a comforter type layer over the fitted bed sheet. I always end up getting up three to four times a night to get it off the floor and spread over the bed again. Pretty frustrating!
Well, wanting to buy a sheet to spread over the fitted bed sheet was an exercise in itself. Even when I finally found one, they didn’t want to sell it to me, because “I already had all I needed”. It took a few calls to someone to translate before I could finally understand why they wouldn’t sell to me, and to then finally convince them that, in fact, I really did want that sheet! FRUSTRATING!
At other times, it went great. I slapped my face like in Home Alone, and a young lady turned quickly and pulled after-shave right from a shelf. A desired hair dryer was a little more difficult. First they wanted to sell me muse, then a hairbrush, then something else entirely, so back to the phone. Of course, even my translator doesn’t do so well, and I ended up with some kind of shower hose. Back to the phone!
All in all, pretty good though. Wal Mart had most everything. The grocery area had more things I had never heard or seen before. I saw once on a documentary about Wal Mart in China that a single store sells about $6US per visitor, versus around $36US per visitor in the States. And they sell 18,000 watermelons a day in a single store. There were a lot of people there!
I’ve now been to Wal Mart of Dongguan, China. Who woulda ever thought I would be shopping there. Next it’s the new Pizza Hut across the street!!
posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 6:50 PM
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