Let’s begin with the mere ambiance of the store. When I walk into a Target, it is clean. The red and white store colors are crisp and easy on the eyes. The store is completely inviting and generally decluttered minus an occasional restocking cart around the holidays.

When I walk into Walmart, the floors are usually messy and ridiculously cluttered while a light bulb blinks incessantly as it burns out. Oh sure, Walmart has a greeter at the door, but that doesn’t matter as I struggle to get all my belongings–read children–in the door. The last thing I need is to have someone try to get my attention only to say hi as I maneuver around trying to make this experience as quick as possible. Hand me a cart, hand me a cold drink for everyone, and assist me throughout the store! Anything except the meaningless, “Welcome to Walmart.”

Target has better stuff than Walmart. On any given day, Walmart is consistently cheaper. However, it is by pennies, I tell you! As in $5.97 instead of $5.99. If I am going to spend 2 cents more, I would like to make it count toward a better product. Target may have lower end merchandise, but it’s higher than Walmart.

At Target when the cashiers bag my cart, they ask if I want paper or plastic. Oh, and if I bring my own bags, they give me five cents back for each bag I bring and use! How cool is that?

Walmart’s deli in the Walmart Supercenter is just an ordinary deli, but Target’s deli is run by D’Amico’s & Sons. YUM!

Up until recently, to get to a Walmart, I had to travel into riskier sections of town. Where I am from, there is a Target in every town. There may even be more than one per town. Walmarts, on the other hand are not. They are strategically placed in the seedier parts of town. So not only did I need to drive there, I had to worry about the hooligans in the store. Not everyone in a Walmart is a hooligan. I tend to believe that I’m not a hooligan when I am in Walmart, but they are more common in Walmart than in Target.

From my perspective, Walmart has a goal to take over the world. It goes into a small town to “develop its economy” and thus, runs every other business out of town. It doesn’t develop the town’s economy as much as it hurts small businesses already struggling to survive. On the other hand, while Target wants to market itself to as many consumers as possible, it does not seek out unsuspecting small towns as prospects for business. It determines its strategy by examining the the demographics of the area.

Well, maybe Walmart doesn’t want to take over the world, but you could have fooled me!