WalMart Tiki stuff

My sister and I were walking through the WalMart in Arroyo Grande, CA and saw they had an entire luau aisle. I was surprised that they actually had tiki merch that wasn't cartoon clown tiki. Doesn't the tiki design looks awfully familiar?

Here are a few picts I took with my phone:

Beer coozies!

Ironic Cocktail Napkins!

Festive Plates!

They also had giant, inflatable tikis that were beer coolers. They were of the rainbow colored variety. Plus oodles of the tacky stuff you always find at Party City and such.

[ Edited by: stuff-o-rama 2009-05-22 22:11 ]

WAL-MART is evil crapulence INCARNATE..if I want SHITE tiki stuff will go to BIG LOTS

I agree. I have not stepped into a Wal- Mart in over 4 years and I don't care if every other store in the world implodes I will never go in one again.

No one remembers when they first rolled into town how their big slogan was "Made In America. We Buy American and We Sell American. Period".
Now its "We like to buy every Asian country's goods.Oh American products? Nah. Period"

I hate Wal-mart. Its a blight to mankind.

Check out Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price and you will never want to shop there again.

I am not an activist in the slightest but I have seen what Wal-Mart has done when rolling into small towns where my family lives up North. How my Uncle's auto shop that was open for over 65 years was put out of business in under 3 months. How my Great-Aunt's 15 years in business deli was put out of business in 4 months. Its not about healthy competition between two stores...its about obliterating and destroying.

Wal-Mart sucks. Period.

oh and as far as that tiki crap. I agree--I may hate Big Lots but I would rather shop there then give one nickel of my money to that other place.

Ouch! I wasn't implying to run to Walmart, I was pointing out that the artwork was similar to one of our Tiki Central artists' work. I could swear I've seen that exact image on here before but I can't remember who it was by or where to find it on the threads. (ie. Very similar to Squid's design for the Tiki Farm "Warrior" mug)

Don't be offended. It's nothing personal, but you touched a nerve. Wal-Mart treats their employees & suppliers like dirt. They think nothing of placing a huge order with a small company & then pulling the plug after the product is all ready to ship, thus putting the supplier in a world of hurt, sometimes out of business. A few years back, Wal-Mart took out a $100,000 life insurance policy on a New Hampshire manager in his 40s. When he died of a heart attack, leaving a wife & kids, Wal-Mart calmly collected their $100,000 & thumbed their noses at the widow. I know she filed a lawsuit, but I don't know what became of it. I've worked in retail for a long time & Wal-Mart is just a big ugly bully. Again, don't be offended. Most people have no idea how unscrupulous this company is.

[ Edited by: Big Kahuna 2009-05-23 19:41 ]

See my buy american rant in the bilge.

KK

Just saying...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjsshqyAFh8&feature=fvsr

Wal Mart is evil that's old news...I bet Stuff O Rama would like to have their thread back though!!

I like those beer coozies. I would buy one if I used them, but I drink my beer quicker than it gets warm. Maybe I should buy one for my coffee? I kind of milk my coffee and they get a tad cool before I finish.

Who wants me to pick up a couple of coffee coozies for them? Maybe for the next mug exchange?

Hey Stuff-o- Rama ( I am sorry I do not know your name!)my Wal-Mart rant was nothing against you. As you can tell I feel very passionate about my hate towards that chain and I was all fired up! (could you tell?!?!?)

Regarding the tiki items you pictured I think there is a place to use said items --like at parties --but I would never purchase them from Wal-Mart.

I am also not sure whose artwork those pics copy or look similar to since I am not that good at identifying by a quick glance.

Dont take the "we hate Wal-mart" comments personally because its about loathing that chain not negative vibes towards you :wink:

On 2009-05-24 10:42, The Sperm Whale wrote:
Wal Mart is evil that's old news...I bet Stuff O Rama would like to have their thread back though!!

Thanks Spermy!

On 2009-05-24 12:38, leleliz wrote:
Hey Stuff-o- Rama ( I am sorry I do not know your name!)my Wal-Mart rant was nothing against you. As you can tell I feel very passionate about my hate towards that chain and I was all fired up! (could you tell?!?!?)

Regarding the tiki items you pictured I think there is a place to use said items --like at parties --but I would never purchase them from Wal-Mart.

I am also not sure whose artwork those pics copy or look similar to since I am not that good at identifying by a quick glance.

Don't take the "we hate Wal-mart" comments personally because its about loathing that chain not negative vibes towards you :wink:

Thanks leleliz, my name is Teri. As a small businesswoman I am very aware of the evil of WalMart vs Small Biz. I live it everyday!

For the record, I am not taking anyone's rant personal. I just wanted to know who's art they might be using. If the artist was being ripped off, then I thought they should know.

In the past people have always posted things they've run across in chain stores to let the Tiki Central ohana know what's out there. Not everyone on Tiki Central lives in California or Florida where there are many choices of stores and varieties of merch when it comes to tiki. I was just keeping to the tradition. Sorry to upset anyone.

Don't worry Stuffy, you did the right thing.

On 2009-05-25 01:16, stuff-o-rama wrote:
For the record, I am not taking anyone's rant personal. I just wanted to know who's art they might be using. If the artist was being ripped off, then I thought they should know.

Royalty-free stock... so yes, they are being ripped-off - legally!

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=32460&forum=1&0

On 2009-05-26 09:40, AlohaStation wrote:

On 2009-05-25 01:16, stuff-o-rama wrote:
For the record, I am not taking anyone's rant personal. I just wanted to know who's art they might be using. If the artist was being ripped off, then I thought they should know.

Royalty-free stock... so yes, they are being ripped-off - legally!

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=32460&forum=1&0

Don't forget the House Industries font as well. Hopefully they paid for it.

[ Edited by: Jason Wickedly 2009-05-26 10:15 ]

I like most of you...Well, some of you...OK. I like a couple of you, but what's with Marketplace threads getting hijacked by opinions? Aren't there other places for you to rant? Like say, out a back window at your deaf dog?

Shhh-! Shhh-! Calm down kittens, it's not rants I hate. I love a good rant as much as the next drunk...In fact I'm ranting at this very moment!

But when someone legitimately makes a Marketplace post making people aware of products or services or erotic Tiki massages why the hell does the world need to know if I think their artwork sucks, their prices are ridiculous, and their restrooms always smell like pee? That's what parties are for: To stand around and bitch about the crappy overpriced art being sold on Tiki Central by pee smelling swindlers.

If the product being sold is an actual ripoff of another artist or if the seller has a spotty business history or a lot of the ladies working there are undercover cops then a well written informative comment on a thread is warranted.

But what's the point of general "That looks stoopid!" "$500 for a wading pool???" "You shouldn't buy Made In China junk there, you should buy Made In China junk HERE!" posts?

Comments such as those would probably be better appreciated over in Bilge where a few of us constantly type our fingers to the bone trying to keep new content flowing.

And now to elegantly wrap this rant up...

Talking to my folks a couple weeks ago they mentioned some Tiki stuff at Walmart...Would I be interested? Visions of Party City flashing through my head and knowing how my folk's love a good clearance sale I had to make it clear and make it stick. So for about five minutes my comments went something like "Oh, thanks for keeping an eye out, but no, no, please no. No. No. No. No. Again, really, no. No. Walmart. Tiki. No."

On 2009-05-24 10:42, The Sperm Whale wrote:
Wal Mart is evil that's old news...I bet Stuff O Rama would like to have their thread back though!!

The Walmart on Carson in Long Beach, CA had tiki shaped torches for under $6 a piece.

They look like this, but are a solid brown color.