Hungry families on food stamps line up at Walmart at midnight on the 1st of the month

[LazyBoy]

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By Jessica Hopper
Rock Center

At the stroke of midnight, a growing number of Americans are lining up at Walmart not to cash in on a holiday sale, but because they’re hungry.

The increasing number of Americans relying on food stamps to survive the sluggish economic recovery has changed the way the largest retailer in the United States does business.

Carol Johnston, Walmart’s senior vice president of store development, said that store managers have seen an “enormous spike” in the number of consumers shopping at midnight on the first of the month. That’s typically when those receiving federal food assistance have their accounts refilled each month.

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Re: Hungry families on food stamps line up at Walmart at midnight on the 1st of the month

My wife and I shop at a local small-chain supermarket. They have about 10 stores in the area. They cater to the middleclass, a choice/quality/presentation step above Safeway. Their aisles are festooned with sale tags - reminding me of the Japanese phenomenon of prices holding steady and no one buying anything that isn't on sale. For Thanksgiving, several of the clerks told me customers were celebrating on Friday - payday. They could not afford to shop ahead the prior week. Life in the paycheck-to-paycheck express lane . . . .