Wally World (Walmart nickname)
Walmart is a chain retail store that was founded by Sam Walton in 1962. “Wally World” was the name of the fictional amusement park in the comedy film National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983). Walmart has been nicknamed “Wally World” (or “Wallyworld”) since at least 1991.
Walmart has also been nicknamed “Wal-Fart” (cited in print since at least 1994) and “Wally Martinez” (cited in print since at least 1998).
Wikipedia: Walmart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company was the world’s largest public corporation in 2010 by revenue.
The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962, incorporated on October 31, 1969, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. Wal-Mart, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, is the largest majority private employer Walmart is also the largest grocery retailer in the United States. In 2009, it generated 51% of its US$258 billion sales in the U.S. from grocery business. It also owns and operates the Sam’s Club retail warehouses in North America.
Walmart has 8,500 stores in 15 countries, under 55 different names.
Wikipedia: Wally World
Wally World may mean:
. Walley World, a fictional theme park in the 1983 film National Lampoon’s Vacation
(...)
. Wal-Mart
Wiktionary: Wally World
Proper noun
Wally World
1.(slang, pejorative) A nickname for Wal-Mart
2.(slang) A fictional theme park patterned after Disneyland in the 1983 movie National Lampoon’s Vacation.
Urban Dictionary
Wally World
Slang for Wal*Mart.
“This shit was only $9.00 at Wally World”
“Hi, welcome to Wally World… would you like a sticker?”
by Jillhole Dec 4, 2002
Google Books
Broken Heartland:
The rise of America’s rural ghetto
By Osha Gray Davidson
New York, NY: Anchor Books
1991
Pg. 49:
The fastest-growing company in its field, Wal-Mart is expected to challenge top- dog Sears by 1993. 1 Retailers across rural America share Abbott’s feeling that there is nothing you can do when “Wally-World” (as some of its detractors call it) moves to town.
18 April 1991, The Gazette (Colorado Springs, CO), “Consumers’ guilty pleasures in the ‘80s spell profits for Wal-Mart in the ‘90s”:
“Look at the sheer volume of clothing,” says one Colorado Springs woman as she stands in the Wal-Mart store on 8th Street. This is “Wally World,” her favorite place to shop, a place of Gitano pants, 37-cent soft pretzels, and Lee Press-On Nails in a wide array of colors.
24 July 1991, St. Petersburg (FL) Times, “Discount chain shooting for fun series: Clearwater” by Mark Albright, pg. 1A:
Arch-rival Wal-Mart is called Wally World, The Evil Empire.
2 June 1992, Eugene (OR) Register-Guard, “Look Out Merchants—Here Comes Wal-Mart” by paul Dunwiddle:
“Wal-Mart’s definition of service is to have someone standing at the door saying, ‘Welcome to Wally World.’”
Google Groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.misc
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From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (D. Anderson)
Date: 23 Nov 1993 10:07:00 -0600
Subject: Is WalMart pulling out of software?
I went to my local Wally World and they had slashed prices on some of the games (Jordan in FLight $15, A-Train $15, F-117a $20, Inca $15, and a horrible compilation called SciFi Powerhits for $5, which I bought).
WalletPop
Aug 30th 2010 at 6:00AM
10 best company nicknames
WalletPop Staff
(...)
WALMART
Popular Nickname: Wally World
Did You Know? The term “Wally World” comes from a fictional amusement park in the 1983 comedy film National Lampoon’s Vacation. The sheer size and “everything under the sun” mentality of the park set the stage for the Walmart store name to be altered to “Wally World” soon thereafter. A parking lot depicted in the film also resembles a cement desert without end.