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Why would people go to Wal-Mart in Puerto Vallarta

Schplinky

By Schplinky,
in Mexican Riviera

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katlady

katlady

Posted
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You know why Vanilla is cheap in Mexico? Because Orchids love Mexican Climate. Vanilla comes from Orchids. I know I have one. You have to hand pollinate the vanilla flowers in the morning, the seed pod is the vanilla bean once it is dried out correctly. My seed pod never got long enough to dry out. My question to the group can you get vanilla beans at Wal-mart? Do you need a Sam Club Card to shop at the Mexican Sam's Club? Thanks for your help.:)

Vanilla Orchid and Seed pod.

thumb4340.jpgthumb4337.jpg

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walcherw

walcherw

Posted
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What brand of vanilla is sold at WalMart? I have bought it before in the markets, but you do have to be careful there.

They had more than one brand. We found that the area that has regular food was cheaper than the area where the souvenirs. The brand on the bottle that I got is "Usumacinta"

Woody

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gocalfan

gocalfan

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Okay, we go to Mexico at least two times a year and I have heard from different citizens of PV that WalMart and Sams Club have been sold to the Japanese and will be tearing them down. Has anyone else heard of this? I hope not! We love going just for the hot tortillas and the salsa. The deli also has good tacos.

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Bargeo

Bargeo

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She has pictures of everything but Bob. He must be "camera shy" !! :D:D

 

We met them on our recent cruise to the MR. Bob takes all the photos and posts everything here. Sofi is quite photogenic and he includes her in every shot. They make a handsome couple, and are as nice as can be.

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swedish weave

swedish weave

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They had more than one brand. We found that the area that has regular food was cheaper than the area where the souvenirs. The brand on the bottle that I got is "Usumacinta"

Woody

 

Is it good ?

 

I found some at the grocery store across the river from the Mercado that had the beans in the bottle with the vanilla, but didn't write down the name. DW gave it to a lady on the ship because we are making another trip in April. Just wondered if anybody has used it and how is the quality ?

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Hlitner "Live from...." Rare

Hlitner

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There have been lots of rumors in PV about the fate of Walmart and Sam's located at the shopping center across from the Marina. But, everything is rumors. At this time that particular Sam's is the only Sam's in the region. There are two new Walmarts in the region which has spurred the rumors of what will happen to the old store. There is also a new Costco (about 6 blocks from one of the new Walmart's) which has increased the competition here.

 

Hank

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joejo

joejo

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Walmart has the best groceries. Meat, dairy, produce and whatever you like you will find it in walmart.

 

The only turnoff for us is that they do not refrigerate the eggs.

Non refrigeration of eggs seems to be quite common in Mexico. At first I was turned off by it but after I ate a few egg meals there I was ok.

 

While in Mexico I find that Walmart is the best source for American items. When I was in Merida I needed cranberry juice for a medical reason and Walmart was the only place to find it.

 

 

Personally I'd rather visit an authentic mercado than a Walmart. Now THAT is a sight to see :eek::)

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swedish weave

swedish weave

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We met them on our recent cruise to the MR. Bob takes all the photos and posts everything here. Sofi is quite photogenic and he includes her in every shot. They make a handsome couple, and are as nice as can be.

 

I agree !! They are a wealth of information and post great pictures. Maybe someday I will get to meet them.

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walcherw

walcherw

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We met them on our recent cruise to the MR. Bob takes all the photos and posts everything here. Sofi is quite photogenic and he includes her in every shot. They make a handsome couple, and are as nice as can be.

What are you doing on this thread????

Woody

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ashok1982

ashok1982

Posted
Posted
This is all very interesting. Does Wal-Mart also sell the off-price prescription drugs that you seem to be able to buy most anywhere, without prescription?

 

When we were visiting Puerto Vallarta in Dec 2009, we went to Walmart because we were done with our excursion and we have three hours to kill. Instead of just going back to ship, we decided to check out Walmart. It was at a walking distance. On way back to San Pedros we were going to be on the ship for 2 days anyway, why spend few extra hours. I did not find prices of Souvernirs (refrigretor magnet, post cards and calendar-which we could not find at all) to be cheaper. But we were surprised how expensive were things for the Mexican people to buy at Walmart e.g. 89 peso for 1 kg of grapes. Remember when you convert dollars into peso, you may think it is cheaper. We were also looking for some true Mexican stuff like tortilla maker, lemon/lime juice squizzer (I saw these things at the Cabo san lucas restaurant and thought it will be nice to have) but could not find that in Walmart. I was also interested in a dress I bought at flee market and thought it will be cheaper at Walmart but I was wrong. Similar kind of sun dress I bought for US $9 at flee market in Cabo San Lucas was peso 291 at Walmart and there was more variety at flee market for dresses, pottery, blankets etc. You will find better bargains in flee markets than in Walmart. At flee market you can negotiate and there are no taxes and you are supporting local people. There were lot of people walking back to the cruise with suite cases, wine and soda bottles to the cruise ship. Walmart has the same brands as US for groceries, cosmetic etc. just labels were in Spanish. No one was speaking English when we have question. After the trip, we were just talking and said we learned our lesson and next time we were not going to any chain stores unless we need something for the trip.

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gomexico

gomexico

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At flee market you can negotiate and there are no taxes and you are supporting local people.

 

Who do you think is working at the Wal-Mart? It's "local people." Local people who pay taxes on their income - as does Wal-Mart, something most if not all of the street marketeers do not. Those Wal-Mart, Soriana and other large store jobs are no less significant to the community - actually, they're more important.

 

Oftentimes, the goods sold at the street markets - tianguis - are inferior quality, pirated, knock-offs, etc. The larger stores tend to offer better quality merchandise. Don't get me wrong, I shop at the street markets, also - but for items I cannot find at other stores (including some darn good food being prepared/sold in the tianguis).

 

Thanks.

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bzy1

bzy1

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There have been many rumors about the Marina WalMart being closed but no one knows for sure what the truth is except the most valid rumor is that it will become a casino. Sam's will NOT be closing.

 

The vanilla at Walmart in the "food/baking" section is mainly artificially flavored, they do have real vanilla in the souvenir section by the clothes. Vanilla beans are not sold at WalMart. There is a vanilla shop 2 blocks past Starbuck's on the Malecon that is at the bottom of the parking garage that sells vanilla beans as well as Rizo's supermercado that sometimes sells vanilla beans/pods at the front dest walk in.

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  • 5 months later...
jjb415

jjb415

Posted
Posted
... and one souvenir I forgot to mention before is cajeta.

You need to buy either cajeta candy (like glorias or the round ones that are kinda like a little sandwich) which are goat milk caramels or you need to buy goat milk caramel in a squeeze bottle. Great stuff! Google cajeta if you are not familiar with it and you'll find out more about it, uses and recipes. Awesome on ice cream!

 

Interesting, thanks for the info !! :)

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nusail

nusail

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YES... Our Sams club card is good there too.:D

 

An earlier post indicated that a membership was not needed for Sam's Club in PV. Can someone confirm that? We don't have Sam's Club in Canada so I'm not familiar with it.

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