Walmart no longer an option?

You can beat the dead horse....or better yet beat Sam Walton.....hes dead.


The official position, sign or no sign, ordinance or not.

"Can I park my RV at a Walmart store?

While we do not offer electrical service or accommodations typically necessary for RV customers, Walmart values RV travelers and considers them among our best customers. Consequently, we do permit RV parking on our store parking lots as we are able. Permission to park is extended by individual store managers, based on availability of parking space and local laws. Please contact management in each store to ensure accommodations before parking your RV."

Wow, oh wow..

Sure is a lot of folks painting with very broad brushes...

Folks, you CAN ASK at the Walmart SERVICE DESK if you can overnight EVEN WHEN THERE IS SIGNS POSTED!!!

A Walmart that is handy on one of our normal trips for years did not have any signs posted..

Just a couple of years ago we noticed they had put up signs, went in and asked.. They told us that IT WAS FINE to overnight and the signs were there to COVER THEIR BEHINDS. That is why you should go in and ask.

I am NOT "CAMPING" or "SETTING UP CAMP", just trying to get a few hrs rest FOR SAFETY to prevent me from falling asleep at the wheel.. I am there for 5-6hrs max, not 24/7..

I suspect it has something to do with folks who setup camp for days, weeks, months in the parking lot (IE LIVING THERE).. Much less about local campgrounds complaining about losing business..

Now that Wally offers free home delivery, parking isn't an issue :C

What I really appreciate are the Oasis parking places along some Interstates that provide minimum amenities for $20/night. Electric, water, and a dump station and I will gladly pay. I do not like paying $45 to a commercial campground for a few hours sleeping space and a bunch of stuff that I will never use. That middle ground does not exist often enough for me. I do not need free.

turbojimmy wrote:
I don't know about other states, but here in NJ business owners cannot override local parking ordinances......

Now that I've typed it, I don't know what the purpose of my story is. I guess it's that in most cases it's not up to the business owner whether to allow overnight parking and that enforcement varies place-by-place. The "No Overnight Parking Signs" are often cover-your-butt moves by the businesses. And, like others have said a few bad apples ruin the courtesy for everyone else....

It was good point made.
Walmart parking lots are on private property they CAN decide if they want to allow overnight parking or not.

Except when a City ordinances states no overnight parking.

So if the city code says no overnight parking than that store must abide by the city codes/ordinances.

donn0128 wrote:
Good for Walmart. In Bend the parking lot looks like a druggie parking lot 24/7. Im almost scared to even stop any more.

This is likely the reason! Noticed around here at Home Depot and local large grocery/dry goods store. They always had a couple semis parked on the far side of the lot. Then you started to see more RVs, then the RVs held together with bailing wire and duct tape.

If your only towing Red Cars, I'm screwed.

I always go inside and ask, even if I see other RV's parked on the lot. Why? Not because I am a particularly rule abiding person. The reason I ask is that there is an often repeated story on the Internet about a scam being operated between some local officials and a towing company in which the RV is "Fined" over one hundred dollars for violating some obscure city ordinance. It sounds more like a shakedown and probably not legal, but who is going to fight city hall when it is the locals doing the shaking?

I do not ask the cart kid, but an actual manager. I sleep better knowing the next clang I hear is not the tow truck attaching his hook.

I don't know about other states, but here in NJ business owners cannot override local parking ordinances.

There are 2 WalMarts within about 7 miles of each other. Both have signs that say "No Overnight Parking" because both towns restrict overnight parking. The one in my town sits at the end of a vacant mall. The parking lot is expansive and always empty. But no trucks or RVs ever park there, despite being reasonably close to Rt. 80. Somehow truckers know not to park there.

The other WalMart is a bit closer to Rt. 80 and is part of a very active mall with less parking. There are typically lots of trucks and a handful of RVs there overnight. That one becomes a hotbed of prostitution and drug sales after a while and the cops will crack down on the overnight parking rules. Then they'll let it slide again until the scumbags ruin it again. I parked there one night just to say I did it. Sure enough, at one point a car full of lot lizards rolled up and started visiting trucks. They must stay away from the RVs. There was a homeless guy in a van, with a dog, living there for months. He had a sign on his van begging for donations. It was a pretty flagrant violation of the rules but for whatever reason the cops looked the other way. I think what ultimately led to his demise was not the local ordinances but the business owners complaining about his panhandling. I gave him $20 once and saw him at the liquor store buying beer and scratch-off lottery tickets minutes later. Lesson learned.

Now that I've typed it, I don't know what the purpose of my story is. I guess it's that in most cases it's not up to the business owner whether to allow overnight parking and that enforcement varies place-by-place. The "No Overnight Parking Signs" are often cover-your-butt moves by the businesses. And, like others have said a few bad apples ruin the courtesy for everyone else.

And I don't get why you'd ask the manager. First, it's not likely they have any authority over parking anyway. Second, it's far better to do it and beg for forgiveness later than to get a flat out "no" and have to find somewhere else.

3oaks wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:

C-172-AV8R wrote:
Rv parks complain to city council that they are losing money. City council capitulates and viola. New signs. Don't blame Walmart they just have to follow the law. Blame the Rv parks. I remember that happened in Prince George B.C so everyone going to Alaska told council they didn't need to stop in P.G. Well all the fuel stations and restaurants complained so they rescinded the ban. Power to the $$$ for sure.

Yep, RV park owners easily can out spend and out maneuver Walmart. The fact that Walmart really couldn't care less one way or the other is the only reason such ordinances ever pass.

You wouldn't be a bit biased now, would you?

Have you ever talked to the store managers of local Walmarts? I know for a fact some of them do care and some of them were really peeved when local authorities passed ordinances banning overnight RV parking at the urging of commercial RV park owners. Not just Walmart, but businesses like some Cabelas stores had to warn customers about an overnight parking ban.

No, I do not make a habit of talking to the managers of all the various Walmarts across the country. I would also wager you do not either (unless you are a regional manager or similar working for Walmart corporate). I assume those managers have much more important things todo than talk rv parking with random strangers.