Wal-Mart in Ghana? (What's It Like Shopping in Africa) New Supercenter in Accra

I'm Tony. This is my wife, Ayo. We're documenting our move from Texas to Ghana as we go beyond the return. And in this video, we're heading out to Wal-Mart. Wait, what? Let's get this video started. There is not a Wal-Mart in Ghana. Are you sure? Yeah, I'm sure. Okay, you're right. There's not a Wal-Mart here in Ghana, but the latest place to open near Spintax in Greater Accra will have you thinking you're in the nicest Wal-Mart you've ever been in. Yeah. There have been a few new entries into the big box store industry in Ghana over the last few years. Orca, which I love, has recently expanded their footprint and inventory. That place is gigantic now, and they have so much stuff, so much stuff. And that home decor, toys, furniture, that's a really great spot when you're first moving to Ghana to kind of get yourself all settled in, right? When I was decorating the lodge, I was all over trying to get the things that would make our B&B a comfortable and inviting place. Yeah, you did a good job on that place. Good ole. Yeah. Thank you. I shopped a lot at Orca, and also Palace and Malcolm. Yeah, people think that I had something to do with that, and I just want to put the record – we're going to clear that up right now. I had nothing to do with the decoration of the lodge. All this guy. And you would take me out with you to the Malcolm Home Store, which was nice because we could get a lot of things there, but I feel like that was one of the better spots, the Home Store. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I found that they had the best inventories and the inventory stock items available. I feel like it was a little bit different from the Orca experience, but now they've opened up what has to be described as like a super center. Yeah. I'll give you that. It's a super center, all right. I wish this place was open when I was getting the lodge set up. Yeah, absolutely. Again, it's right off of Spintex in Greater Accra. Traffic can be thick in this area, so plan a non-rush hour time to visit. For real. You could be sitting on that road for a minute. I was struck when we first pulled up that this place had underground parking. Underground parking? Yes, geez. The cars stay cooler. There's no craziness with the parking, and there are plenty of spots. So many spots. So when we first got there and we walked inside, I was like, whoa. Yeah. Really, I was thinking about the smell. They were cooking up a storm up in the front. Yeah. They had that local foods and international foods options right by the door. It was like, hey, just come in and grab. That was, whew. My thing is the baking. The baking. Oh, wow. You smell that bread going. From that main entrance, you can see the deli, the art kitchen, and the chop bar all ready to feed you. Absolutely. And we wanted to walk through everywhere before we ate. It was hard. Yeah. It was hard not to do that, but we had to explore first. Yeah. That bakery with the fresh bread option plus cake, some loaves. You really were into that bread place. We added a couple of loaves to the cart. We sure did. Okay. All right. They had a dairy section too, which is like, yay. Okay. Sorry. Yeah. Now we wanted to head up to the non-food section before we loaded up on the items that would get cold and before we could explore things. Yeah. We wanted to explore first. So they have this slanted escalator thing. No carts on that, but Leo was way too excited to go on a ride. It was like, what? Yeah. Once we got upstairs, it was just clear how massive this place really is. I mean, it's like huge, gigantic, just one end to the other. Yeah. Great selection of mattresses, beddings, bedroom furniture, sheets, pillows, all that kind of stuff. You need to sleep comfortably. Yeah. And the boys were beyond happy to find the toy section. They had a pretty good selection. Not as vast as Orca, but like pretty decent, you know? I was impressed. Yeah. But not impressed. There were not any hot wheel cars. Aw. There were no Lego either. That's two of our favorite things. Two of our favorite things. Yeah. But overall, they had some really great stuff. They did. Hi. I'm Leo. Subscribe right now. And then we had that whole stationary section near where the storage area stuff was. Yeah. And I ditched you there and went to the sports section. It must be the teacher in me who's like, ooh, I wonder what kind of pens they have. Do you know? Yeah. The boys found that punching dummy over in the sports section. Mm-hmm. Yeah. They had everything. They had yoga mats, weights, trampolines, bikes, treadmills, and an inflatable jacuzzi. Yeah. The boys really wanted us to bring that inflatable jacuzzi home. I want to bring it to the lodge. Okay. So we looked all through the selection upstairs, which was kind of home decor. There was plenty of furniture, chairs, sofa, tables, towels. I mean, everything. And then we headed back down to the food. I feel like that was where you mostly wanted to spend our time there, right? Oh, yeah. Now, this place really, it really is huge. And when we got a chance to explore more downstairs, I was surprised to see how many options they had that were actually kind of stateside staples, right? Yeah. I'd agree with that one. Yeah. I even found Ben and Jerry's ice cream. How much was it? Well, in dollars, it was like $11 for a pint. You were drilling for the ice cream. I found the liquor. You probably get like, first off, they legit had an entire room of liquor. It was comfortable. It was. To find. It was just, it was like, wow. This is what you're supposed to have in a store like this. It was a huge variety. A walk-in liquor room. With a cooler and then everything on the shelf. It was impressive. That it was. You picked up a bottle. Well, I think your bottle of liquor was cheaper than the pints of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. It definitely was. Yeah. Weird how that works out. It is, isn't it? Great prices, better than your ice cream. Okay. After that, we walked to the fishery, the butcher, and then through the fresh food section. The selection was pretty great. Especially if you've been searching for something that you can't find anywhere else. I agree. Like celery. They had celery. Doesn't seem like a weird staple. I know, but they had celery. Yeah, so we also walked through the appliances on our way to the checkout. Yeah, TVs, fridges, stoves, washers, AC, rice cookers, like everything was over there. I found a popcorn popper that I have the perfect place for. I'll add it to your Christmas list. My birthday's next month. I knew you were going to say that. Okay, so at checkout, there were tons of aisles and last-minute impulse buys on the way up. What was weird, though, was they were set in different sections. I thought that was a little confusing. Was that just me? It was like... How they had it. Yeah, I guess how they had it was weird, but they were smart to, while you're waiting at checkout, to check out to put some stuff. We did. Look at what else we got before you buy, before you check out. They got us on that one. I'll give you that one. So they accept POS, which is like your debit or credit card, so make sure you bring that and from there, you can really go nuts. Yeah, from there, it was finally time to eat. So we headed outside to eat on the patio. They had like a little patio and it had a kid's section there, which was pay by the hour, so kind of plan appropriately. Yeah, it was a great day. It was a great day. I had a fun time. So now you can see why I call this Walmart. It's like the super center of super centers. They have everything. Yeah, I agree. They were really well stocked, really nice structural building, and it was extremely well done. They really impressed me with this one. Steel beams and the substructure, central AC systems. Central AC, can you believe that? Yeah, you gotta have that nowadays. You were like... I was like, what are you looking at? He's like, look at the construction. Yeah, so they really thought it out and did a great job with the construction of it. Yeah, I will say when we go to Malcolm, I always have a little bit of trepidation. Join the conversation. Drop a comment below and let us know what you think. After you just spent the last however long gushing over it. Yes. But the reason is that Malcolm is not a corporation that is Ghanaian owned. It's like a corporate version of imperialism, right? When they come in and profit off the local people and then take their profits without reinvesting in that same locale back to their home country. Sounds like capitalism American style. Or Chinese style. Either way, there are several big Ghana companies that are not owned by Ghanaians. Yeah. Don't hate the players. Hate the game. All right. Well, it's still great shopping experience. It's absolutely where you need to go if you are moving here for the first time and you're trying to get yourself settled. And it's quite different than trying to shop for everything on the roadside or at the outdoor market shopping plazas. So. Yeah. So there you have it. Ayo says Walmart is in Ghana. Yes, it is. And after you watch this video, if you're ready to get to Ghana, join our closed Facebook group so you can connect with folks just like you. And if you're planning your first visit and if you're planning your first trip to Ghana, check out what we have to offer on our website at expatlifeghana.com, including full service tours, airport pickup and drop off, and day trips to see the best of Ghana. Plus, we now offer accommodations at the B&B. Check out the rooms and full service options online at expatlifeghana.com. And check out what decor Tony put together in that spot. It's awesome. Yeah. Hit that like button if you're still here with us and subscribe. Yep. And don't forget to hit that notification bell so you can join us for our monthly live videos right here on the YouTube the last Friday of every month. And with that, Charlie out for now. I know. It's like, it sounds like water, right? It can't be a bird. They would have to be putting on a production of cats up there. Birds putting on cats. That's funny. Sorry. Birds. It took me a minute. Ah. She's funny today. I think there's something up. Like dripping? To Ghana? I'm sorry. Okay. Near Spintax. Outside of Greater Iraq. I just messed that whole thing up. Okay. You're right. Aquaba. And welcome to Expat Life Ghana. I'm Tony and this is my wife Ayo. We're documenting our return. Our move. Not our return. The shirt made you say that. One more time.