Article

The Team
WakeUpWalMart.com

Californian
April 29, 2009                            [back to top] 

The path is clear for Wal-Mart Supercenters to make their case to Salinas voters after the Monterey County Registrar of Voters confirmed on Friday that enough valid signatures had been collected on a petition to force a referendum on the city's ban of big-box stores.

The pro-Wal-Mart group Salinas Consumers for Choice collected 7,195 signatures, in excess of the required 4,600, or 10 percent of Salinas registered voters.

The City Council is expected to consider the matter at its June 2 meeting. Unless the city repeals the big-box ban, the vote would happen in a special election or at the next regularly scheduled election in November 2010.

When the signatures were filed on April 6, Councilwoman Jyl Lutes - a ban supporter - said this November is more likely than next.

"The earliest would be June, but I'm going to guess this November," Lutes said. "There could also be a tax measure for public safety, and that is very like to be on the ballot for November."

The ban prohibits stores with more than 90,000 square feet in retail floor space from devoting more than 5 percent of that space to the sale of non-taxable items like groceries. Supercenters, unlike a regular Wal-Mart, fit that description.

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Wal-Mart returns $1.7M to Ohio for tax credit

Associated Press,
04.29.09                                        [back to top]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has given Ohio $1.7 million as repayment for a tax credit on an optical lab that the company closed in March.

Ohio had provided the world's largest retailer with a $1.8 million job-creation tax credit in 2001 on the condition that the company create and maintain jobs at the facility. It was located in the Columbus suburb of Lockbourne and made eyewear for vision centers in Wal-Mart ( WMT - news - people ) stores.

About 650 workers were laid off. The company's cost-cutting move prompted state officials to review tax incentives given to firms.

Kelly Schlissberg, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Development, called Monday's repayment responsible and said Wal-Mart was quick to respond to the state's concerns.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved

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Ahead of the Bell: Wal-Mart investor meetings

Associated Press,
04.29.09                              [back to top]

Appearances by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. at investor meetings in New York this week could shed some light on tax-rebate benefits, an analyst said Wednesday.

The world's largest retailer will make a presentation at the Barclays Capital Retail and Restaurants Conference on Wednesday and attend meetings hosted by Jefferies & Co. on Thursday.

Jefferies analyst Daniel Binder said he expects an "upbeat message by management" about "Project Impact," a program that involves store layout, price messaging, merchandising and customers' in-store experience.

"There has already been much discussion on the topic, but we believe the company could provide more specifics to support the decision to increase remodel activity this year versus last year," Binder wrote in a note to investors on Wednesday.

Also, Binder hopes to hear about how the tax rebate is affecting second-quarter sales. He currently forecasts second-quarter earnings of 80 cents per share, while analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, predict a profit of 85 cents per share.

"It appears that consensus sales estimates are about 2 percent higher than ours and we think this could be a reflection of how the Street is modeling (same) store sales as we lap tax rebates to consumers a year ago," he wrote. He added, "We could start to see (second-quarter) EPS estimates come down as benefits from last year's tax rebate become clearer."

Same-store sales, or sales in stores open at least one year, is considered a key metric of a retailer's financial health.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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America's Most Reputable Companies

Klaus Kneale,
04.29.09                               [back to top]

The Reputation Institute just released its annual survey that determines the nation's most respected companies. Google is no longer on top.

Would you recommend that a friend buy medicine from Johnson & Johnson? Insurance from AIG? Do you trust Google?

These are the kinds of questions people answered about 153 American companies for the Reputation Institute, a private research and consulting firm. The Reputation Institute ranked these companies on how esteemed, admired, trusted and liked each was, based on its surveys of the general public.

As it turned out, Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ - news - people ) blew the others out of the water. Its pulse score, a 0 to 100 rating, was 83.58. That is 2.49 higher than Kraft Foods ( KFT - news - people ), which ranked second on the list.

Johnson & Johnson has bounced around in the top 10 for a several years now. It tumbled from second place in 2006 to fourth in 2007. It jumped back up to second last year. This year, its pulse score is up just 0.10 (a statistically insignificant change). So it may have to thank Google ( GOOG - news - people ) for relinquishing the top spot to it.

Google ranked first last year, but that wasn't really Johnson & Johnson's doing. Google's pulse score fell more than six points, from 85.23 to 78.80. The tumble dropped Google to eighth place. In fact, you have to look at the bottom 20 on the list just to find a larger drop in score. Still, having the eighth best reputation in the U.S. is nothing to complain about.

How does the ranking work? The Reputation Institute collected survey data on 600 companies globally, gathering its U.S. data in January and February. Only individuals in a company's home country and familiar with the company could rate it. So Americans rated only American companies they knew about.

This might have slanted things a little, since many Americans aren't too keen on anyone in their banking and finance industry right now. The three largest drops in pulse scores were AIG ( AIG - news - people ) (-27.52), Goldman Sachs ( GS - news - people ) (-17.31), and Morgan Stanley ( MS - news - people ) (-13.11).

Not surprisingly, AIG dropped almost to the very bottom of the list. However, it still doesn't have as poor a reputation as Halliburton ( HAL - news - people ). Halliburton was up 3.48 this year, to 27.47.

Biggest Losers 2009 Pulse 2008 Pulse Change

AIG 34.27 61.79 -27.52

Goldman Sachs 49.81 67.12 -17.31

Morgan Stanley 52.20 65.31 -13.11

Pacific Gas and Electric 51.91 63.81 -11.91

General Motors ( GM - news - people ) 55.63 63.07 -7.44

Citigroup ( C - news - people ) 46.00 53.40 -7.40

Google 78.80 85.23 -6.44

Chubb 59.58 64.88 -5.30

Hartford Financial Services ( HIG - news - people ) 61.34 66.16 -4.82

Xerox ( XRX - news - people ) 73.82 78.44 -4.62

It's not all bad for financials, though. A few in the sector saw significant reputation gains this year. Bank of America ( BAC - news - people ) (+7.96) and US Bancorp ( USB - news - people ) (+8.28) had some of the biggest jumps on the list.

Even those bounds were dwarfed by Wal-Mart ( WMT - news - people ) and Dow Chemical ( DOW - news - people ), though. Wal-Mart moved up 12.16 to a pulse score of 65.17. Without this rise, Wal-Mart would have been ranked 142nd , but its boost in reputation brought it to 84th place--a very impressive change within one year.

Dow Chemical gets the prize for most improved overall, though. The company's pulse score came in at 63.95, a full 13.31 points ahead of its score from last year. That got it to 97th on the list. Patti Temple Rocks, Dow vice president for global public affairs, brand and reputation, says, "We attribute this in part to the comprehensive brand and reputation-building efforts the company has undertaken in the past several years. We are looking forward to continued positive trajectory in 2010."

Biggest Gainers 2009 Pulse 2008 Pulse Change

Dow Chemical 63.95 50.64 13.31

Wal-Mart 65.17 53.01 12.16

TJX Companies ( TJX - news - people ) 64.69 55.35 9.33

Koch USA 68.90 60.48 8.41

US Bancorp 62.46 54.18 8.28

Altria ( MO - news - people ) 52.50 44.31 8.19

Bank of America 58.90 50.94 7.96

Sears 69.45 61.80 7.66

Microsoft ( MSFT - news - people ) 78.05 70.52 7.53

Verizon Communications ( VZ - news - people ) 63.53 56.25 7.28

Two newcomers to the list were the online retailer Amazon and the hygiene products company Kimberly-Clark ( KMB - news - people ). Kimberly starts strong at 14th, with a pulse score of 77.47, and Amazon ranked 20th, with a pulse score of 75.74.

You might wonder why this or that company isn't part of the list. The Reputation Institute focused solely on companies engaged in commercial activities and with reasonably high familiarity among the public. Wholly owned subsidiaries weren't included either.

Ultimately, reputations among American companies are relatively stable. Some 75% of the companies on the list underwent changes of less than five to their pulse scores. In fact, median reputation among American companies has gone up in the last year from 64.54 to 66.31.

Reputation Institute data show that a good reputation is good for business. Among the companies in the top 10 on the list, six of 10 people would recommend them to others. Among those in the bottom 10, only two would put in a good word, while three would outright boycott the company

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Union woos Wal-Mart workers in 17 states

BY STEVE PAINTER
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Sunday, April 26, 2009                               [back to top]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which has fended off unions at its U.S. stores throughout its climb to the top of the retailing world, is now the focus of a major organizing effort by the United Food and Commercial Workers.

The union, with 1.3 million members in North America, is actively recruiting potential members at more than 100 Wal-Mart stores in 17 states, including the store at 8801 Base Line Road in Little Rock.

Meghan Scott, a Food and Commercial Workers spokesman in Washington, said the union increased its organizing efforts after the election of President Barack Obama and the reintroduction this year of federal legislation that would make it easier for workers to gain union representation.

"We've seen a pretty significant uptick in calls from Wal-Mart workers across the country," Scott said. "The workers just seem to be emboldened in a way that they have not been in the last few years."

Wal-Mart spokesman Daphne Moore said the company is fully aware of the push to organize. She said employees seeking to join unions do not represent the bulk of Wal-Mart workers.

"The large majority tell us they enjoy their jobs," she said. "Many of our associates just don't seem to feel that union membership would be a better deal."

A supercenter in North Miami Beach, Fla., is the latest hot spot for Wal-Mart union activity. Workers who have been signing up potential members gathered in the store's parking lot last week to deliver a petition to store management to "cease its coercion, intimidation and unfair labor practices" aimed at blocking union representation.

"We need this union," store employee Eugene Hart said. "We need a voice to get better wages, better benefits."

The 32-year-old said he has been with the company for three years and makes $10.15 an hour. He said he can't afford the $300 a month it would cost for health insurance through Wal-Mart's plans, so the medical bills for his premature baby were covered by Medicaid.

"That's unacceptable," he said. The organizing effort was going well, Hart said, before Wal-Mart sent a team from its Bentonville headquarters to talk to workers and show an antiunion video.

Moore rebutted workers' reports that Wal-Mart fired or reassigned managers at the store, but said it is not unusual for the company to make changes to get the "right leadership in place."

"Clearly some associates at our North Miami Beach store have some concerns. We are continuing to work with them to ensure that their concerns are addressed," she said.

In addition to Florida and Arkansas, Scott said the union is seeking to sign up members at Wal-Mart stores in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Washington and California.

Last year, in the midst of the presidential campaign, the AFL-CIO and other labor groups filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission over reports that Wal-Mart required managers and supervisors to attend mandatory meetings at which they were warned that Obama's election would be bad for the company.

Obama supports legislation known as the Employee Free Choice Act that would allow workers to gain union representation if more than half of a proposed bargaining unit signs union cards.

Unions contend that companies use the time between card-signing and the election to intimidate workers with threats of dismissal or other retribution if a bargaining unit is formed.

The proposed legislation has been introduced in both houses of Congress but appears to be a few votes short of the 60 needed in the Senate to end an expected filibuster by opponents. U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., previously a supporter of the bill, said recently she will not support it.

U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., also an earlier supporter, said in a statement this month that the bill is "not perfect," and that he wants labor and management groups to recommend a compromise.

Under current law, workers can try to organize after signing up at least 30 percent of their colleagues. But employers usually demand government-run elections before accepting new unions.

The proposed legislation provides that if a majority of employees sign pro-union cards, the union would automatically be certified.

Wal-Mart is far from alone in opposing the Employee Free Choice Act. Most major retailers have expressed opposition, although a couple have suggested seeking a middle ground on the issue.

'UNDERSTAFFED, OVERWORKED'

Cynthia Murray of Laurel, Md., a nine-year employee in the apparel fitting room of a Wal-Mart store, said workers need representation to negotiate for better working conditions.

"We're understaffed, we're overworked," she said.

Murray said she's paid $10.80 an hour, and her most recent profit-sharing payment was $180. Full-time employees at her store are getting only 35 hours a week, she said, and part-time workers are down to 20 hours.

"I just want a fair deal, that's all," she said. "It's not like people aren't shopping here, they are. If we were in a slump or something, I could go with that, but we're not."

Murray said her store manager warned employees about opening the doors to a union, telling them that they wouldn't get paid any better with union representation. She said Wal-Mart has not threatened to fire her, but that many at her store fear some retaliation if they talk to union organizers.

"There's no doubt about it, they're afraid of Wal-Mart," she said.

Nelson Lichtenstein, a professor of labor history who has studied Wal-Mart for several years, said the new organizing effort clearly appears linked to the push for the Employee Free Choice Act.

"I think it's a kind of demonstration, as it were, to show that normal union-organizing processes don't work at Wal-Mart, and that's why you need the new labor law," he said.

If the union succeeds in organizing a few stores, he said, "that would show concretely that there is at least some percentage of Wal-Mart workers that want to form a union and they don't agree that everything is fine at Wal-Mart."

Establishing a few bargaining units also might encourage workers with some protection as a result of union representation to speak out publicly about any grievances against the company, he said.

Lichtenstein, who teaches at the University of California at Santa Barbara, has written a book to be published in July titled The Retail Evolution: How Wal-Mart Created a Brave New World of Business.

Lichtenstein said Wal-Mart's decision late last year to settle 63 class-action lawsuits alleging violations of wage and hour laws was a "dramatic" move that indicated Wal-Mart was "cognizant of a new environment" with the incoming Obama administration.

In Canada, the nation's Supreme Court has heard arguments but not yet ruled on whether Wal-Mart broke Canadian labor law when it closed a store in 2005 after workers voted to unionize.

And in a Texas case dating back nine years, Wal-Mart recently was ordered to negotiate with a few meat cutters over the impact of its decision to eliminate their jobs after they voted for union representation.

In Mexico, Wal-Mart bakery and restaurant employees are represented by that nation's largest union, a relationship established by Cifra, the company in which Wal-Mart bought a majority interest in 1997 as it expanded in Mexico. Unions also represent workers in Wal-Mart stores in the United Kingdom, Brazil, Japan and China.

'NO RESPECT'

Mark Moore, a 51-year-old overnight stocker for Wal-Mart in Dallas, said he'd welcome Food and Commercial Workers representation. He was a member of the union when he worked at Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

He has distributed and collected union cards at the store where he now works.

With union representation in his former job, he said, a shop steward would represent workers facing potential reprimands and advise them on what the company could or couldn't do and what to sign or not sign.

"All in all, it was real good. They did help us," he said.

Moore said he makes $9.90 an hour after three years at his current job, after starting at just over $7 an hour.

He said he has heard no threats of firing people for seeking union representation, but that one manager "harassed" him by checking on him every 15 minutes during one shift to see if he was getting his work done.

Workers at the store have met with a team from Wal-Mart headquarters, Moore said, and have been shown the anti-union video depicting purported pressure on workers to join.

"We don't pressure them like the videos have shown," he said.

Jackie Goebel of Milwaukee says she has seen Wal-Mart change during her nearly 21 years with the company. She works in claims, earning $18.36 an hour filing documentation for defective merchandise.

Earlier in her career, Goebel said, she considered Wal-Mart a very family-oriented company. Now, she says, if an employee says he or she can't come to work because a child is sick or the day care is closed due to weather, "they literally will fire you for it. There is no excuse good enough for them."

The company also has shifted more toward part-time employees, she said, but its insistence on "open availability" in scheduling precludes part timers from taking a second job.

"There is no respect in these stores for the hourly associates," she said.

Copyright © 2001-2009 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved.

In Their Words

walmartwatch.com                           [back to top]

Mary has worked in a Seattle Wal-Mart for 10 years.

After a decade of service for the world's largest retailer, Mary still receives food stamps and transitional housing assistance -- because her wage is still too low to pay her bills.

Mary and her courageous Wal-Mart co-workers tell their stories in this touching new video. Watch it now, and speak out for the rights of the 1.4 million Americans who work at Wal-Mart:

http://action.walmartwatch.com/InTheirWords

Wal-Mart gets away with treating its workers this way because it holds all the power over them, setting wages, benefits, and schedules however it wants. Then, when workers try to organize for better treatment, Wal-Mart bullies them into stopping.

A recent Wall Street Journal article said that Wal-Mart continues to crack down on workers, making some attend as many as four anti-union meetings a week.

It's time for that to change.

Right now, the Employee Free Choice Act is being considered in Congress. This crucial legislation would help millions of workers form a union if they choose -- free of the intimidation and influence of their employers.

This is a terrific opportunity for Wal-Mart workers to level the playing field with the company, but we need to build a wave of support to get it passed into law. Watch this amazing video of workers talking about why they need unions -- and sign the petition in support of change for Wal-Mart workers:

http://action.walmartwatch.com/InTheirWords

It's time that workers like Mary don't have to get pushed around by Wal-Mart anymore.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

David Nassar
Wal-Mart Watch

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America needs to know.

The Team
WakeUpWalMart.com                           [back to top]

Walmart workers are losing ground in the workplace and America needs to know.

Today, a new mini-documentary was released by Walmart Workers for Change. In it, real Walmart associates speak out against the poverty wages, unaffordable healthcare, and employee intimidation that have become "normal" at Walmart.

These brave Walmart workers have stood up to the most powerful retailer in America for one reason--they have seen the way Walmart works and believe something has to change. After you watch their mini-documentary, we know you will agree with them.

Today, we are asking you to support this new cause. Already, thousands of Walmart employees have joined Walmart Workers for Change. They're fighting for better wages, better healthcare, and representation in the workplace. But, they can not win their fight for a better workplace unless America gets to know the real Walmart. For that, they need you.

Let these Walmart associates know you've got their backs. Watch the new mini-documentary, send it to your friends, and Add your signature to the growing list of Walmart activists who support rights in the workplace for hard working Walmart employees.

Help spread the new mini-documentary: show your support for American Walmart workers

Walmart Workers for Change is fighting for a new law before Congress that would give 1.4 million Walmart workers a real chance for representation in the workplace, without the company's usual threats and harassment. We've joined with them to spread the word about the Employee Free Choice Act and the promise it holds for American Walmart workers.

For years, Walmart's anti-union drives have exploited America's soft labor laws, often breaking them outright. The results of these anti-worker policies are clear -- stagnating wages, sub-par benefits and an increasingly unfriendly workplace. All at a time when Walmart and the Walton family are benefiting from the sagging economy and making record profits.

Workers need a process that will guarantee their right to a voice in the workplace. They need to know that when a majority of their coworkers want to exercise their right to representation, they will get it. They need guaranteed contracts and tough penalties when Bentonville illegally intimidates and harasses them. Walmart workers need the Employee Free Choice Act.

Most of all, Walmart workers need you. Let America know that you support the mission of Walmart Workers for Change. Watch their new documentary and tell your friends.

Put Walmart workers back in the middle class: Watch the mini-documentary and sign the petition today.

It's time America met the real Walmart. Take action today.

Thanks for all that you do,

The Team
WakeUpWalMart.com

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Wal-Mart paid ex-CEO Scott $30.2 mln in FY09

By Sayantani Ghosh,
Reuters
April 20th, 2009                             [back to top]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc's (WMT.N) recently retired Chief Executive, Lee Scott, took home a total of $30.2 million in the year ended January, slightly down from a year ago, as revealed by the company's proxy statement.

Scott, who retired as the world's largest retailer's president and CEO effective January 31, had received a total compensation of $31.6 million in fiscal 2008.

Scott had served as Wal-Mart's CEO since January 2000.

Much of Scott's tenure was marked by struggles and a stagnating stock price. From 2000 through 2007, the company's stock fell 31 percent, with most of the drop coming shortly after his promotion.

In fiscal 2009, Scott received $17.4 million in stock awards, up from $14.1 million in the previous year.

His fiscal 2009 option awards were valued at $4.4 million, down from $6.8 million a year ago.

He received $5.8 million as non-equity incentive compensation, down from $8.4 million.

Scott's total compensation also includes salary, non-qualified deferred compensation and all other compensation.

Michael Duke, Wal-Mart's current CEO, received $12.2 million as compensation in fiscal 2009. He headed the retailer's international operations before being named CEO.

Duke is expected to expand efforts to reduce waste, use renewable energy and push suppliers to clean up their act.

Shares of the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company closed at $49.27 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.

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China union stymies Wal-Mart restructuring plan

AFP
April 20th, 2009                               [back to top]

BEIJING (AFP) — China's government-run trade union has blocked a plan by Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, to restructure its China-based management, state press reported Monday.

"Three mid-level executives came to my office this morning and told me the plan was shelved and they have resumed their work," Xinhua news agency quoted Yang Fengzhi, a union official in northeast China, as saying.

The managers in Jilin province, who earlier had been told they would be laid off, were asked to return to work after the union stepped in, the report said.

Wal-Mart officials however said they were still in the process of explaining the restructuring plan to employees and the union, Xinhua said.

On April 10, Wal-Mart said it needed to slash mid-level executives in an effort to adapt to "the changeable market situation," but company officials refused to say how many people would lose their jobs.

Wal-Mart entered China in 1996 and employs more than 50,000 people in the country. The retailer only allows trade unions to operate in its China stores.

Under the restructuring plan, affected employees were encouraged to move to other locations or face demotion or dismissal, Xinhua said.

The US discount titan's global net income fell to 3.79 billion dollars in the three months ended January 31, a 7.7 percent drop from 4.01 billion dollars a year earlier. It did not release China-specific figures.

Retailers in China are beginning to feel the pinch of the global downturn.

Sales growth weakened in the first two months of this year to 15.2 percent, compared with 21.6 percent for all of 2008 as consumers continue to lack the confidence to spend, according to the latest official data.

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Exxon Mobil overtakes Wal-Mart to top Fortune 500

By DAN STRUMPF ,
04.20.09                                           [back to top]

Exxon Mobil Corp. unseated Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in the 2009 Fortune 500 list, shrugging off the oil price bubble and weathering what the magazine called the worst year ever for the country's largest publicly traded companies.

Fortune's closely watched list, released Sunday, ranked companies by their revenue in 2008. Irving, Texas-based Exxon took in $442.85 billion in revenue last year, up almost 19 percent from 2007. The company also raked in the biggest annual profit, earning $45.2 billion.

Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart had held the top spot for six of the last seven years but fell to No. 2 this year. Still, the retail giant's 2008 revenue climbed 7 percent to $405.6 billion, as the battered economy sent more consumers searching for bargains. The world's largest retailer took in $13.4 billion in annual profit, an increase of about 5 percent.

Although it may have been a good year for Exxon and Wal-Mart, 2008 was far from rosy for most of remaining companies on the list. Overall earnings plunged 85 percent to $98.9 billion from $645 billion in 2007, the biggest one-year decline in the 55-year history of the Fortune 500 list.

"America is getting used to the sound of bubbles bursting," Fortune said.

Energy companies continued to dominate many of the top positions, as last summer's skyrocketing oil and gas prices more than compensated for their plunge later that fall. Chevron Corp. held on to third place with $263.16 billion in revenue, up 25 percent. ConocoPhillips climbed one place to fourth, with $230.76 billion in revenue.

General Electric Co., the diverse conglomerate whose troubled financial arm has been weighing on recent results, rose one notch to fifth. Battered automaker General Motors Corp. fell two spots to sixth, as revenue fell 18 percent and losses totaled $30.86 billion amid the imploding car market. Crosstown rival Ford Motor Co. followed, with $146.28 billion in revenue.

Telecom giant AT&T Inc. moved up two notches to take eighth place, with Hewlett-Packard Co. and Valero Energy Corp. rounding out the top 10.

Among the hardest hit in 2008 were financial services companies, Fortune said. Banks, securities firms and insurers took cumulative losses of $213.4 billion, accounting for almost 70 percent of the total dollar decline from the peak year of 2006, the magazine said. Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp., which were No. 8 and No. 9 respectively last year, each slipped a couple notches from the Top 10.

Thirty-eight companies fell off this year's list, including financial firms Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Washington Mutual Inc. and Wachovia Corp., all of which have either gone under or been acquired by rival banks.

Engineering and construction company URS Corp. moved the most up the list, leaping 185 spots to No. 264. But the title of "biggest loser" went to AIG Corp. The insurer, which has received more than $180 billion in government bailout aid since last fall, fell 232 spots to 245 in this year's ranking.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved

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Glass stepping down from Wal-Mart board

Associated Press,
04.20.09                                     [back to top]

David Glass, the former president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., is stepping down from the company's board of directors.

Wal-Mart ( WMT - news - people ) announced Monday that Glass will not stand for re-election to the board at Wal-Mart's shareholders' meeting June 5. Glass retired from his position as president and CEO in 2000, then became owner of the Kansas City Royals.

Glass joined Wal-Mart as executive vice president of finance in 1976 and was elected to its board a year later. He was named president in 1984 and succeeded Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton as president and CEO in January 1988.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Wal-Mart Cutting Bottled Water Brand Space

Progressive Grocer
April 20, 2009                                  [back to top]

Walmart Stores, Inc. may have cut the amount of shelf space it will devote to Coca-Cola Co.’s Dasani and PepsiCo Inc.’s Aquafina, according to a report by Reuters.

According Bill Pecoriello of ConsumerEdge Research, the international chain may soon replace 50 percent of the shelf space now dedicated to the two bottled water brands as it pushes lower-priced products, including its own private label water.

Pecoriello also noted that the stores may remove Aquafina and Dasani altogether.

Though spokesmen from Walmart, Pepsi and Coke all declined to comment, Pecoriello estimated Wal-Mart sales make up about 12 percent to 15 percent of Aquafina and Dasani’s total volume.

The expert stated this move could impact volume trends in the second through fourth quarters, though the impact on profit would likely be much smaller than that on volume, according to the report.

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Wal-Mart's former CEO received $7.93M in 2008

By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO ,
04.20.09                                               [back to top]

Lee Scott, who retired as the president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. effective Jan. 31, 2009, received compensation valued at $7.93 million in 2008, down 73 percent from the previous year, according to an Associated Press calculation of figures disclosed in a regulatory filing late Monday.

Scott received a base salary of $1.45 million last year leading the world's largest retailer, up 4 percent from $1.4 million the year before.

He received a performance-based cash bonus of $5.82 million, down about 30 percent from the $8.4 million he received in 2007. And he received perks that totaled $652,485 in 2008, up more than 50 percent from $431,446 in 2007.

According to the filing, as part of his retirement pact, Scott, who will continue leading the board's executive committee until January 2011, forfeited 25 percent of the 208,508 performance-based shares he received on Jan. 22, 2007, 25 percent of the 55,608 performance-based shares he received on March 26, 2007, and 50 percent of the 299,496 performance-based shares he received on Jan. 21, 2008, when he retired.

Scott and Wal-Mart ( WMT - news - people ) also agreed that 407,792 shares of restricted stock that were scheduled to vest upon Scott's retirement on or after age 65 would instead vest Feb. 1, 2011, after his retirement from all positions with the company.

Scott's successor, Mike Duke, who had been vice chairman of the company's international division, received compensation valued at $6.49 million in 2008. The executive changes were announced in late November.

Duke received a base salary last year of $1.05 million and a performance-based cash bonus of $3.06 million. He also received perks that totaled $380,343, which included about $107,000 for the use of the corporate jet.

A chunk of Duke's compensation came in the form of restricted stock worth about $2 million on the day it was granted. Not included in AP's overall compensation figure was a performance-based restricted award of 39,216 shares that is scheduled to vest on Jan. 31, 2012, if Wal-Mart meets certain revenue growth during 2010 and Duke remains employed through the vesting date.

The Associated Press formula is designed to isolate the value the company's board placed on the executive's total compensation package in the last fiscal year. It includes salary, bonus, performance-related bonuses, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimate value of stock options and awards granted during the year.

The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the SEC, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executive's compensation in the previous fiscal year.

Wal-Mart has been among few standout performers in retailing the past year. Its re-emphasis on low prices and its overhaul in merchandising came together as the economy began to sour. Wal-Mart has been pulling business from competitors as consumers focus on necessities and switch to cheaper stores.

Wal-Mart's fourth-quarter profit fell 7.4 percent to $3.79 billion, or 96 cents per share, in the quarter ended Jan. 31, dragged down by the strong dollar and a charge from settling labor lawsuits. The company made $4.096 billion, or $1.02 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding the impact of the labor lawsuits, however, Wal-Mart earned $1.03 per share, which beat Wall Street estimates. And its total sales rose to $109.12 billion from $107.34 billion.

Sales at stores open at least a year, a key indicator of a retailer's health because it excludes stores that opened or closed during the year, rose 2.8 percent in the quarter.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Wal-Mart denies Chinese management change halted

Associated Press,
04.20.09                                         [back to top]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. denied Tuesday a Chinese state media report that a plan to reassign Chinese managers has been halted due to objections from local unions.

Wal-Mart ( WMT - news - people ) said last week it would reduce the number of managers at its 145 stores in China and would move as many as 1,400 to other stores.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported late Monday that the plan was halted after unions objected.

A Wal-Mart spokesman, Jonathan Dong, denied the report and expressed surprise, saying employees have asked questions but no one has objected.

"It's not stopped," he said. "We need to open new stores and we need experienced people to help open new stores."

China is one of the only countries where Wal-Mart employees are represented by unions. The company agreed to cooperate with the state-sanctioned All-China Federation of Trade Unions after a lengthy campaign by the body. Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, has resisted efforts to organize unions at its stores in the United States.

Xinhua cited a trade union federation official in the northeastern city of Changchun as saying that many managers objected to the possibility of being transferred to other cities or being demoted.

"The company actually wants us to leave," a manager named Yang Zhongtian was quoted as saying.

Xinhua said managers of four stores in Changchun were summoned to the office of the labor group, which urged them to halt the plan.

China is one of the fastest-growing markets for Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer. Despite the global economic slump, it has opened 23 new outlets in China this year, according to Dong. The company employs more than 50,000 people in China.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Wal-Mart will keep fighting 'card-check' labor union proposal

BLOOMBERG NEWS SERVICE
April 17th, 2009                                      [back to top]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest U.S. private employer, will remain “vigilant” in fighting legislation that would make it easier for workers to unionize, the company’s top U.S. lobbyist said.

The measure probably won’t go anywhere in Congress after key members in both parties said they would oppose it, said Ray Bracy, senior vice president of Wal-Mart’s U.S. government relations. Still, the Employee Free Choice Act remains a top priority for organized labor in Congress.

“It’s an all-hands-on-deck approach,” Bracy said this week in an interview in Washington. “We have not declared victory.”

Labor unions view the measure, supported by President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress, as a way for workers to increase pay and benefits. The United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents 1.4 million supermarket and meat-packing workers, is urging the bill’s passage.

“From a worker and union point of view, there is no place to go but forward to pass the bill,” Jill Cashen, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based union, said by telephone yesterday. “It is not dead.”

In the past month, Senator Blanche Lincoln, an Arkansas Democrat, and Senator Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican who moved to support a version of the bill in 2007, said they planned to oppose the legislation. Majority vs. secret ballot

The legislation would let workers choose to form a union when a majority of employees sign a card requesting one, rather than permitting their employer to require a secret-ballot election run by the National Labor Relations Board.

UFCW organizers have visited more than 100 Wal-Mart stores since February to get workers to sign union-authorization cards. The Wall Street Journal reported on the union’s organizing efforts earlier today.

While Wal-Mart has seen increased efforts by the UFCW recently, the retailer thinks employees don’t have any reason to be more interested than before, said David Tovar, a spokesman for the discount chain.

During the two-week Congressional recess this month, U.S. workers held more than 400 events, wrote more than 27,000 letters, and made almost 100,000 phone calls in support of the bill, according to Eddie Vale, a spokesman for the AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. labor federation.

“The push for the Employee Free Choice Act is just heating up,” said Vale.

Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, has 1.4 million U.S. workers. It supports the efforts of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and state retail and business groups that oppose the legislation, Bracy, 52, said. "Long-term damage"

Chief Executive Officer Mike Duke told the NBC Today Show in an interview broadcast April 15 that it would “be damaging to the American economy long term.”

Three in four of Wal-Mart’s managers started as hourly employees, Duke said. Ninety-five percent of the company’s workers have “health-care insurance in some fashion,” he said.

“Why fix something that isn’t broken?” Bracy said. “It is a bad bill, and we don’t see much redeeming about it.”

Bracy said Wal-Mart opposes any compromise on the bill, including a proposal last month by Costco Wholesale Corp., Starbucks Corp. and Whole Foods Market Inc. that would allow management to demand a secret-ballot election, and a provision of the original bill requiring binding arbitration for union contracts would be dropped.

Under the proposal, penalties would be increased for companies that take action against workers before union elections and refuse to participate in collective bargaining.

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Union Intensifies Efforts to Organize Workers at Wal-Mart

By KRIS MAHER
and ANN ZIMMERMAN,
The Wall Street Journal
April 17th, 2009                                        [back to top]

The United Food and Commercial Workers union is ramping up organizing at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. after a five-year lull, dovetailing with its efforts to win support in Congress for a bill to make union organizing easier.

The Bentonville, Ark., retailer, a leading opponent of the legislation, said managers have seen increased union activity at a number of stores, prompting mandatory meetings to discuss unionization. "We have noticed that the UFCW has been working harder lately in its attempts to get Wal-Mart associates to sign union cards, but we don't think our associates have any reason to be more interested than before," said Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar.

Unions are expected to escalate card-signing efforts at other companies as well. But the campaign at Wal-Mart, because it is the nation's largest private-sector employer with 1.4 million employees at more than 3,600 stores, could have the greatest impact on the legislative debate and other organizing efforts.

Since February, about 60 UFCW organizers have been dispatched to more than 100 Wal-Mart stores in 15 states to get workers to sign union-authorization cards. The cards are attached to flyers that feature a photograph of President Barack Obama and a quote from a 2007 speech he gave to UFCW activists in Chicago. "I don't mind standing up for workers and letting Wal-Mart know they need to pay a decent wage and let folks organize," Mr. Obama said in 2007. A White House spokesman said Thursday that the president stands by the statement.

Meanwhile, the UFCW plans to fly about 100 pro-union Wal-Mart workers to Washington this month to lobby members of Congress on the pending legislation, known as Employee Free Choice Act. The bill, organized labor's top legislative priority, would allow unions to bypass secret-ballot elections and form union locals if more than 50% of workers at a company location signed cards requesting representation. At this point, the union said it hasn't obtained majority support at any Wal-Mart stores, but has majorities in a handful of individual departments, which can be unionized separately.

Business groups are spending tens of millions of dollars to defeat the bill and say it would allow union organizers to pressure workers to sign cards.

Wal-Mart and other companies targeted by unions are trying to counteract organizing efforts with meetings, fliers and videos. "I was a member of a union in a previous job, and it was not a good experience for me," a Wal-Mart representative said, according to an audio recording reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Wal-Mart remains one of labor's staunchest opponents, arguing that a union would lead to higher operating costs and less flexibility in managing workers. It also represents labor's biggest prize, because its jobs can't be shipped overseas and it sets standards in the retail and grocery industries. Union officials believe they would have an easier time organizing Wal-Mart competitors if the retailer were represented by unions.

At a Duncanville, Texas, Wal-Mart, the union has signed up 58 employees, representing a little more than 10% of the store's 500 employees. Several workers said the company's strong performance during the recession encouraged them to sign union cards in an effort to get better wages and benefits.

Linda Haluska, an overnight stocker at a Wal-Mart in Glendale, Ill., said Wal-Mart is "a good place to work, but it would be better with a union." Since February, Ms. Haluska said her store has held five or six meetings attended by managers from the Wal-Mart corporate office to discuss unionization. Ms. Haluska and other workers said the meetings are aimed at dissuading workers from supporting the union. "They are not giving us the full picture, just enough to discourage you."

For its part, in a letter dated March 6, Wal-Mart asked the union to stop violating company policy by entering its facilities and soliciting signatures from workers "in working areas and on working time." The company added: "These tactics provide a great illustration of why there is such widespread concern about allowing unions to be certified based solely on the basis of authorization cards."

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Carpenters Picket for Better Wages Outside West Valley Wal-Mart

KNDO TV
April 16th, 2009                            [back to top]

A group of carpenters picket in front of the Wal-Mart construction site in West Valley on Thursday.

They were calling for better wages from one of the subcontractors. The Pacific Northwest Council of Carpenters says Paras Concrete is not paying workers the same as other local companies.

The picketers say they want the public to take notice about the unequal pay.

Rockey Marshall with Pacific NW Regional Council of Carpenters said "We're wanting to make sure that the area standards that these individuals work under are maintained and not lowered."

In a statement released today, Paras Concrete says they feel the Union is sidestepping a federally laid out process. They think the Union is doing that because they can't win a secret ballot. The company also says their compensation and benefits are appropriate.

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Score 1 for Wal-Mart in Wilderness battle

Associated Press
April 16th, 2009                    [back to top]

Wal-Mart has won a battle in its bid to build a Supercenter near a Civil War battlefield in Virginia.

In Orange County, the Board of Supervisors rejected a coalition's request to join a planning study for an area near the Wilderness battlefield.

A majority of the five supervisors said they considered the offer an attempt to delay or derail the store. They relayed their sentiments in a letter this week to Civil War preservationists.

Wal-Mart's plans have angered historians, who contend the store will be too close to a significant battleground.

The company just recently submitted revised plans for the store. Planners have yet to vote on the proposal.

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Grilling sauce sold at Wal-Mart being recalled

The Gazette
April 15th, 2009                          [back to top]

A grilling sauce sold in several Colorado Wal-Mart stores is being recalled because it contains small amounts of anchovies not noted in its ingredients. The Old Cape Cod Sweet & Bold Grilling Sauce, produced by Cape Cod Foods of Ayer, Mass., only poses a threat to people allergic to seafood.

Products come in a 15.5-ounce glass bottle, UPC 90997-60100, and a 23.2-ounce plastic squeeze bottle, UPC 90997-61020. Code dates involved are up to, but do not include, April 10, 2010.

Buyers are asked to return these products to the place of purchase for a refund.

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Wal-Mart de Mexico 1Q profits rise 6 percent

Associated Press,
04.14.09                                   [back to top]

Wal-Mart de Mexico SA said Tuesday that net income rose 6 percent in the first quarter as the company cut prices to increase sales amid Mexico's economic slowdown.

Profit at the Mexican unit of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. ( WMT - news - people ) climbed to 3.5 billion pesos (US$359 million) from 3.2 billion pesos in the first quarter of 2008, the company said in an earnings report.

Sales rose 8 percent to a record 61.4 billion pesos (US$4.7 billion) as the Mexico City-based retailer slashed prices to draw shoppers, who are seeking bigger bargains as the economy slows and unemployment rises.

Mexico has been battered by the recession in the United States, which buys 80 percent of Mexican exports. Growth slowed to 1.5 percent in 2008 from 3.3 percent the year before, as consumer credit tightened and money sent home by migrants fell 3.6 percent.

Walmex, as Mexico's largest retailer is known, also opened 14 new stores in the first quarter to reach 1,219 units nationwide, including Wal-Mart Supercenters, Sam's Clubs, Superama markets and Suburbia clothing stores.

Walmex shares on the Mexican Stock Exchange fell 3.1 percent Tuesday to close at 36.75 pesos ($2.80).

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved

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Appeal expected on Wal-Mart decision

By The Record
April 11, 2009                          [back to top]

LODI - A law firm representing developer Darryl Browman notified Lodi City Hall via an e-mailed letter Friday that it intends to appeal a Planning Commission decision to deny a land use permit for a Wal-Mart Supercenter in west Lodi.

City officials said the e-mailed letter is not considered an official appeal until the city receives a paper copy and a $300 check, the cost to file an appeal.

An official copy is expected to reach City Hall by Monday, starting a 30-day time period in which the City Council must hold a public hearing on the use permit, city spokesman Jeff Hood said.

The letter of appeal states that Browman's shopping center project, anchored by a Supercenter, complies with all city requirements for a use permit and should not have been denied.

On Wednesday, commissioners cast a 3-3 vote on the use permit. A tie vote can not approve a motion, thus it was denied.

A Wal-Mart Supercenter has been the subject of controversy for the better part of a decade in Lodi as citizen groups have been starkly opposed. Lodi has a Wal-Mart, and a larger outlet would threaten small businesses, critics say.

A City Council decision on whether or not to issue a use permit for the shopping center could come as early as May 5, city officials said.

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Product recalls: shoes, chairs

The Associated Press,
04.09.09                                        [back to top]

The following recalls have been announced:

About 91,000 CARS Fleece Clog Children's Shoes, made in China, imported by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. ( WMT - news - people ), of Bentonville, Ark., and distributed by Pagoda International Footwear Ltd., of Hong Kong, because the four decorative wheels on the shoes can detach and young children could choke on them. The company received one report of a wheel detaching from the shoe. No injuries have been reported.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved

Wal-Mart Stores same-store sales rise in March

Associated Press,
04.09.09                                           [back to top]

Wal-Mart Stores says U.S. same-store sales rose 1.4 percent in March as consumers continued to hunt for bargains and bought necessities, such as groceries. But the results are below Wall Street expectations.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the world's largest retailer to post a larger 3.2 percent gain in same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least one year.

Same-store sales rose 0.6 percent at the company's U.S. namesake stores and 6.2 percent at its Sam's Club warehouses during the five weeks ended April 3.

Including fuel, same-store sales rose 0.7 percent.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer says first-quarter earnings will be at the high end of its outlook provided in February of earnings between 72 cents and 77 cents per share.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Wal-Mart Says Contract Keeps Status Quo At Quebec Store

By Andy Georgiades,
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
April 8th, 2009                                        [back to top]

An arbitrator has imposed a contract on a Wal-Mart Canada Corp. store in Quebec that the company says preserves the status quo for wages and benefits.

The store in Saint-Hyacinthe, about an hour east of Montreal, was certified by the United Food and Commercial Workers union in January 2005 without a vote. Binding arbitration began in late 2006.

Andrew Pelletier, vice-president of corporate affairs for Wal-Mart Canada, a unit of U.S. retailing giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), said the contract reinforces the company's long-held view that its wages and benefits are competitive.

While there is a provision - for current employees only - that will result in an increase of 30 Canadian cents an hour in each of the two years of the contract, the arbitrator links the decision to an "offset" for union dues because there's no wage increase in the contract, Pelletier said.

In his decision, arbitrator Alain Corriveau said Wal-Mart and the union negotiated in good faith, but the evidence showed that the wage scale proposed by the company should be retained as it "encourages and privileges performance at work."

He noted that Wal-Mart's wages are comparable to, and sometimes better than, those paid by Canadian discount retailer Zellers, a unit of privately held Hudson's Bay Co.

The store is now the lone Wal-Mart in North America to have a labor contract.

In Quebec, Wal-Mart previously closed a unionized store in Jonquiere and an auto garage in Gatineau because it said the union's demands would have made the operations unprofitable.

Asked whether the Saint-Hyacinthe store could close, Pelletier said the company can't speculate on any store's economic future.

Pelletier added that the Saint-Hyacinthe contract isn't a first, as a Wal-Mart store in Windsor, Ont. had a union contract in the late 1990s before employees decided to decertify. He doubts employees in Saint-Hyacinthe will feel better off given they've lost the company's "open-door process" and have to pay dues.

A separate contract for an auto garage attached to the Saint-Hyacinthe store is still being negotiated.

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Walmart: Selling more to higher-income shoppers

By Nicole Maestri,
Reuters
April 1st, 2009                                   [back to top]

Higher-income consumers are buying a wider range of products from Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) instead of simply loading their shopping carts with low margin food or consumable items, the retailer's U.S. chief operating officer said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a Morgan Stanley conference, which was broadcast over the Internet, Bill Simon said that customer traffic in its U.S. Walmart stores has increased among both higher-income and lower-income shoppers.

But in a change from the past, he said higher-income shoppers are now showing a willingness to buy beyond the basics as the retailer cleans up its stores and expands its offering of name brands.

For instance, Simon said Walmart has gained credibility with shoppers by selling more name brand electronics, like Sony, Apple and Samsung.

He also said Walmart stores are taking on a cleaner, sleeker look as it pares the number of items it stocks, allowing it to declutter its shelves, widen its aisles and brighten the look of its stores.

While Walmart may be appealing to a wider swath of the population amid the U.S. recession, demand for cheap groceries is still driving its business.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, Wal-Mart said that groceries accounted for 49 percent of its U.S. sales for the fiscal year that ended Jan. 31, up from 47 percent a year before.

Simon said the retailer has improved its supply chain, allowing it to get fresh produce into its stores faster.

He also said the retailer is "making a very loud, bold price impression," touting its low prices with big signs in its stores that say "Unbeatable."

Separately, he said Wal-Mart is "confident" that Congress will not pass proposed legislation that will make it easier for employees to form a union.

In March, the Employee Free Choice Act was introduced in both houses of Congress. The bill would let employees form a union if a majority of those in a workplace sign authorization cards. That would change the present practice in which workers usually vote in elections on unionizing, although the bill would leave elections as an option for employees to choose.

Many retailers, including Wal-Mart and Home Depot (HD.N), have voiced their opposition to the bill.

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Labour relations board rules against Wal-Mart

By Neil Scott,
Leader-Post
April 1st, 2009                      [back to top]

REGINA -- An application by Wal-Mart for reconsideration of the certification of a union at the company’s Weyburn store has been dismissed by the Labour Relations Board of Saskatchewan.

The board ruled that changes in the province’s labour law last year — which ended the practice by which a union could be certified without a secret ballot if a majority of workers at a workplace had signed union cards — should not be applied to the Weyburn Wal-Mart situation that dates back almost five years.

Local 1400 of the United Food and Commercial Workers union originally filed an application to represent the Weyburn Wal-Mart workers on April 19, 2004, based on the contention that more than half the workers had signed union cards.

But delays and legal wrangling meant that the labour relations board did not make a ruling to certify the union at the store until Dec. 4, 2008.

Provincial legislation approved in May, 2008 means that a secret ballot must be held to certify a union and that the previous practice in which a union could be certified through the card-signing practice without a secret ballot is no longer valid.

But that new law cannot be applied retroactively with respect to the Wal-Mart case, the labour relations board said, in a written decision issued March 26.

“In the Board’s opinion, when the Union filed an application for certification together with sufficient evidence of majority support in accordance with state of the law at that time, they completed all procedures within their control to complete under the procedures in place,’’ the labour board said.

“At that point in time, their reliance on the state of the law crystallized into a right, a tangible and particular legal right protected under the common law presumption against retrospectively,’’ the labour board ruled.

The labour board also rejected several other arguments for reconsideration of the case that were made by representatives of Wal-Mart.

Mike Wainwright, one of three members of the labour relations board panel that ruled on the case, issued a dissenting opinion from the majority ruling.

“The procedure for a vote is determined when the Board issues its decision and makes it Order,’’ Wainwright argued.

“By the time the Board issued the Order, the Act had changed and therefore the Board should have ordered a secret ballot vote,’’ Wainwright added, in his dissenting opinion.

A spokesman for Wal-Mart said the company is “extremely disappointed and surprised,’’ by the labour board’s ruling and plans to appeal it in the courts. A union official was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

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Pollo Campero closes test location inside Wal-Mart in Rowlett

By KAREN ROBINSON-JACOBS,
The Dallas Morning News
April 1st, 2009                                               [back to top]

The first test location of a program to put Pollo Campero restaurants inside Wal-Mart stores has closed a few months after it opened, the chain's parent company said.

The Rowlett restaurant, inside a Wal-Mart on Lakeview Parkway, opened in May. It was chosen largely because it was close to Campero USA, Pollo Campero's U.S. headquarters in Dallas, Todd Deckert, Campero USA's director of sales and marketing, said in an e-mail.

Campero announced the Wal-Mart plans in November 2007 – a strategy already used by chains such as Subway and McDonald's. The move was expected to help the retail giant boost its appeal to Latino consumers and allow Pollo Campero, which began in Guatemala, to expand in the U.S. at a lower cost than building free-standing sites.

Two of the Latin-themed restaurants initially were scheduled to open last year inside Chicago-area Wal-Mart stores. Instead, the program launched in Rowlett.

"This was an important development opportunity that we wanted to manage closely," Deckert said. "We have since learned a great deal about both the menu needs and demographic profile of our target Wal-Mart customer.

"The Rowlett location simply was not the right location for a Pollo Campero. As a result, we closed this location at the turn of the year and shifted our focus on the second-generation test," he said.

The new test site is in Rogers, Ark., a stone's throw from Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville.

"We adapted our menu and service offering," Deckert said. "We are extremely excited about the results we are seeing in Rogers. The volumes are much stronger, and the customer feedback has been great. We remain very excited about the potential of our partnership with Wal-Mart."

A spokesman for Wal-Mart did not return calls seeking comment.

When the Rowlett restaurant opened, John Murphy, Wal-Mart's regional vice president for North/Northeast Texas, said the retailer was attracted to Pollo Campero "because of its unique, broad appeal to all our customers."

At the time, the goal was to open 20 more restaurants inside U.S. Wal-Mart stores by the end of 2009. Deckert wouldn't say whether that plan has changed.

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Wal-Mart to increase investments in Brazil

By Zhang Xiang ,
China View
April 1st, 2009                                               [back to top]

The Brazilian branch of U.S. department store chain Wal-Mart announced on Tuesday that it will keep investing in Brazil, despite the international financial crisis' impact on the country's economy.

According to the Brazilian branch president, Hector Nunez, Wal-Mart's investments in Brazil will reach 1.6 billion reais (695 million U.S. dollars) this year. The company intends to open 90 new stores in the country, which will generate about 10,000 new jobs.

Despite the crisis, Wal-Mart registered revenues of 17 billion reais (7.4 billion U.S. dollars) in 2008, up 17.1 percent from 2007.

"It was a growth above the world average, which was of 6 percent," he said, adding the 2009 will be a good year for the company.

"Brazil will keep on growing, we will keep on investing and this global economic crisis will have to end someday," Nunez said.

Besides its main brand, Wal-Mart also owns other five smaller supermarket and department store chains in Brazil. The company also owns two drugstore chains.

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VIDEOS

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Fighting Wal-Martization 25min. (2005)

A new video by The Labor Video Project 25 min. (2005)

Wal-Mart is now the largest private employer in the United States and has the same impact that General Motors had nearly 50 years ago. This 26-minute video shows why working people and trade unionists are fighting back and what Wal-Mart has in store for the communities it is seeking to build stores in. "Fighting Wal-Martization" is a hard hitting documentary that looks at how the constant price cutting not only drives local small businesses out of the community but how this ends up driving down the living conditions of the very people who shop at Wal-Mart. The video also looks at the healthcare crisis and how Wal-Mart increases its profits by sending it¹s employees to public hospitals to get treatment thereby shifting costs back onto the taxpayer. This video can be used at union meetings, community meetings and on cable TV to get the message out about the Wal-Martization of America and what it means to every working person.

Please mail your check of $20.00 and order form to

Labor Video Project
P. O. Box 720027,
San Francisco, CA 94172

For more info: lvpsf@labornet.org, (415) 282-1908

Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices (www.walmartmovie.com)

Independent America: The Two Lane Search for Mom & Pop (www.independentamerica.net)

Big Box Mart (www.jibjab.com)

Garth Brooks Parody (www.walmartworkersrights.org)

"Is Wal-Mart Good for America?" Frontline, PBS Video, (www.pbs.org)
 

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BOOKS

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NON-FICTION

The Case Against Wal-Mart By Al Norman Raphel Marketing ruth@raphael.com

Wal-Mart: The Face Of Twenty-First Century Capitalism Edited By Nelson Lichtenstein The New Press www.thenewpress.com

The Great Risk Shift: The Assault on American Jobs, Families, Health Care and Retirement By Jacob S. Hacker Oxford University Press www.oup.com

War On The Middle Class: How the Government, Big Business, and Special Interest Groups Are Waging War on the American Dream and How to Fight Back By Lou Dobbs Viking, a member of Penguin Group www.penguin.com

Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age By Allison H. Fine Jossey-Bass www.joseybass.com

Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses, By Stacy Mitchell, www.beacon.org www.newrules.org

Wal-Mart: The Face Of the Twenty-First-Century Capitalism, Edited by Nelson Lichtenstein, Published by The New Press www.thenewpress.com

 The Bully Of Bentonville - How the high cost of Wal-Mart's Everyday Low Prices is Hurting America, By Anthony Bianco, Published by Doubleday
Email: specialmarkets@randomhouse.com

 How Wal-Mart is Destroying America (and the world), By Bill Quinn, Published By Ten Speed Press, Box 7123, Berkeley, CA 94707, www.tenspeed.com (pp. 163)

Slam Dunking Wal-Mart, By Al Norman, Published By Raphel Marketing, 12 S. Virginia Avenue, Atlantic City, New Jersey 08410, www.sprawl-busters.com (pp. 237)

The Great American JobsScam, By Greg LeRoy, Published By Barrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 235 Montgomery Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94104-2916, www.bkconnection.com (pp. 257)

Nickel and Dimed, By Barbara Ehrenreich, Published By Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 115 West 18^th Street, New York, NY 10011, www.henryholt.com (pp.221)

United States of Wal-Mart, By John Dicker, Published By Jeremy P. Tarcher (Penguin Group usa), www.us.penguingroup.com (pp.257)

The Wal-Mart Effect, By Charles Fishman www.penguin.com

Megamall On The Hudson, By David Porter and Chester L. Mirsky www.trafford.com

FICTION

Death By Discount, By Mary Vermillion, Published By Alyson Publications, P.O. Box 4371, Los Angeles, CA 90078-4371, www.maryvermillion.com (pp. 275)