Article

By Tomas Sarmiento
and Cyntia Barrera Diaz,
Reuters
December 7th, 2009                           [back to top]

Mexico's top retailer Wal-Mart de Mexico, or Walmex, said on Sunday it had signed a deal to buy Walmart Centroamerica, the local division of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Walmex said in a statement it would pay 1.4 billion pesos ($110 million) in cash and would issue around 593 million new shares to compensate minority investors in the Central America retail chain who agreed to be paid in shares.

Walmart Centroamerica is the main supermarket chain in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, with 519 stores.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc owns 51 percent of Walmart Centroamerica, with the remainder in the hands of local investors and the deal gives it control in Central America as the U.S. company also has a majority share of Walmex.

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Wal-Mart Warms Up to Facebook

By CAITLIN MCDEVITT,
ABC News
December 6th, 2009                        [back to top]

A company executive once said, Wal-Mart is the only retailer in the world without a traffic problem. Thats not necessarily true. Sure, the retailer has no trouble attracting droves of customers to its stores these days. When it comes to Facebook, however, Wal-Mart (WMT) has struggled to gain traction relative to its rivals. As of October, fewer than 18,000 people had declared themselves fans of Wal-Marts page. Around the same time, competitor Target (TGT) had nearly half a million fans. ( Target is included in The Big Money Facebook 50 , our ranking of the brands doing the best job on Facebook.) This type of discrepancy might not have seemed like a big deal two years ago, when Wal-Mart was first jumping into the budding social network at a time when a handful of other big brands were just testing the waters. But since Facebooks audience recently hit 350 million and retail rivals have proven their popularity on the site, Wal-Mart has been under pressure to do a better job.

Wal-Mart has enjoyed a banner year, as customers have flocked to the store for its budget-friendly reputation. The retailer, with some $400 billion in revenues last year, seems to have no trouble connecting with the American consumer when it comes to everyday shopping decisions. But ringing up sales at the cash register requires a different strategy than winning fans on Facebook. The social network is a space where a company doesnt need to be successful as much as it needs to be  liked. Stock performance means little, but brand equity means everything. And thats something that Wal-Mart has finally started to figure out.

Earlier this fall, Wal-Marts fan page was sparse. The retailer had not posted anything on the page. A small number of people had left a smattering of comments on Wal-Marts wall, the pages public-message board. While some offered compliments, there were many disparaging posts as well. A few people wrote that they were just plain confused about why Wal-Mart even had the account on Facebook. What's this page for? one fan asked.

Wal-Mart was refraining from active participation on Facebook for a reason. In the past, two big campaigns it launched on the social network ended up backfiring. In August of 2007, Wal-Mart created a sponsored Facebook group, called Roommate Style Match, promoting its dorm-room supplies for college students. The campaign was lambasted for Wal-Marts attempt to tightly control the discussions on the page (which was eventually flooded with anti-Wal-Mart comments, anyway).

Not long after, Wal-Mart paid to sponsor a free  gift on Facebook for a day. That day, 300,000 Facebook users could send a friend the image of a cellophane wrapped, ghost-shaped cookie emblazoned with the Wal-Mart logo. A click on the cookie would redirect users to Wal-Marts Halloween Web site. Critics bashed the campaign as purely self-serving, some calling it a  terrible social media marketing tactic. Adversaries even created a group on Facebook urging the site to stop running Wal-Mart ads.

For a while, Wal-Mart let its opponentswho happen to be vocal and well-organized onlinescare it away from Facebook. But it turned out that pulling out of the network altogether wasnt a good idea, either. It made Wal-Mart seem not only out of touch, but uninterested in the thousands of people who had expressed interest in its page, according to Jeremiah Owyang, a partner at the digital consulting firm the Altimeter Group. He says, Its like having fans outside of their stores in real life but not talking to them. Sam Walton, Wal-Marts founder, who insisted that all of the Wal-Mart retail stores employ friendly greeters at their doors, probably would not have been pleased.

As Wal-Marts company overview on its Facebook page now says, Sam was a firm believer in listening to what his customers had to say. That tradition continues today. But now, it doesnt have to end when you leave the store. Through Facebook, were able to talk to you. Find out whats on your mind and let you know what were up to. Perhaps it was this corporate philosophy that pushed Wal-Mart to try again on Facebook. Or maybe its because Wal-Mart is making a big push to promote its online sales for the holiday season. Regardless of its motive, over the past two months, the retailer has been increasingly active, but this time it appears to have a strategy that just might work.

Wal-Marts Facebook page administrator has been regularly posting updates and responding to wall posts. It recently launched a new charity-related applicationsomething that worked wonders for Targets Facebook pageand another app to promote holiday gifts. Wal-Mart is also encouraging employee interaction on the page. With 1.4 million employees in the United States alone, Wal-Mart has an army of people who are already intimately connected with the brand and some who presumably like their jobs. Most of the comments on the page now are from Wal-Mart staff members. For example, one fan recently posted i work at store 1832 in Palm Springs. Glad to be aboard. Another fan wrote, I love my walmart family !!

Wal-Mart has apparently quit worrying about the negative feedback its bound to get online. Instead, its trusting that its fan base will grow larger and louder than its detractors. The page now boasts slightly more than 200,000 fans. It has grown tenfold in just two months. And according to recent reports, Wal-Mart is in the process of launching what the executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Stephen Quinn, calls a very big, significant initiative on Facebook. It seems that the worlds biggest retailer is preparing to win over the Facebook community once and for all. Better late than never.

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Jo-Ann Stores: A Retail Category Walmart's Not Killing

By Ian Ritter,
BNET
December 5th, 2009                       [back to top]

There aren’t many retailers out there operating a business in which Walmart (WMT) doesn’t control a huge chunk of market share, if not lead an entire category. The largest retailer in the world is the top seller of groceries in the country, and near or at the top in electronics, toys and clothing.

Walmart probably sells a lot of craft and fabric materials too, but if so, its business isn’t hurting Jo-Ann Stores (JAS). The retailer turned in a very strong quarter, with net income hitting $24.1 million, more than doubling the $10.2 million that came from the same year-ago period. Sales at stores open at least a year rose 4.3 percent, a sizable increase in this economy.

Darrell Webb, Jo-Ann’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, said that Walmart might actually be helping his 759-store company build market share, in addition to the fact that smaller retailers in the sector aren’t performing very well. “Walmart continues to remove fabric departments as they remodel stores, which is providing further opportunity to build share,” he said during Jo-Ann’s third-quarter conference call, as quoted by Home Textiles Today.

In an interview with Reuters last year, CFO James Kerr said Jo-Ann’s advantage its ability to serve as a superstore for customers seeking fabric and craft materials. “We differentiate by having a more complete selling assortment, which we think gives us a competitive advantage,” he said.

Management is trying to further capitalize on that advantage by increasing its number of large-format stores, which offer a wider variety of items and framing departments, while closing smaller units. So far this year, Jo-Ann opened 15 of the bigger locations and closed 23 smaller stores.

Jo-Ann might perserver in the face of Walmart, but it is not the only major player in the craft sector. Rival Michaels Stores (MIK) is larger, with just over 1,000 units, and though its most recent financial numbers aren’t as impressive as Jo-Ann’s, they’re improving and solid. Michaels recorded a third-quarter net income of $15 million, up from a $20-million loss during the same year-ago period, and same-store sales rose 1.3 percent.

Despite that competition, retail analysts like Holy Guthrie of Boenning & Scattergood like what they see from Jo-Ann. In a report on its third quarter reiterating an outperform rating on the retailer, Guthrie wrote that she expects Jo-Ann to increase market share and said “sales growth is also expected to continue into the foreseeable future.”

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Wal-Mart will pay $40m to workers

By Dave Copeland,
Boston Globe
December 3rd, 2009                               [back to top]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, has agreed to pay $40 million to as many as 87,500 current and former employees in Massachusetts, the largest wage-and-hour class-action settlement in the state’s history.

The class-action lawsuit, filed in 2001, accused the retailer of denying workers rest and meal breaks, refusing to pay overtime, and manipulating time cards to lower employees’ pay. Under terms of the agreement, which was filed in Middlesex Superior Court yesterday by the employees’ attorneys, any person who worked for Wal-Mart between August 1995 and the settlement date will receive a payment of between $400 and $2,500, depending on the number of years worked, with the average worker receiving a check for $734.

“The magnitude is large - it’s bigger than most settlements paid in wage-and-hour cases,’’ said Justin M. Swartz of New York-based law firm Outten & Golden LLP, who has handled similar cases, including a pending case against Wal-Mart. “But you would expect it to be bigger since Wal-Mart is the biggest retailer.’’

Under the terms of the settlement, neither side is allowed to comment. But in an affidavit filed with the settlement, the lead counsel for the employees, Philip Gordon of Boston’s Gordon Law Group, said the accord “dwarfs settlements of similar class actions against Wal-Mart across the country.’’

“For many employers, this settlement will serve as a reminder to take the payment of earned wages and benefits seriously. For many other employers, it will provide comfort that all Massachusetts businesses must operate on a level playing field,’’ Gordon wrote in the affidavit. “But most importantly, for employees of Wal-Mart, it finally pays them their earned wages and it puts in place systems and processes to ensure that abuses like those alleged never happen again.’’

The Massachusetts case is similar to many others that have been brought against the retail behemoth by employees across the country, most alleging that the Bentonville, Ark.-based company violated laws by requiring employees to work through breaks, to work beyond their regular shifts, and similar practices. Wal-Mart has denied the allegations, but in December, the merchant agreed to pay up to $640 million to settle 63 federal and state class-action wage-and-hour lawsuits.

The Massachusetts case, which was not part of that settlement, was initially filed eight years ago on behalf of 67,000 people who worked for Wal-Mart in Massachusetts between 1995 and 2005. The two plaintiffs, Elaine Polion and Crystal Salvas, left Wal-Mart years ago. The case has been moving back and forth for years, first being certified as a class action, being almost thrown out as a trial date approached in 2006, and then being revived on appeal and sent back to trial as a class action by the state Supreme Judicial Court two years ago.

This isn’t the first wage case settlement for Wal-Mart in Massachusetts. In September, the retailer settled an investigation of violations of state meal-break policies, agreeing to pay $3 million. The state attorney general investigated after workers reported they were required to work though meal breaks, take breaks after having worked more than six hours, or to cut such breaks short, according to the state.

After some preliminary skirmishes over the terms of the latest Massachusetts settlement, the lawsuit was set to go to court this week, but lawyers for the company and employees alerted the court they would be filing settlement papers instead. In the settlement affidavit, Gordon said his firm had begun tracking down as many former Wal-Mart employees as possible.

A phone number could not be located for Polion, and a phone listing for Salvas was disconnected. Workers approached yesterday by The Boston Globe at a Wal-Mart parking lot in Raynham declined to comment on the settlement.

Sean Blais, who worked at a Wal-Mart in Weymouth for a year before he was fired for texting at work in July, said he thought the accord “seems reasonable.’’ Blais, 19, said while he did not notice any discrepancies in his pay, he routinely had trouble scheduling breaks during his shift.

“You got a 15-minute, unpaid break, but you usually had to fight to get it,’’ he said.

David Reis, chairman of law firm Howard Rice’s labor and employment practice in San Francisco, said Wal-Mart has probably already addressed the alleged practices in the suit. “Given that this suit was filed more than eight years ago, I would expect that any alleged suspect pay practices have been remedied by Wal-Mart long ago and that this settlement is simply a calculated business decision that it’s cheaper and easier for the company to resolve the case and move forward than to continue paying its lawyers to fight it,’’ said Reis.

Prior to the latest Wal-Mart settlement, the biggest wage-and-hour case payout in Massachusetts was $14.5 million last year by Canyon Ranch. In that lawsuit, the owners of the Lenox spa were accused of not passing along gratuities to workers. The settlement affected 600 workers.

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Wal-Mart, others, claim AG's lawsuit is a class action

By JOHN O'BRIEN,
Legal Newsline
December 3rd, 2009                            [back to top]

West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw and a group of prescription drug retailers are debating how the federal law regarding class action lawsuits pertains to actions brought by state attorneys general.

As the two sides argue about where McGraw's lawsuit should be heard, one of the sticking points has become whether the suit is a class action. CVS, Walgreen, Target, Kmart, Wal-Mart and Kroger all claim McGraw has filed a class action that should be handled in federal court.

McGraw, through private attorneys he hired to represent the State, alleges the companies have been filling prescriptions with generic drugs and not passing savings along to consumers.

"The Attorney General brings enforcement actions such as this one not as class actions on behalf of a class of citizens (as in a class action), but under authority conveyed by state law. No court has held otherwise," the firms representing West Virginia wrote Monday.

"Nonetheless, defendants claim that this case - which was not brought as a class action, requires no class certification, and lacks the essential qualities of a class action - somehow fits the definition of 'class action' in the Class Action Fairness Act."

"That term is defined narrowly in CAFA, and recent Fourth Circuit precedent requires it be construed strictly in favor of remand. Any reasonable construction of the term, much less a strict one, demonstrates this case is not a 'class action' under CAFA, a conclusion bolstered by abundant evidence of congressional intent to exclude state attorney general enforcement actions like this one."

McGraw's attorneys are attempting to have the case remanded to Boone County. The companies disagree, however.

"(B)y bringing this suit to recover alleged damages for and on behalf of a defined group of West Virginia citizens, the Attorney General plainly has brought a 'class action' for the purpose of CAFA, however he may try to characterize it," they wrote Nov. 10.

The companies note a Senate Judiciary Committee wrote that the definition of "class action" should "be interpreted liberally."

"Its application should not be confined solely to lawsuits that are labeled 'class actions' by the named plaintiff or the state rulemaking authority," the committee wrote.

The two sides dispute a ruling in an antitrust case brought by Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell against Allstate Insurance.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled the case should be heard in federal court because it involved allegations of violations that impacted citizens.

"In Caldwell, because the state attorney general had sued to recover damages for certain of the state's citizens (and under a statutory provision that each citizen could have used himself), the case was a removable 'class action' under CAFA," the companies wrote.

McGraw's attorneys say the court found the action to be a "mass action," while the companies say there is no difference between the two.

"Defendants have made no assertion this case is a mass action, presumably because they must acknowledge this case does not fit the definition of a mass action, and because the thought of individually joining all persons and entities who purchased generic prescription drugs in West Virginia, frankly, is absurd," McGraw's attorneys wrote.

They added in a footnote that there is a difference between class and mass actions. A mass action, they say, is a civil action in which monetary relief claims of 100 or more persons are proposed to be tried jointly.

Bailey & Glasser is working with DiTrapano Barrett & DiPiero on McGraw's case. The two firms have contributed more than $60,000 to McGraw's campaign fund over the years, including $11,800 for his 2008 race against Republican Dan Greear, who decided Thursday to run for Kanawha County Circuit Court judge.

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Is Wal-Mart recovery-proof?

By Joe Light,
Money Magazine
December 3rd, 2009                              [back to top]

Throughout the recession, wealthier households "traded down" and started to shop at Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) for the first time. As a result, the world's largest retailer saw its market share in general merchandise rise as the economy went south.

Wal-Mart's stock jumped 20% in 2008, but this year its shares are down about 8%, as investors anticipate a recovery that could get shoppers -- especially the company's new upscale clientele -- thinking about more than everyday low prices.

Safe from scrooge

Holiday sales, which make up a third of the revenue at many retailers, are expected to drop 3.2% from last year's anemic levels, according to the National Retail Federation.

But while a lackluster shopping season could send pricier stores reeling, Wal-Mart enjoys a buffer: grocery sales -- staples that don't fluctuate much with the seasons. Food accounts for about half the discounter's overall sales.

Moreover, the consumer's quest for cheap gifts might actually boost Wal-Mart's wallet share. The company recently launched one of its earliest holiday campaigns ever -- before Halloween, much less Thanksgiving -- slashing prices on more than 100 toys to $10 apiece for Christmas.

Broadening its appeal

Shoppers tend to stay home when the economy is bad, but Wal-Mart officials said their foot traffic rose in this recession. About 17% of that new business came from new customers, a majority of whom earn more and spend 40% more per visit than typical Wal-Mart shoppers.

But as the economy heals, some of those customers might migrate back to their preferred stores. So Wal-Mart is remodeling its locations to appeal to them. The company also announced plans to start an eco-labeling program for store products to appeal to green-minded shoppers.

Plus, with unemployment still high, consumers are likely to be value-oriented for a while, says Morningstar analyst Joel Bloomer.

Lost in translation?

Wal-Mart already accounts for 10% of U.S. retail spending, minus autos and restaurant sales. So "long term, more of its growth will come from overseas," says Brad Hinton, a portfolio manager for Weitz Funds.

Foreign stores now make up a quarter of its square footage and sales, but only a fifth of operating income. Wal-Mart has struggled to adapt to local tastes. It exited South Korea after stocking stores with dry goods and electronics -- not the food and beverages that draw Korean shoppers to local discounters.

In Japan, Wal-Mart is only now expected to turn a profit -- after seven years of losses. Says Hinton: "It's not as simple as transplanting the U.S. playbook to the rest of the world."

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Sustainability Consortium clarifies goals, Walmart relationship

By Anne Marie Mohan,,
GreenerPackage.com
December 2nd, 2009                            [back to top]

The Sustainability Consortium, launched last August, clarified its mission and strategies today, while debunking the misconception that it is working on a “sustainability index” for Walmart. This information, along with a comprehensive dialogue on the types of product data to be collected and shared around sustainability were the topics of a 90-minute Webcast, “Inside the Sustainability Consortium,” presented by GreenBiz.com on Dec. 2. Consortium co-chairs, Dr. Jay S. Golden of the School of Sustainability, Barrett Honors Faculty, at Arizona State University, and Dr. Jon Johnson of the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, were the event’s guest speakers.

In July, Walmart released news that it would be creating a Sustainable Product Index, saying, “the company [Walmart] is helping create a consortium of universities that will collaborate with suppliers, retailers, NGOs, and government to develop a global database of information on the life cycle of products — from raw materials to disposal. Walmart has provided the initial funding for the Sustainability Index Consortium and has invited all retailers and suppliers to contribute.”

During the Webcast, Dr. Golden clarified the nature of the relationship between Walmart and the consortium, confirming that Walmart was a founding partner of the consortium, but that the consortium does not have “an index governing board.” What the consortium does have is a steering committee made up of CPGs, NGOs, government agencies, and others interested in “advocating for good business.”

Noted Dr. Johnson, “Walmart understands that multiple retailer engagement is necessary if this initiative is going to work.” Retailer Walt Disney has also signed on as a partner in the consortium.

Dr. Johnson added that the consortium does not believe that the scientific community is qualified to make value judgments regarding the relative life-cycle data of products. By separating itself from the creation of indexes and certifications, he said, the consortium will be able to preserve its integrity.

What’s it all about? As Dr. Johnson and Dr. Golden explained, the consortium was established to pull in the best practices and information from the myriad of LCA data and certification guidelines surrounding products’ environmental impacts in order to produce standardized, transparent tools and methodologies that can be used to make good business decisions.

Said Dr. Johnson, “If you don’t account for the environmental impacts of a product over its entire life cycle, you are bound to make bad decisions. A good, scientific system that drives innovation is vital.”

The consortium was established around six principles, Dr. Johnson explained: • Science- and outcome-based processes • Focus on impact • Transparent data and methods • Need for speed, “balanced with a need to heed.” • Obsess on affordability, accessability, and scalability • Innovation that creates value. “We’re not in it for the sake of metrics,” Dr. Johnson emphasized. “We want to create value for members of the supply chain.”

Another certification to slap on the package? Regarding the issue of certifications, or the “Tower of Ecobabble,” as Dr. Johnson referred to it, the consortium has no desire to add to the 400-plus certification programs related to sustainability available today in the marketplace. However, Dr. Johnson noted, the consortium is very interested in understanding the “landscape of certifications.”

Dr. Golden agreed: “We are trying to understand the science behind the labels. We want to use good science and build upon it, leveraging it as best as possible.” Once the consortium makes its LCA data available, retailers and packagers, such as Walmart, will then be free to use it within their own certification programs and labeling.

Tangible results The Sustainability Consortium’s near-term goal is the creation of a data tool available to all members of the supply chain, using Earthster, a free, open-source, Web-based software. Now in its beta form, Earthster is a drag-and-drop system that allows users to easily compute their products’ LCA cost-effectively.

The software then allows producers to benchmark themselves versus industry averages, and optionally to click-to-report environmental and social attributes of their processes and products to the marketplace, without revealing any proprietary information.

Said Dr. Johnson, “We look to Earthster to become the de facto standard tool for LCA.”

Currently, the consortium’s goals focus on enabling innovation in the business community, although future initiatives may include efforts around consumer education. “We want to look at opportunities to communicate in new ways to consumers,” said Dr. Golden, “but this will be a few years out.”

Dallas County to offer free swine flu shots to all residents

By SHERRY JACOBSON,
The Dallas Morning News
December 2nd, 2009                                   [back to top]

Free swine flu shots will be available to all Dallas County residents starting next week.

County health officials decided Tuesday that it was time to expand the vaccination effort beyond the high-risk groups that have received the scarce H1N1 shots since October. Three walk-in vaccination clinics will get under way next Tuesday.

"We felt like we got the vaccine out to the priority groups and that their interest in getting the shots was waning," said Zachary Thompson, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services. "If we don't do it now, we may end up having to throw out vaccine that we don't use."

County health officials said they were concerned that people were being turned away from local pharmacies where they had sought the shot but did not meet the guidelines. Local pharmacists complained to the county that their longtime customers, including elderly people who were the most vigilant about getting annual flu shots, were being denied.

It is not known yet if local pharmacies that have the H1N1 vaccine will be able to distribute it more widely. Stores can charge up to $20 per shot.

Thompson said he would consult with area pharmacists later this week. Pharmacies are required to distribute the vaccine to only high-risk groups, which include pregnant women; people 6 months to 24 years old; adults ages 25 to 64 who have chronic conditions such as asthma and diabetes; health care workers; and people who care for babies under 6 months old.

"We don't think it's a good idea to keep turning them away, especially when we have vaccine available," Thompson said. "They might not come back later." A spokeswoman for the state health department confirmed that vaccine distribution decisions could be decided locally.

"From a state perspective, we strongly encourage providers to focus on the priority groups to protect those most at risk," said Carrie Williams, assistant press officer for the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The state issued a news release late Tuesday urging health care providers to continue to focus on the high-risk groups.

"Texas expects to have enough vaccine in January to make it available to the general population," the statement noted.

However, officials in Tarrant and Harris counties made similar decisions to expand their vaccinations, noting that much more H1N1 vaccine would be arriving soon. The distribution slowdown has been attributed to manufacturing problems.

Harris began mass vaccination clinics last week, said Sandy Kachur, a spokeswoman for Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services. "We think we've achieved a balance of supply and demand."

Dr. Sandra Parker, Tarrant County's health authority, urged Texans to get vaccinated before embarking on holiday travel to areas that could have more severe H1N1 outbreaks. Her county began administering the shots without restriction Tuesday from a dozen clinic locations.

Dallas County has received about 70,000 H1N1 vaccine doses and distributed most of them through mass clinics and local pharmacies over the past few weeks. However, 5,000 doses had not been distributed as of last weekend, indicating it was time to drop the restrictions, Thompson said.

An additional 370,000 doses were distributed through doctors' offices and hospitals.

Some local pharmacies are expecting to receive sizable H1N1 vaccine orders within the next week through the state health department.

"We will have ample supply of vaccine to run clinics across North Texas next week," said John Roehm, spokesman for Mollen Immunization Clinics, which operates inside Walmart stores.

Until the larger vaccine supply arrives, Mollen will administer a more limited supply of flu vaccine at seven Walmart stores in the Dallas area, starting today. Each location will have about 300 doses of vaccine covering H1N1 and seasonal flu, Roehm said. The clinics and their hours of distribution can be found at flushotsusa.walmart.com.

Walmart's clinics will follow the distribution guidelines required by the vaccine supplier – either the state or the county, he noted. "We have to work under whatever guidelines we're given."

A Saturday shot clinic in Richardson, sponsored by Dallas County, will serve only those in the high-risk groups who have made an appointment by calling the county's hotline – 214-819-6001. The free H1N1 shots and nasal mist will be distributed from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at St. Barnabas Presbyterian Church at 1220 W. Belt Line Road, Richardson.

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Another Wal-Mart "Shoplifting" Nightmare

By Al Norman,
Huffington Post
December 1st, 2009                       [back to top]

On December 3rd, a 15 year old black girl will enter a Juvenile Courtroom in Davenport, Iowa to face charges of shoplifting $39 worth of merchandise from the Wal-Mart superstore on West Kimberly Road. Hundreds of similar incidents take place everyday in the Wal-Mart Empire, and most escape notice by the media.

Destiny Crawford, the 15 year old defendant, denies she stole anything from Wal-Mart. But the ordeal she went through after the alleged incident doesn't fit the crime.

According to the family, on August 2, 2009, James Crawford Jr. was shopping for groceries at Wal-Mart. James' teenage sister, Destiny, was in his care while his parents made a short trip to Chicago. Destiny was accompanied by a schoolmate on the shopping trip. While James shopped for necessities, the two teenagers wandered through the aisles, trying on shoes, and looking at trinkets. In the bakery section, the girls met up again with James, who gave them his wallet and a bag of dog food, instructing Destiny to pay for the item with cash at the self-check out and to meet him outside at the car. James waited in a longer line to pay for the groceries with his EBT card.

As the two girls left Wal-Mart, two men--who neither produced identification nor asked the two teenagers for their I.D.--stopped the girls, and accused them of shoplifting. The men physically forced the teenagers back into the store. James saw the men walking his sister and her friend to the other end of the store. He made his way over to the girls and asked the men what was taking place. He was told the teens were being taken to an interrogation room. James stated that he was his sister's guardian and as a minor she needed to have a parent or guardian present. The Wal-Mart employees told James he wasn't allowed in the room. A Wal-Mart manager appeared and stated that she would serve as guardian for Destiny. James refused to agree to his sister or her friend being questioned without his presence, and he tried to follow the girls into the interrogation room.

The girls complied with the order to enter the room, but when James followed, he was pushed out of the way and the door was shut in his face. James says he could hear the men yelling at the girls. One asked, "Why don't you people respect us?" James then called 911. Two Davenport police officers arrived. They didn't identify themselves to James nor did they ask for his version of the incident. They took their place in front of the door.

Within seconds of the officers' arrival, the door to the room opened, and Destiny ran out toward her brother. Destiny had not been told to stay in the room, nor was she being physically restrained. She never reached her brother's side. One of the officers applied an arm bar that put Destiny face down on the floor of Wal-Mart. The officer then dropped his knee into the middle of her back. As her forehead hit the floor, Destiny was lifted up by the back of her shirt and spun around so that her forehead hit the wall. Her face was then manually turned by the officer and pressed into the wall. The officer turned Destiny around so that she was facing him and pressed down on her shoulders until she was sitting on the floor.

As Destiny hit the floor James took a step forward and said, "That is my sister." The second officer told James to step back, and he stepped back. But when Destiny's forehead hit the wall, James stepped forward again and asked, "Why are you doing that to my sister?" The second officer then put James' hands behind his back. James says he knew in that instant that this was an entirely new game and he said nothing else.

James was taken to jail and charged with two misdemeanors: disorderly conduct and interfering with an official act. Destiny was put in a squad car. One officer reportedly took out his stun gun and said to Destiny, "I swear to God I will taze you if you resist." The stun gun was held twelve inches from Destiny's head a little above her ear. Upon arriving at the squad car Destiny had her face forced into the trunk of the car. She was then handcuffed and read her Miranda rights. A short while later, Destiny was released from the squad car to her second oldest brother. She was given a ticket for shoplifting. Destiny was taken to the hospital. She had a concussion, lacerations and bruises. Her hospital bill totaled $3,000.

This week, 4 months after this harrowing incident, the Crawford family has still not seen either the police tapes from this incident, or the Wal-Mart surveillance tapes. James and his family asked Wal-Mart for a copy of the tape. They were told by Wal-Mart that the Davenport Police Department had the tape. The tape eventually showed up in the City Attorney's office. After two months of having the tape and preparing his case, the City Attorney offered to let James see the tape if he would go to trial without a lawyer.

On November 24, 2009, the Assistant County Attorney in Scott County, Iowa wrote to Destiny's Court-appointed attorney, indicating that the County had reviewed the Wal-Mart surveillance video. The Assistant County Attorney said the Wal-Mart tape was "not material or relevant to the case...It does not show the alleged theft, it does not contain a confession by Ms. Crawford or the other involved juvenile, and it does not show the retrieval of the stolen property." The Assistant County Attorney also acknowledged that he had a copy of the police video of the incident, which he said was also 'immaterial and irrelevant to the alleged offense." Destiny's lawyer subpoenaed the Wal-Mart video from the county, but the Assistant County Attorney says he cannot provide that tape, since it is in the hands of the Davenport Police. Neither Wal-Mart nor the Davenport Police want a Rodney King-style video to reach Iowa TV viewers.

So far, the Crawford family has received no apology from either the Davenport Police, or from Wal-Mart over the violent arrest of their daughter for allegedly stealing $39 from the world's richest retailer. Wal-Mart has not dropped the charges, or offered to pay for Destiny's hospital bills.

But they still have time before Destiny walks into that courtroom.

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Wal-Mart Rivals Safety of U.S. Government

By David MacDougall,
The Street
December 1st, 2009                          [back to top]

Which companies come to mind when investors think of safety?

Microsoft? Wal-Mart? Exxon Mobil? Those companies are among the largest and most secure in the world, yet only two carry a AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's, the highest. Wal-Mart doesn't, even though a paltry 19% of its capital structure comes from debt issues and annual revenue exceeds $400 billion. As companies such as General Electric(GE Quote) and Pfizer(PFE Quote) are dropped from S&P's top level, and Wal-Mart gains market share during the recession, investors should consider buying Wal-Mart bonds and shares.

Wal-Mart's total debt stands at about $40 billion, 41% of which isn't due till 2023 or later. Near-term refinancing needs for the company are nominal, leaving financing costs the only concern. While Wal-Mart's financing expenses are low -- the company has a credit score one notch below the top rating -- its bond yields are well in excess of government issues.

With about $10 billion in free cash flow on revenue of $400 billion, can there be any question about Wal-Mart's ability to repay its commitments? The company continues to expand globally, ensuring its growth, and a decade-plus track record of rising sales and profits leaves little doubt the company can weather any economic condition. Just imagine that the company was founded as Walton's Five and Dime in Arkansas.

The five companies that carry AAA ratings by Standard & Poor's are impressive, but none are any safer than Wal-Mart. The list includes Exxon, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Berkshire Hathaway and Automatic Data Processing.

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Wal Mart Cyber Monday Becomes Cyber Week

Daily News and Trends
December 1st, 2009                            [back to top]

Wal-Mart just announce that it is extending its Cyber Monday Deals all week, in a move that is sure to be followed by KMART, and others, although, a quick check of KMART’s site does not show that they have done so yet. Wal Mart has a long history of driving prices through the floor, and forcing its competitors to follow suit, so we think Amazon and possibly Best Buy may follow with their own “cyber week” campaigns. Great news for consumers, but likely a move that will frustrate other online retailers, particularly smaller ones.

Wal-Mart was on our weekend list of some of the best Cyber Monday online deals, having also made our list for the best Black Friday deals. Realizing that consumers are shopping for a number of electronic items this Cyber Monday (now apparently cyber week), the retailer has focused many of its deals on popular electronics like HDTV’s and video game systems. These were items that were slow sellers earlier this year due to the tough economic situation, but consumers seem to be eating them up.

Wal-mart’s cyber monday traffic was apparently down today according to some reports, and that may be the reason it coined the term “Cyber week.” We’re going to be watching for the best deals all week.

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Amazon Takes The Top Spot For Cyber Monday

By Leena Rao,
Washington Post
December 1st, 2009                       [back to top]

Experian Hitwise just released its Cyber Monday stats, with Amazon reportedly topping the list as the most visited retail website yesterday, seeing a 44% increase in visits compared to 2008. Amazon received 15.53% of the visits among the top 500 online retail sites. Hitwise says Amazon has been the top visited site on Cyber Monday since 2006.

Hitwise reports that among the top 500 retail websites, the percentage of U.S. online visits were down 9%o n Cyber Monday in 2009 compared to Cyber Monday 2008. Wal-Mart was the second most visited with 9.54% of visits followed by Target with 5.16%. BestBuy was the fourth most visited with 3.56% followed by JC Penney with 2.58 %. Walmart took the top spot for the most visited online site on Thanksgiving Day this year, according to Hitwise but Amazon edged out Walmart on Black Friday. This is the fifth year in a row that Wal-Mart was the top visited site on Thanksgiving Day.

Among the top 20 sites visited on Cyber Monday 2009, Staples saw the largest increase in visits compared to 2008 with a 61% increase, Barnes & Noble saw a 46% increase.The Apple Store, which didn't make Hitwise's top 20 sites, saw a 71% increase in visits on Cyber Monday 2009 versus 2008. Online stores who dropped in traffic from last year included Overstock.com (down 25%) and Home Depot (down 29%).

Most signs point to a positive trend when it comes to online sales and traffic this year. Coremetrics reported that online retailers saw a 13.7 percent increase in sales compared to last year, and 24.1 percent more than on Black Friday 2009. According to Hitwise, traffic to retail sites on Black Friday was up 9%. Of course, Hitwsie is just one metric used to measure traffic for these sites; comScore also provides an accurate measure for statistics but has not released its data yet for Cyber Monday.

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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)