Article

Wal-Mart asks high court to halt suit
Boston.com/Bloomberg News
August 26, 2010

WASHINGTON — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has asked the US Supreme Court to block female employees from suing on behalf of as many as 1.5 million women in what would be the largest sex-bias suit against a private employer in US history.

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Opposition to Wal-Mart Supercenters Building Across the Bay Area
By Martin J. Bennett
The Daily Censored
California Progress Report
July 26, 2010

The San Francisco Bay Area has become the epicenter for contentious
battles in California to halt proposed Wal-Mart supercenters that
sell both general merchandise and groceries.

Both the City of Antioch in Contra Costa County and the City of
Rohnert Park in Sonoma County will consider supercenter proposals
this week. The outcome could derail Wal-Mart's strategy to build at
least one supercenter in each county of the state.

In April, the Rohnert Park Planning Commission unanimously denied the
Wal-Mart proposal to enlarge its existing discount store into a
supercenter. Wal-Mart has appealed the decision to the city council.

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Wal-Mart Expansion A Threat to Transit-Oriented Development
by Martin J. Bennett
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Sunday, July 18, 2010

The Rohnert Park Planning Commission unanimously denied a Wal-Mart
proposal to enlarge its existing discount store into a supercenter
that sells both groceries and general merchandise. Wal-Mart has
appealed the decision to the city council.

The economic and environmental impacts of a supercenter will extend
far beyond the City of Rohnert Park. All county residents should be
concerned about this proposal. The controversy raises fundamental
questions about future growth and the necessity for proactive city
and regional planning to promote equitable and sustainable
development.

Development in the county is inevitable. According to the Association
of Bay Area Governments, the population of Sonoma County will
increase by twenty-three percent over the next twenty years. In 2008,
voters approved a landmark initiative to meet this challenge,
creating the two-county SMART train that will run on tracks adjacent
to Highway 101 from Cloverdale to Larkspur. The build-out of the
train system provides the opportunity for city-centered
'transit-oriented development' (TOD) around the fourteen SMART train
stations--development that could accommodate ninety percent of the
projected population growth.

TOD is densely-built, mixed-use development within one-half mile of
transit stations, accessible by bike and foot, and with a variety of
retail, office, and small businesses. Through land-use planning and
public funding, municipalities can promote development near transit
stations that includes good jobs paying family-supporting wages,
affordable housing for all income groups, open space, and walkable
neighborhoods.

The proposed 170,000 square-foot Wal-Mart supercenter located
one-quarter mile from the site of the planned Rohnert Park SMART
train station is a direct threat to such careful and appropriate
planning.

The labor, environmental, and local business organizations opposing
the Wal-Mart supercenter believe it undermines compact and equitable
development in Rohnert Park and violates the city's general plan. The
project undercuts transit-oriented development's efforts to reduce
low-wage work, support local business, tackle global warming, and lay
the foundation for a robust regional economy.

Nearly one third of the employees in the county are currently
'working poor' and do not earn self-sufficiency wages. According to
the Insight Center for Community and Economic Development in 2008,
two parents working full-time in Sonoma County must each earn $14.90
an hour or $62,940 a year to pay for food, housing, medical care,
child care, and transportation.
Sonoma State economist Robert Eyler reports that the supercenter will
contribute to job quality decline and increase the problem of working
poverty. According to his analysis, the county will lose105-211
jobs---mostly good jobs that pay hourly wages for full-time workers
ranging from $17.67 per hour at Pacific Market to $23.36 at Raley's
and Safeway. The Wal-Mart super center will employ 450 workers, and
according to the company, the typical full-time worker at Wal-Mart
earns $12.10 an hour.

With regard to global warming, the supercenter will have adverse
effects on air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. In order to
comply with AB 32, a 2006 state legislative measure, all nine cities
and the county have pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
twenty-five percent by 2015. However, the Eyler report notes, Pacific
Market will close if the supercenter is built, and its 8,000
customers will drive an extra 28,400 miles each week to shop for
groceries.

Further, Stacy Mitchell, author of Big Box Swindle, reports that
vehicle miles driven per customer will increase because a supercenter
draws shoppers from a greater distance than a discount store. Indeed,
since Wal-Mart's rapid expansion in the late 1970s, miles traveled
per household to shop has skyrocketed by three hundred percent, while
total household driving increased by seventy- five percent.

As for local business, there are sixty local suppliers that provide
produce and merchandise to Pacific Market, and more than seventy
supply Oliver's in Cotati. Wal-Mart suppliers, on the other hand, are
nearly 100% national and global firms (and that means increased truck
traffic into the county). The 'Go Local' movement has demonstrated
that patronizing local businesses ensures that more dollars remain in
the community. Studies by Civic Economics demonstrate that
locally-owned firms produce two to three times more economic activity
within the local economy than national chains ---including
locally-retained profits, wages paid to local residents, purchases
from local suppliers, and contributions to local nonprofits.

The Rohnert Park City Council should uphold the decision of the
planning commission, reject the Wal-Mart supercenter, and refocus the
city's planning process to promote sustainable economic development.

Martin J. Bennett teaches American history at Santa Rosa Junior
College and serves as Co-Chair of the Living Wage Coalition. He is a
board member of Sonoma County Conservation Action and the North Bay
Labor Council.

Dept. of Social Science
Santa Rosa Junior College
1501 Mendocino Ave.
Santa Rosa, Ca.
95401

(707) 527-4873 Office
(707) 522-2755 Fax
(707) 939-8933 Home Office

You Can Buy Love 
Who paid pro-Walmart demonstrators $100 apiece?
July 15, 2010
By Max Brooks
Chicago Reader

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06/02/2010
by Ian Bauer, Milpitas
San Jose Mecury News

"The end result of our meeting tonight is the Walmart expansion is denied," said Mayor Bob Livengood to the hundreds of Walmart supporters and opponents who crammed into the Milpitas City Hall Council Chambers Tuesday night.

Milpitas City Council voted 4-1 June 1, with Councilwoman Debbie Giordano dissenting, to overturn on appeal Milpitas Planning Commission's prior approval to allow Walmart to build a nearly 18,500-square-foot addition to allow liquor sales, groceries and 24-hour operation at 301 Ranch Drive.

Months of debate followed by three hours of testimony from more than 50 speakers at the meeting culminated in applause after the council's ruling.

Appellant group Milpitas Coalition for a Better Community a loosely knit band of Milpitas and San Jose residents and labor representatives was formally opposed to what many in the group called Walmart's job-killing Supercenter that would destroy smaller local businesses, create more traffic, air pollution and crime and ruin the city's overall quality of life.

The local anti-Walmart group claimed the project's final environmental impact report and conditional use permit for the expansion should not have been certified, that the project did not meet the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act, and the project was inconsistent with state and local planning and zoning laws.

Prior to the council vote, Walmart representatives and Milpitas Coalition members were granted 15 minutes each to present their respective sides on an expansion that aimed to add to the southern portion of Walmart's existing 131,725-square-foot store, expanding the business to nearly 150,200 square feet.

"We are concerned that our community will be negatively impacted by this expansion," Arthur Balangue, a Milpitas Coalition spokesman and Save Mart employee, told the council.

Balangue said Milpitas was "already over-served by supermarkets" that sold groceries and fresh produce and added Walmart's planned Supercenter would kill jobs at other stores such as Save Mart. "The single fact is if this expansion is approved it will close down more stores," Balangue said.

Conversely, Walmart representatives said the Milpitas store was popular among residents, that it had been a community partner for years donating monies to the city and community groups since it opened here in 1994, and they urged the council to uphold the prior ruling.

"We were very pleased with the planning commission's decision and hope you will also vote for this small expansion and move this project forward," Angie Stoner, a Walmart spokesperson, told the council.

Stoner added the new store would provide a more customer friendly shopping experience with a deli, a bakery and fresh produce. She added the opposition's opinions of Walmart were based on perceptions: "And their aim is to keep out competition."

In addition, she noted that Target would soon open a "super store" a couple of miles away in North San Jose off state Route 237 that could potentially suck more sales tax dollars from City of Milpitas. Stoner said Walmart contributes about $500,000 in sales tax to the city's coffers.

"As the mayor and council, you all want to keep your tax dollars local," Stoner said.
But the majority of people who came to the meeting many wearing fluorescent yellow and green "Say No To Walmart" stickers on their chests said a bigger Walmart would be detrimental to the city.

"Obviously, this store will not pay good wages to anybody," Jose Garcia, a Milpitas resident, said. "There's no wealth, no good paying jobs here."

Opponents also said Walmart destroys choice and competition with its "predatory pricing" tactics.

"Maybe it helps some people, but it hurts a lot of us in the long run," Debbie Rankin, a Milpitas resident, said. Others cited crime as a factor.

"A 24-hour operation in a remote part of town is asking for trouble," Greg Reeves, a Save Mart employee, said.

Phil Tucker, a California Healthy Communities Network representative, said other Walmart Supercenter stores including one in American Canyon had dramatically increased crime in that area.

Speakers also cited inadequate pay to those people Walmart hires.
"This is about values, this is about wages and benefits and this is still the most expensive place to live," Brian O'Neil, a Service Employees International Union county chapter chair, said.

O'Neil added Walmart's project conflicted with the Milpitas General Plan and did not promote business retention.

Raymond Quebec, a Save Mart bagger, said Walmart's expansion would close businesses here and leave City of Milpitas more vulnerable and dependent for sales tax dollars from the big box retailer.

"As those businesses close, Walmart will be even more important to Milpitas," Quebec said. "We'll be forced to give in to whatever they need... I ask you to vote no' and keep Walmart small and manageable."

Walmart supporters many wearing white, blue and yellow "Walmart" stickers on their chests stated the store is inexpensive and convenient.
_______________________________________________________________________________

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MILPITAS DENYING
CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT AMENDMENT NO. UA09-0002, SITE DEVELOPMENT
PERMIT AMENDMENT NO. SA09-0003, WALMART EXPANSION PROJECT, A REQUEST
TO ALLOW FOR AN 18,457 SQUARE FOOT BUILDING EXPANSION TO ACCOMMODATE
GROCERY AND ALCOHOL SALES AND FOR THE INSTALLATION OF RELATED
BUILDING AND SITE IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 301 RANCH
DRIVE (APN 22-29-016), MILPITAS, CA 95035.

WHEREAS, on January 26, 2009, Walmart Stores, Inc., submitted an application to the City of
Milpitas for an amendment to its current site development permit to allow for an 18,457 square foot building expansion, remodel of the exterior building façade, installation of associated site improvements, replacement of existing signage with Walmart's new corporate branding, and an amendment to its current conditional use permit to allow for grocery and alcohol sales. The property is located within the General Commercial Zoning District and Site and Architectural Overlay (C2-S); and

WHEREAS, on March 24, 2010, the Milpitas Planning Commission held a duly noticed public
hearing on the Project's development application and approved the application, subject to conditions of approval; and

WHEREAS, on April 1, 2010, the Milpitas Coalition for a Better Community filed an appeal of
the Planning Commission approval. The City Council reviewed the application for hearing de novo and held a duly noticed public hearing on the matter on June 1, 2010 and considered public testimony and reviewed various written submissions and materials and the underlying record.

NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Milpitas hereby finds, determines, and
resolves as follows:

1. The City Council has considered the full record before it, which may include but is not
limited to such things as the staff report, testimony by staff and the public, and other
materials and evidence submitted or provided to it. Furthermore, the recitals set forth
above are found to be true and correct and are incorporated herein by reference.

2. The project is inconsistent with the Milpitas General Plan as follows:

a. The project does not encourage stable and balanced economic pursuits which
strengthen and promote development, contrary to Policy 2.a-I-3.

b. The project does not promote a strong economy which provides economic
opportunities for all Milpitas residents within the existing environmental, social fiscal
and land use constraints, contrary to Policy 2.a-I-5.

c. The project does not promote the creation of a balanced economic base that can resist
downturns in any one economic sector, contrary to Policy 2.a-I-6.

d. The project does not provide opportunities to expand total employment in Milpitas
and promote business retention, contrary to Policy 2.a-I-7.

e. The project does not foster community pride and growth through sufficient
beautification of existing development, contrary to Policy 2.a-I-10.

f. The project would draw community, economic and business focus away from Town
Center and Midtown, contrary to General Plan.

1 Resolution No. ____

3. The proposed location of the project will be injurious or detrimental to property,
improvements, and/or the public health, safety, and general welfare. The project would
cause urban decay and neighborhood deterioration impacts that cannot be adequately
mitigated through conditions of approval.

4. Based on the foregoing findings and the evidence in the record, the City Council hereby
denies the application for Conditional Use Permit Amendment No. UA09-0002 and Site
Development Permit Amendment No. SA09-0003.

PASSED AND ADOPTED this day of June 1st, 2010, by a 4-1 vote

Wal-Mart Agrees to Pay $86 Million for Wage Claims

(Update1)
May 12, 2010
By Karen Gullo, Bloomberg Business Week

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May 12 (Bloomberg) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. agreed to pay as much as $86 million to settle a class-action lawsuit claiming it failed to provide vacation and other wages owed to thousands of California employees when they left the company, lawyers for the former workers said in a court filing.

About 232,000 former employees in California will share in the settlement, according to court filings yesterday by attorneys for the workers in the group lawsuit.

“The settlement represents a monumental result for class members,” the lawyers said in the filing.

Former workers accused Wal-Mart of failing to pay them holiday and overtime wages they earned before they left the company, or not paying those earnings within the time specified by state law, according to a 2006 complaint filed in federal court in Oakland, California.

California law requires employers to pay all wages owed to fired workers immediately, and employees who quit must be paid all earnings within 72 hours. Employers that violate the law can be required to pay as much as 30 days of wages to workers.

The former employees accused Wal-Mart of manipulating hourly workers’ time sheets to avoid paying overtime or making them wait days or weeks before paying their vacation wages after they quit.

Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, didn’t concede in the settlement that any wages it owed hadn’t been paid, according to yesterday’s filings

Wal-Mart Compliance

“Wal-Mart has agreed to continue the use of various electronic systems and other measures designed to maintain compliance with its wage-and-hour policies and applicable law,” the company said today in a statement on its website. “The settlement will not impact the company’s results of operations for the first or second quarter of fiscal 2011.”

Greg Rossiter, a spokesman for Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, declined to comment.

The settlement includes $12 million in unpaid vacation wages and $74 million in potential penalties and interest on the unpaid earnings, according to filings by the workers’ lawyers. The exact amount Wal-Mart will pay depends on how many former workers participate in the settlement. Wal-Mart will pay at least $43 million under the agreement, according to the filings.

Wal-Mart, the largest U.S. private employer with 1.4 million workers, agreed in 2008 to pay as much as $640 million to settle 63 federal and state class-action lawsuits claiming workers were cheated out of wages.

Yesterday’s settlement of the overtime and vacation pay case in California isn’t part of the 2008 agreement, said Louis Marlin, an attorney at Marlin & Saltzman in Irvine, California. He declined to comment further.

The case is Smith v. Wal-Mart, 06-02069, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (Oakland).

--Editors: Michael Hytha, Mary Romano.

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By Danny Weil
Daily Censored
March 6, 2010

Corporate Barbarians at the Gate: Wal-Mart ‘does Detroit’ as the privatized predators attempt to storm the gates of four Detroit High Schools

The following investigative story was compiled through the help of Donna Stern, spokesperson and organizer for ‘By Any Means Necessary’ (www.bamn.com), many brave Detroit teachers who were willing to speak out, and an 11^th grade student at Frederick Douglass Academy for Young Men, in Detroit, Michigan, whom I will refer to in this article as ‘Jamal’, so as not to reveal his identity for fear of reprisal. I cannot thank all of them enough for their courage and willingness to allow me to share this story with you, the reader, and to fight for public education not beholden to the corporate barbarians who sell our kids for cash.

Dumping ‘The Crucible” by Arthur Miller in favor of the crucifixion by business elites

When Jamal, an 11^th grade student, arrived at his English class in January of this year, he thought he would be continuing with his reading and analysis of The Crucible, by Arthur Miller.  The Crucible is 11^th grade reading for the Frederick Douglass Academy for Young Men, a 6-12 high school in Detroit, Michigan .  Jamal was sadly mistaken.  As he took his seat in class the teacher notified all students that they would be shifting their focus, just for awhile she told them, from the reading and analysis of literature to the construction of a mock ‘resume’ or ‘job application’.  The ‘resume’ or ‘job application’ the students were to produce in their class was to be based on a ‘resume template’ handed out by the English teacher, by which students would then create their own ‘applications’.

Jamal was shocked.  Why would his English class shift from reading high quality works of literature to engaging in mock resume and job application constructions?   Jamal, upon hearing from the teacher about the shift in curriculum, raised his hand and asked the teacher point blank, “What is this all about?”  The English teacher told him, as his class mates sat silent, that the resume was the brainchild of Wal-Mart and that in conjunction with the Frederick Douglass Academy for Young Men, the transnational corporation had thought the experience of constructing and then filling out a job application would be a good academic experience for the young 11^th graders to engage in.  Jamal was stumped.  “What kind of resume or job application will it be”, he went on to ask his teacher.  “Oh”, she responded, “it would have questions such as: ‘Do you need a job? What kind of skills do you have, Where have you worked in the past, What is your work experience, What kind of work skills do you possess”, all typical questions that would appear on an application for employment at say, Wal-Mart.

Incredulous, Jamal raised his hand once again and asked, “Is this lesson, this resume thing mandatory”.  The teacher told Jamal that no, it was not mandatory and that he did not have to do it.  It was a ‘voluntary lesson’, he and the class were told, and students were not required to complete the job application/resume.  At this point Jamal, in open voice in front of his 11^th grade class told the teacher in no uncertain terms:  “I’m not doing this!”  “Why don’t you want to do it”, the teacher queried as the other students sat silently in their seats.

Jamal told me, when I spoke with him on the phone in late February, that he told the teacher, in front of the 11^th grade class that he would not do a resume or job application from Wal-Mart because it was insulting.  He reported to me he told the class and the teacher that The Frederick Douglass Academy had a good reputation, that he and other students wanted to go to college, and that they wished to become business men, doctors, lawyers, professionals and young leaders in their community.  He told the class and the teacher that he wanted to go to Harvard one day, have a career and that to be forced to fill out phony resumes for Wal-Mart was an insult to both his integrity, his right to an education and a pockmark on the school.  The teacher did not reply, but while Jamal sat in silence, she handed out the resume templates to other students who then began to get to work constructing the Wal-Mart job application.

When the class terminated Jamal had a small conversation with the teacher.  He told me that she seemed distressed, frightened and really did not wish to talk about the fact she had been told, evidently by the school administration, to have students engage in the Wal-Mart lesson plan at the expense of any study of The Crucible; she indicated that basically she was asked to suspend her curriculum.  Jamal did say that during the conversation the teacher did state she thought Robert Bobb, the Eli Broad graduate who runs Detroit Schools as the Emergency Financial Manager was “crazy” and he said the teacher seemed embarrassed and confused by the whole episode.

According to Jamal, it seemed evident she was mandated to interrupt her literature lesson by the school administration and that in subsequent days following the event, the teacher had her students read the work of Henry David Thoreau on civil disobedience.  This, Jamal assumed, was to atone for the sin of allowing Wal-Mart to snake its way into the school and/or to educate the young men and really was a silent message of support the teacher was delivering to students, like Jamal, who wished to oppose the full out attack on public schools by the purveyors of privatization.

Jamal later discovered that it was not just his class that was asked to do the mock resume for Wal-Mart, but it was the whole school.  The lesson, he told me, was given through English classes to all 11^th grade students, and not just at Frederick Douglass Academy; the lesson had made its way to three other high schools that had been targeted by the retail chain.  Western International High School was targeted, Detroit International Academy (the sister school of Frederick Douglass, an all girls schools), and Westside High School were all in the firing line.  The four high schools had been selected by ‘administrators’ in conjunction with Wal-Mart and other corporate business interests.  But that’s not all: the schools had also been sought out to host “internships” by Wal-Mart; eleven weeks (11) of job readiness/soft skills training that would replace the curriculum, but as an ‘elective’.  All of this was, as we will see, cleverly designed by the skilled manipulators.

This was just the beginning of what would become a public circus and a public relations quandary for the retail chain, Robert Bobb and the obsequious politicians bound to turn learning into training, education into servitude.

Jamal and BAMN fight back

It was at this point that Jamal told me that he had recently contacted ‘By Any Means Necessary’ (www.bamn.com) a national civil rights group that fights for integration, an end to racism, and for public schools and against privatization.  Jamal was so upset that Wal-Mart would be ushered into his school like a revolting skin eruption that he sought support to fight the giant retailer and the privatization of the curriculum.  He wanted to organize parents, students and teachers to squelch the corporate swelling and secret operating plan of Robert Bobb and his corporate paymasters.  For a more though expose on Bobb, his privatization history, his cultivation as an Eli Broad minion and his cronyism and transfer of public funds to private corporations please see (Weil, D. Detroit Teachers fight obsequious politicians http://dailycensored.com/2010/02/14/detroit-teachers-fight-back/).

On February 10, 2010 Jamal and one other Frederick Douglass student drafted a response to Wal-Mart’s plans to host internships at the four high schools.  The statement against the insidious plan can be found at (http://dailycensored.com/2010/02/15/wal-mart-set-to-skim-off-free-labor-in-detroit-high-schools-students-fight-the-road-to-serfdom/).  Here, Jamal and his cohort wrote:

The Frederick Douglass Affirmation proudly states “We are determined to get the root of success, not just the fruit of success.” When we decided to come to this school, we were deciding to make our dreams and aspirations a reality. We came here to learn and grow. We wanted our lives to have meaning, and we were going to be somebody. Frederick Douglass Academy was built to create leaders. Its purpose is to give students the opportunity to get a real education and get into schools like U of M. Frederick Douglass Academy is a beacon of hope for many Detroiters. We cannot let our hopes be trampled. We deserve MUCH more than Walmart (ibid).

Jamal indicated to me that most of the students in his school created and filled out the resume/job application lessons in their classes despite the fact he had hoped the flyer would dissuade them (he did state that few ever turned them in).  He also told me they were to turn the finished ‘product’ into their English teachers when the lesson was done, who then were evidently told to quarter back the stack of student work to the administration.  What would the administration do with it?  Why would they want it?  Whose interest would it serve?

Wal-Mart, the theatre of the insane, purveyors of the inane: “THE KICKOFF”

After the Wal-Mart resume fiasco and after Jamal’s teacher had introduced Henry David Thoreau into her class, new flyers, this time drafted by the Neighborhood Legal Services Michigan (NLSM) were distributed to the students at the four high schools targeted by the giant retailer, the flyers formerly announced what Jamal had correctly assumed; that on February 11, 2010 there would be an assembly at the four high schools chosen by Wal-Mart for internships to promote the program.  The flyer, of which I have a copy, was titled: DPS HIGH SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES TO KICKOFF!  I’M IN GETTING READY FOR WORK! JOB READINESS TRAINING PROGRAM AT FOUR (4) DETROIT PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS.  The flyer went on to note what Jamal and his fellow students had suspected:

“Neighborhood Legal Services Michigan (NLSM), Walmart stores, Detroit Public Schools (DPS) and community/employer partners will KICKOFF the “I’m in! Getting ready for work! Job Readingess (sic)/Soft skills training program at DPS, aimed at delivering 11 weeks of job readiness/soft skills training at four (4) Detroit Public High Schools (copy of flyer from Wal-Mart” (ibid).

The “kick-offs” as they were known, according to the flyer would serve to:

“inform DPS students, staff and parents of the initiative which Wal-Mart stated would prepare DPS students for the 21^st Century Workforce as students balance school and work in the pursuit of higher education” (ibid).

The flyer went on to try to excite students, faculty and staff by promoting the fiction that:

“The KICKOFFS will be fun, exciting, engaging and inclusive in sharing program goals, objectives and expectations.  Information about the program and sign-up process will be provided.  The KICKOFFS will include the Debut of a positive version of a “I’m in!” song written and performed by hip hop sensation Julia’n (Motor City Hits) and other DPS students” (ibid).

The flyer also mentioned that a host of ‘political and corporate dignitaries’ and ‘luminaries’ would be present at each road company ‘KICKOFF’ and the guests included such personages as judges, church representatives, city council members, Michigan State University members, Robert Bobb, the Emergency Financial Manager for DPS, Mayor of Detroit Dave Bing, Congressmen, including John Conyers, Senator Martha Scott, community leaders, employers, clergy, dancers, music, parents, students and yes, Governor Jennifer Granholm herself – the political charlatan that appointed Robert Bobb.  Truly a Kabuki show.

According to the Wal-Mart flyer:

“The job readiness/soft skills training program is designed to get employable youth ready to work, teach job readiness/retention skills, help young people explore the various career opportunities that are available to them and assist them in planning for the  (sic) futures accordingly.  DPS students will receive eleven (11) weeks of job readiness/soft skills training, e.g.: How to Balance School and Work, How to Complete Employment Applications, Resumes, Job Searching Skills, Interviewing Skills, How do Dress of Success, Conflict Resolution, Problem Solving, Budgeting, Four (4) Keys to Success, Positive Attitudes in the Workplace” (ibid).  I guess writing is not big on the list, as the flyers were poorly worded and miserably spelled.

After completion of the 11 week internships students were told those who participated would be placed in a work-school based program (low-paying, food stamp eligible jobs) where they would then work at “job-sites” that were designed to require the skills and knowledge students learned during the program.  What they were not told is that they would do this for no pay, that they would not be compensated for their ‘jobs’.  They would learn this later, as we shall see.

The flyer went on to rave about achieving ones’ dreams, growing up as a student, getting ready for work, inspiring students to excellence, and how, with the new Wal-Mart internships, “great things are happening in Detroit Public Schools”.  Sure, like hundreds of school closures, laid off teachers, the decimation of arts and music programs, standardized testing as the great sorting machine of students and the wholesale putrid privatization plans the flyer never mentioned.

John W. Cromer, known in Orwellian language as the ‘stability officer for the Stimulus Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program at NLSM’, the main organizer for the road show stated:

“We are proud to say, “I’m in  at DPS”.  We lose so many high school students to the workplace before graduation.  We have to prepare them for work, but first they need to now how to balance school and work!  This also gives youth a sense of direction to keep them out of trouble in the first place.  We can not keep stuffing “our adult issues into children shoes and expect for our children to be able to walk straight!  Preparing people for work has to be the central policy behind any attempt to improve the quality of life…. Thanks to companies like Wal-Mart, Marriot, Autozone, NLSM and others who hear the call and step up to the plate for our children” (ibid).  More on Cromer later.

The KICKOFFS were to be held in the auditorium for each of the four schools selected;  all orchestrated for February 11, 2010 — a fantasy of fanfare.  These corporate and political predators, students and their parents were told, could help our children escape from the shark-filled waters of unemployment, homelessness, poverty, fear and insecurity.  Like Gilded Titans of a century ago, the ruling elite promised to stand as plutocratic monarchs, inheritors of the new age of disposability – eager to manage the public’s affairs while actually undermining the public interest.

Kicking out the “KICKOFF”

When Jamal entered the auditorium at Frederick Douglass Academy, he took a seat along with 259 students at the school and awaited the KICKOFF.  It was all becoming clear why students at the four high schools had been given the job of creating a job application instead of reading “The Crucible”.  Jamal began to see how under a system of traumatic dislocation, psychic delusion and perpetual disillusionment he and his fellow students sat at the feet of the capitalist masters.

Microphones had been put on stage, banners strung up and speakers from the assembled community of clergy, politicians, businesses and of course Wal-Mart lined up to speak to the positive aspects of the school-to-work program they were creating. Teachers, staff and of course the students had no choice but to be there; they were forced to herd into the killing floor of auditorium for the KICKOFF and as the speakers took the podium, Jamal and his friend, the other fellow student at Frederick Douglass Academy who had worked with Jamal to prepare the student statement against Wal-Mart, spoke out loud in front of many students about the degradation of learning and the low expectations for students at Frederick Douglass Academy, imposed by the autocratic authors of the KICKOFF program, now circumstantially and thus evidentially tied to the resume/job application they had been asked to do in their English class.  According to Jamal, most students seemed to accept the KICKOFF, or otherwise remained silent at the assembly as it began.  Besides, they were not allowed to speak.

Shortly after the auctioneers had given their pep talks to students, their rambling messages of work, education as training and the importance, if not the beauty of the free-market, Donna Stern from ‘By Any Means Necessary’ (BAMN) took the stage and  began to address the assembled.  She had been invited to speak at the assembly by John Cromer, but not as a BAMN member, but as a parent who had a child in the Detroit School system.  She had been invited by Cromer, as she told me, probably due to the fact she had been an ACT tutor prep for students (ACT is one of the standardized tests students must take for college entry).  It seems Cromer and his business community supporters and political hacks did not even know of Donna’s association with BAMN, nor were they aware of Jamal’s prior contact with the organization.

According to Donna Stern, she made three points when she took the microphone to address close to 300 student, teachers, staff, business elites, politicians, clergy and community members at the Frederick Douglass Academy for Young Males:

“1. The young men of Frederick Douglass should be receiving college prep courses, not a Wal-Mart prep education.

2. That it is and was an outrage that the same week politicians and corporations are celebrating Wal-Mart coming into the schools, they sent out pink slips to many of the fine arts teachers, including directors of high quality, long standing programs.

3. That Frederick Douglass, himself, would be turning over in his grave if he were there to see what was being done in his name” (e-mail, February 26^th, 2010 Donna Stern).

The speech by Stern was not what Cromer and his cronies had expected and they scurried to whisk Stern off the stage before she could do more harm to their insidious plan to turn the high schools into a plantation for business interests.  But the real shock to the KICKOFF originators came when teachers, students and community members stood, clapped and cheered as Donna hurriedly made her way off the stage.  Her statements resonated with what many if not most of the teachers and students felt — that students were going to be put on a school-to-work track, literally turning them over to private corporate cannibals like Wal-Mart.  At the time Stern spoke it was unclear whether Wal-Mart was going to pay students the minimum wage of $7.25 or whether they would be able to get away paying the $4.25 per hour the Department of Labor allows for the first 90 days of employment of a minor. Of course paying the latter wage could be perceived as a money saver for Wal-Mart, already viewed by many as the epitome of capitalism-gone-amuck and dead-end culdasac to underpaid employment that qualifies one for food stamps.

The issue was clarified by an e-mail from John Cromer to a teacher at DPS asking if students would be paid for the internship. The answer was a resounding “NO”:

“No.  Students are not paid for the 11 week job readiness training” (e-mail, February 27^th, 2010 from John Cromer to DPS teacher).

The whole vicious child-exploitation scheme was exposed in its raw and sweltering form for what it really was: a set-up hatched by the elite and their obsequious hirelings – from the resume lesson plan to the KICKOFF itself.  The whole conspiracy was planned.  It was and is little more than exploitation condoned and heralded by the coin operated politicians who blessed the event and shepherded it into reality, from Governor Jennifer Granholm to to her servant in chief, Robert Bobb.  Their DNA is all over the crime scene.

Mayor of Detroit Dave Bing, Robert Bobb and Governor of the state of Michigan, Granholm never did attend the KICKOFF, as they promised, at the assembly on February 11^th, deciding instead to send representatives.  Lucky for them.  A full-court press interview with ‘representatives’ and participants had been scheduled after the KICKOFF with the corporate media, all part of a public relations gimmick, but according to Jamal the press interviews never occurred. Stern’s captivating condemnation of the program and its participants on behalf of BAMN, the students and teachers stole the show and left the job fair proponents speechless and utterly incoherent at the carnival they had organized. The corporate media cowered, now wanting to report the news of resistance as did the politicians and business interests — all in face of open defiance by teachers, students, staff and BAMN to the jobs fair program.  This was certainly something they did not expect nor relish.

Jamal began to speak with students immediately after Stern’s speech, advising them they should not turn in their resumes to their teachers or the school administration.  He also mingled with students and staff and told me the teachers seemed frightened, as did students, of being singled out and perhaps retaliated against by administrators or their ‘spies’.  One police officer, a woman who officially attended the KICKOFF in uniform on behalf of the Detroit Police Department, suggested openly and aloud that Donna Stern should be arrested.  She complained that Stern was rude, her speech inappropriate, and told Jamal, “She can’t do that she should be arrested!”  Jamal confronted the officer directly and stated that it was Stern’s first amendment right to speak at the assembly but the officer would not back down, repeating that BAMN”s presence was inappropriate and that there should be police retaliation for her presence and her remarks.  No arrest was made, however, this time. As we will see, this was not the first time the heavy presence of Detroit Police was seen at educational events.

When I spoke to Donna Stern she told me that after her short comments condemning the program, the microphone was taken from her by the KICKOFF backers and that she immediately left the KICKOFF stage for she intuitively knew that her remarks would upset the KICKOFF founders and could possibly put her in harms way from the police who have been continuously used by Robert Bobb and Detroit Federation of Teacher’s union boss, Keith Johnson to frighten and intimidate teachers at public forums (Weil, D. Detroit Teachers fight obsequious politicians, union bosses and privatizations planshttp://dailycensored.com/2010/02/14/detroit-teachers-fight-back/).

This KICKOFF was to be no different, as police mingled with what was now an excited and fired up crowd of both teachers and students.  Although Jamal stated that Wal-Mart brochures carpet bombed the KICKOFF along with other business flyers, the assembly had been virtually destroyed by the activism and defiance displayed by Donna Stern and echoed in the vocal support for her comments by teachers, staff, community members and students.

The KICKOFF’s were not the success that Wal-Mart and the city administrators and politicians had hoped for.  In fact, at this date there are no internships actually scheduled at the four high schools.  Everything has been placed on hold.  Jamal informed me in a phone interview that the strategy of the students was now to organize students and teachers, to create flyers denouncing the Wal-Mart business plan, to attend more BAMN meetings, grow the opposition to the Wal-Mart takeover of 11 weeks of instructional time and to organize petitions and media events denouncing the program and thus prevent Wal-Mart’s entry into Detroit Public Schools.

FOX and Friends gets involved

Shortly after the failed KICKOFF, Donna Stern told me she appeared on the morning show, FOX and Friends with none other than John Cromer.  The fiasco had caused blowback and media attention and Cromer of course was there to defend the program and its adherents.  Stern told me that Cromer spoke about “how students needed to stop wearing their pants low, like in prison, and begin to make themselves presentable for employment purposes”.  Stern tried to point out to Cromer that the Frederick Douglass Academy had a dress code and that the male students were required to wear shirts and ties, that no students resembled the stereotype painted by Cromer.  To no avail, Cromer had already stereotyped Detroit students and their families as vestiges of gangs and prisons.  All of this is part of the new war on youth.

Why did Robert Bobb, John Cromer and his elite business cronies target four successful Detroit High Schools for a Wal-Mart internship?

The answer to the above question is still unknown, a mystery.  The four high schools selected by the curriculum assassins were all considered well performing high schools.  Frederick Douglass, according to Jamal, had been a “bad boy’s school” up to a few years ago but in 2008, he told me, 75% of the students who graduated went on to college and in 2009 the percentage of graduates who went on to college was 100%.  Of course this could include phony for-profit colleges like the University of Phoenix or other ‘for-profit’ ‘drive-by universities, but still, these are hardly failing schools.  In fact, some of the students at these schools are doing an exceptional job, and it is not due to the help of Wal-Mart or other corporate predators that have nothing but disdain and low-expectations for minority students.  The support comes from the public sector, not the money changers.

Central Michigan University has in place what is called an “Upward Bound,” program.  In 2009 the Upward Bound program celebrated 10 years of service as a college preparation program that provides tutoring, academic advising, community service, early intervention methods, and many other socially enlightened programs. There are more than 800 UB programs throughout the United States that assist low-income, first- generation college students and disabled individuals from middle school through post-baccalaureate programs.  CMU’s program is stationed both at The Detroit International Academy, in Detroit, and CMU’s Campus Office in Warriner Hall. The program focuses its work on high school students at the Detroit International Academy for Young Women and the Frederick Douglass Academy for Young Men, two of the four schools put in the cross-hairs by Wal-Mart, Robert Bobb and John Cromer, and the program has been a success.

In November of 2009 Detroit freshman Alexis Bailey who was only 18, yet garners the respect of peers and elders as a first-generation college student, proudly proclaimed:

“I feel like I am an inspiration to my family and friends” (Keaton, Sherry Upward Bound celebrates 10th year of helping students academically, personally, November 23, 2009.  http://www.cm-life.com/2009/11/23/upward-bound-celebrates-10th-year-of-helping-students-academically-personally/)

Before entering the program, Bailey had a 3.6 grade point average but had some troubles in school.

“Before the program I was bad. I was always smart, the program just gave me that extra push to do what I needed to do” (ibid).

After the program she had 4.0. She said she eventually wants to become a judge and hopes to make the program proud.  In an interview she did with CentralMichiganLife, an online news paper Bailey said:

“I want to let them know they succeeded in helping me out (ibid).

Ask Detroit senior Fatima Sylvertooth and she will tell you what she knows about having motivation and the importance of education.

“When I was in the program it shed hope to my future helping me to understand that there is more to life than my neighborhood. I’ve learned to take responsibility in the things you value; and my education was one of them.  The only limit we have in life is the one we set for ourselves, others can believe in us, but we must also believe in ourselves” (ibid).

While growing up, Sylvertooth acknowledged that she had challenges of her own and was sometimes discouraged.  She had been given the message early on that her life was not equal to those more affluent and white.  She had been indoctrinated with low-expectations and pounded with messages she would not succeed.

“I thought I was supposed to fail, and I didn’t understand why (UB) cared so much, the only person in my family who was my biggest encouragement was my mom” (ibid).

Getting students to believe that they are supposed to fail, that they shouldn’t be on a college track, that music and arts is not important, that literature is untenable for them is the goal of Robert Bobb, John Cromer, Wal-Mart and the rest of the privatizers.  Getting poor, minority students on an early ‘vocational track’ for low-paying service jobs seems to be the priority for this morbid band of bandits and thieves.  Attacking public education with work-fair projects and setting low-expectations for students while slashing and burning authentic curriculum is what Robert Bobb and his cohorts are taught at the Eli Broad Academy as you can see in the articles I reference above. After all, why teach the science and the arts to low-achieving students who will just end up working at Wal-Mart anyway, like Cromer insinuated?   This is better left for the elite.

Not according to Cromer.  Over a luncheon shortly before the event, John Cromer, of NLSM and Rita, Cindy and Jim, of Wal-Mart Stores talked about the need of preparing our youth for the workforce and wondered how we could get to the officials of Detroit Public School (DPS).

“We met the Emergency Financial Manager, Mr. Robert Bobb, of DPS.  He approved it has a pilot program in public 4 high schools.  With the success of this program we hope to be in all of the Detroit Public high schools this summer and Fall 2010”.

When Cromer was asked, “How do you respond to criticism of the program training kids to be ’subservient workers?”, Cromer replied:

“This is completely untrue.  We have to start from somewhere.  We are teaching transferable skills that can be applied in every line of work including the Four Keys to Success, Problem Solving Skills and Conflict Resolution.  Most introductions into the workforce for our youth start at places like retail stores, fast-food restaurants, etc.  This program will teach them how to build a resume, complete a job application and how to dress for success- “get their pants off the ground” for job searching activities (e-mail from Donna Stern re: Cromer comments).

When asked what the student response has been in regards to the Wal-Mart internships, Cromer crooned:

“Youth used to have paper routes, and have other means to earn money: shovel snow, cut grass, etc. Our youth today need money.  Of course they are excited.  They are very welcomed of the idea. We need to find a way to connect their excitement with employment, and set standards for summer employment that dictates some kind of measurement in academic achievement, attendance and conduct while in school- that leads to a summer or part time job.  Our youth are just ready for someone to come along any give them a sense of direction that will keep them out of trouble in the first place” (ibid).

And as to the role of private business entering Detroit Public High Schools, Cromer had this to say:

“Government can not do it all.  Our youth need to be motivated to achieve.  We used to have programs in Detroit that helped to develop youth leadership skills.  We are losing so many youth to the workforce or to the juvenile justice system.  Thanks to the participating companies we can get them ready to complete job applications, resumes and even teach them how to dress how to dress for job searching activities.  Our youth are going to these companies anyway for work.  It is our responsibility as “this Village” to get them ready.  We are connecting to the employers.  And if we get employers and teachers to speak the same language, we can build a better and new America starting in cities that are already struggling like Detroit MI” (ibid).

Finally, when pressed as to how he should respond to criticism that the program brings private corporations into public schools and then ultimately influences curriculum, Cromer turned his privatization cards face up:

“That would be a good thing.  It is important to teach transferable skills.  The purpose is to prepare students for employment.  Why wouldn’t employers what to have some involvement?  Employers translate into business which is designed by the market, and then the economy.  These are companies that are close enough to the market to know what it is going to take to compete in the global market and boost the American economy.  So, we need to get our youth prepared to compete” (ibid).

John Cromer and the privatizers have shown they are simply another example of Milton Friedman’s economic wet dream – the commodification and privatization of education.

For now, the Wal-Mart internship program has been put on hold, much to the chagrin of Wal-Mart and the other ‘business partners’.  You can thank Jamal, Donna Stern and Detroit teachers and the Detroit community for this.

As Donna Stern and I were finishing up a discussion by phone a few days ago, she and I mused over what is clearly emerging as the billionaire philanthropists’, corporate business elite and giant transnational corporations’ plan for Jamal and his class mates at Frederick Douglass and the other three Detroit High schools – turning public schools into vocational schools, stripping out arts, literature, music in favor of low-paying service jobs where students learn early that they are not supposed to go to college, that their lives have been predetermined by the Gods of capitalism.  What they need to learn, in the eyes of the privatizers, is not to think critically about society and their place in it but to ask, “Do you want fries with that, Sir?”  Like peasants on the lord’s manor they are to be treated like cattle readying for the long herd.

This is the economy these capitalist behemoths are manufacturing for the 21^st century, Delirium USA, and they make no bones about it.  Let us hope that Jamal, Donna, BAMN and Detroit teachers and the Detroit community are successful in letting the politicians and the corporate elites know that this is never going to be acceptable, that their children and students will not be exposed to a message that tells them they are supposed to fail and dead end service jobs at Wal-Mart is all they can accomplish in life.  The message must be the opposite of that promoted by corporate America: that providing a decent, equitable public education to all students is what is needed – by any means necessary.

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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)