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Why Wal-Mart Set Up Shop in Italy

By Dan Richman,
Seattle Post Intelligencer
November 30th, 2007                                  [back to top]  

Letters were set be mailed Friday telling 75,000 current or former Wal-Mart workers in Washington that they are plaintiffs in a statewide class action against the retail giant.

The mailing is the latest development in the suit, which was filed nearly six years ago in King County Superior Court.

Set for trial in the spring of 2009, the suit is "the largest wage-and-hour class action ever certified in Washington state," class counsel Beth Terrell of Tousley Brain Stephens PLLC in Seattle said Friday at a news conference.

"The workers will prove that Wal-Mart failed to pay workers for some of the time they worked and deprived them of legally required meal and rest breaks," Terrell said. "Wal-Mart's drive for profits has come at the expense of its low-wage employees."

She estimated that damages against Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will total tens of millions of dollars in wages wrongly withheld from workers.

In Washington, the company operates 46 Wal-Mart stores and three Sam's Club stores, employing 12,000 to 15,000 workers, Terrell said. Any worker employed at a Wal-Mart or a Sam's Club between Sept. 10, 1997, and the present is automatically a member of the class, sharing in any benefits resulting from a verdict or settlement.

Workers may opt out of the suit if they choose, and Terrell said she expects many current employees to do so, fearing retaliation.

Lead plaintiff Georgie Hartwig Knoles said she worked for more than seven years at the Wal-Mart in Colville, where the store is the Eastern Washington city's largest employer.

"I put in two to five hours a week every week without getting paid, just to get my job done," Knoles said Friday.

"Once I clocked a few minutes over 40 hours per week. I got called into the store manager's office, him and an assistant manager. They flat-out told me, 'If it happens again, you'll be terminated.' "

She said she'd like to be compensated for the hours she worked.

"I'd also like to see Wal-Mart go back to treating the little people who are doing the work the way (founder) Sam Walton wanted them treated -- like they were human beings," she said.

Terrell said nothing has changed since Knoles was laid off from Wal-Mart in October 2001.

"We continue to hear the pressure is the same on the employees to get their work done, and every year, the store manager is expected to reduce their payroll by 0.2 percent while sales go up," she said. "We think the amount of off-the-clock working has gone up."

Wal-Mart has acknowledged in some cases giving one minute of compensation for an entire day's work and otherwise manipulating workers' time records, Terrell said.

"What's unique is the shamelessness," Terrell said. "The documents we've seen are stunning."

Similar class actions against Wal-Mart have been filed in more than 35 other states. Four have gone to trial and been resolved, all in favor of the plaintiffs, Terrell said.

In California, plaintiffs won a judgment of about $167 million. A Pennsylvania suit delivered a judgment of $151 million, and a suit is currently being tried in Minnesota.

"We're hoping that with five or six more (judgments) against them, even Wal-Mart can't afford this cost of doing business," Terrell said.

Wal-Mart spokesman John Simley on Friday called the adverse decisions "deeply flawed" and said the company "obviously" intends to appeal them. He said courts in 18 states have refused to certify the class in these suits.

"Wal-Mart is committed to treating its associates fairly and in accordance with the law," he said. "The company has very clear policies on meal and rest breaks, and in most cases, those policies do more than is required by the law."

The Washington suit was filed in 2001, but an unappealable ruling certifying the class was just won in May.

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China lists substandard Wal-Mart, Carrefour goods

Reuters
Thu Nov 29, 2007                 [back to top]  

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has published a blacklist of substandard toy jugs and children's shoes sold at Wal-Mart stores and drawing pens from French retailer Carrefour in a quality sweep on children's goods sold at Beijing supermarkets.

China has been buffeted by food, drug and other product safety scares in past months. More than 20 million toys made there have been recalled worldwide over the past four months.

In response, Beijing has promised to crack down on faulty manufacturers and suppliers, but also said much responsibility lies with foreign regulators and buyers. It has also made a point of naming foreign companies it claims also have problem products.

A Wal-Mart Stores Inc spokesman, Jonathan Dong, said the blacklist -- which appeared on an official Web site on Thursday -- was more than two months old and the products, made in China, had long been cleared from the shelves.

Inspectors had also blacklisted children's toys at Wal-Mart stores in Beijing for problems regarding parts that could come off and cause harm if swallowed, the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce said on its Web site (www.hd315.gov.cn).

The 54-item blacklist also included substandard children's glasses, toothbrushes, building blocks and bikes with shoddy brakes and handlebars, at a number of Chinese retailers.

"If consumers have bought the substandard goods, with proof of purchase they can request the vendor to recall the goods," the notice said.

Six children's products stocked at Wal-Mart branches in Beijing had failed to meet standards, the notice said.

Wal-Mart's "Bo bo" brand of "water jugs" had failed plastic integrity standards, according to the notice.

"Over a long period of use, toxins could accumulate in the body and cause harm," the notice said.

Wal-Mart spokesman Dong confirmed the blacklist and said the retailer had been notified of the quality results. He said he was not sure why the notice had appeared on the Web site on Thursday.

"I guess they just wanted to be transparent about it," he said.

Dong said any versions of the products now on sale had been deemed safe, but customers with doubts could nonetheless return them.

Last week, Wal-Mart was one of 20 companies sued by the California attorney general and Los Angeles city attorney for manufacturing or selling toys with unlawfully high levels of lead.

Chinese-made Carrefour drawing pens were found with excessive levels of lead and chromium. A Carrefour spokesman contacted by phone was unable to provide immediate comment and requested an e-mail of questions.

The Chinese producer of the bead toys that caused recalls in the United States and Australia has apologized for using a toxic "date-rape" drug and damaging the reputation of the made-in-China label, state media said on Thursday.

Vice Premier Wu Yi arrived in Guangdong on Wednesday for "secret" spot checks on food safety, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported.

She heads one of 12 inspection teams that were checking hundreds of outlets on Thursday, officials were quoted as saying.

© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.

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Bitter Fruit: Wal-Mart pressures farmers, drives down wages

By Tom Philpott ,
Grist.com
November 29th, 2007                        [back to top]

As most Grist readers know by now, a few giant corporations essentially control the meat industry -- they lock up the bulk of the profits and impose harsh terms on farmers, workers, livestock, and the environment. The meat they produce evidently damages those who eat it as well.

Things aren't much different in the fresh fruit and vegetable world.

In Florida, the ever-excellent Eric Schlosser shows in a New York Times op-ed piece, the migrant farmworkers who harvest the bulk of the nation's winter tomatoes are about to see their already-poverty-level wages slashed this holiday season. Out west, the Delta Farm Press reports, farmers are losing money selling peaches for 40 cents a pound wholesale -- which big-box chains and supermarkets then turn around and sell for $3.00/pound.

In both cases, huge corporations are flexing their might, using their power as dominant buyers to suck the bulk of the profit out of the food chain. They leave behind crumbs for farmers -- and even less for farmworkers.

Why are tomato growers in Florida plotting to slash wages? Schlosser puts it well:

Florida's tomato growers have long faced pressure to reduce operating costs; one way to do that is to keep migrant wages as low as possible. Although some of the pressure has come from increased competition with Mexican growers, most of it has been forcefully applied by the largest purchaser of Florida tomatoes: American fast food chains that want millions of pounds of cheap tomatoes as a garnish for their hamburgers, tacos and salads.

In 2005, as Schlosser reports, tomato pickers got their first raise in more than a generation after a protracted battle waged by a Florida farm-workers' union called the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. The raise amounted to a penny for every pound the laborers managed to pick -- a significant boost to worker income.

In order to squeeze that penny out of the farmowners, the union knew it had to target the fast-food chains who buy most of the tomatoes. If the price farmers received for their tomatoes didn't rise, they literally couldn't afford to pay the workers more. So the Coalition of Immokalee Workers opened negotiations with Taco Bell, which (after a long boycott) finally agreed to pay the extra penny. In 2007, McDonald's fell into line.

But Burger King has steadfastly refused to pay up -- and now Florida's largest tomato growers group, the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, has used Burger King's intransigence as an excuse to scuttle the deal with the other fast-food giants. Thus the workers will no longer get the extra penny per pound -- leading to pay cuts of 40 percent. Ceding the raise would cost Burger King $250,000 per year -- a rounding error in its annual profits.

Schlosser, in his expert muckraking way, traces Burger King ownership to the august Manhattan offices of Goldman Sachs, whose CEO last year earned the biggest bonus in Wall Street history and will likely do even better this year.

Burger King's refusal amounts to a massive and seemingly nihilistic show of force -- it singlehandedly wields enough buying power in the tomato market that it can on a whim nearly halve the wages of thousands of poverty-level workers. Meanwhile, the situation out in California with peach growers is all about Wal-Mart and big supermarkets throwing their weight around.

At a recent conference, the Delta Farm Press reports, a stone-fruit farmers group official had this to say:

One-third of the industry is still losing money, and one-third is breaking even, and one third is making money.

That means two-thirds of farmers are losing money or just breaking even. Why do the big retailers impose such ruinous prices on farmers? Because they can.

The large retailers need to make high profit margins on fresh produce to offset the low margins they earn by selling processed foods. The processed-food industry is itself highly consolidated, dominated by a few giants like Kraft. It's easier for Wal-Mart and its ilk to low-ball a bunch of peach farmers than is to squeeze the likes of Kraft. So Wal-Mart drives a hard bargain on produce. Or, as the stone-fruit grower put it, "The margins for produce continue to carry the load for the rest of the items in the supermarket."

If peaches go for 40 cents a pound on the wholesale market, I wonder what peach pickers make out in California. As always, farmers try to make up for low prices by producing more, hoping to make up on volume what they're losing on price. I wonder what sort of environmental compromises they're making in order to boost yields in those tomato fields and peach orchards.

Addendum: It should be noted that Burger King recently rolled out a $1 double cheeseburger.

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New film highlights labor abuses at Canadian Wal-Marts

By Tyler Wolfe ,
Gauntlet News
November 29th, 2007                     [back to top]

When thinking of a road trip, one usually envisions a concert, party, or vacation and perhaps even a little debauchery. There are those, however, who prefer to spend their adventure in Wal-Mart parking lots.

Wal-Town is a film that follows a group of Concordia University students activists as they travel across Canada in an effort to inform consumers of what they consider to be the less-than-ideal practices of Wal-Mart.

The film was presented by the Arusha Centre's Action Film Series in conjunction with the Fair Trade Week and was played at the Plaza theatre on Wed., Nov. 21.

The Arusha Centre is a Calgary-based, collectively-run, member-supported, non-profit organization that provides resources and programming on local and global social justice issues. Their Action Film Series was created with the mandate of showing and discussing films that have important social messages. Arusha info-active coordinator, Sharon Stevens explained it is important to have an environment where the message behind the film can be analyzed as well.

"Often when you watch a documentary, the information is pretty overwhelming and people often feel that it is so huge that they cannot do anything about it," said Stevens. "We like to have access to resources before, during and after each film. We try and liven up the experience."

The Wal-Town showing featured a live band playing before the film and a number of speakers to address any questions afterward.

In Wal-Town, the activists tended to take a non-confrontational approach to begin with; handing out pamphlets and information on what they deemed to be the negative aspects of Wal-Mart without being overly aggressive. They changed their tactics when it became apparent that their message was not sinking in to the degree they had hoped. Stevens noted this change of tactics paid off.

"At first [the Wal-Town activists] were just handing out pamphlets and boring people to death at the doorway [of Wal-Marts], but then they got more lively and painted themselves yellow and it really seemed to work [at engaging the shoppers]," said Stevens.

Ezra Winton, one of the leaders of the activist group and co-founder of the non-profit Ãœberculture Collective explained the change of tactics also had another dimension.

"If you want to get on television news you have to be visually intriguing," he said. "If [the TV crew] shows up at a Wal-Mart and there are six people handing out pamphlets, it's not really breaking news."

The attempt to engage people through the use of theatrics paid off for the Wal-Town activists. Stevens explained how the Arusha organization had used similar tactics to get the public's attention.

"We taught people to stand on stilts," said Stevens. "[The public] will stop and listen to somebody who is twelve feet high. If you stand out like that with a bright costume, people will tend to stop and pay attention to what you have to say."

Winton got the idea to do the two-part, cross-Canada tour when the introduction of a Wal-Mart in his home town of Courtney, B.C., brought about far-reaching changes.

"I remember how the landscape of the town change dramatically due to Wal-Mart being built there and thought it would be cool to do a road-trip across Canada and see if it was having the same effect on other towns, and to talk to the Canadian public," said Winton.

Though critical of many of Wal-Mart's practices, Winton was not arguing for a boycott of the retailer.

"It's not about preaching to people or telling them what they should and shouldn't do--it's about having dialogue and discussing all the things that we think are important issues," he said.

One of the largest complaints the Wal-Town activists had of Wal-Mart was their anti-union stance. The retail giant closed its only unionized North American store in Jonquière, Quebec, in 2005. Although Wal-Mart claimed they closed the location because it was not profitable, the Quebec Labour Relation Board subsequently found Wal-Mart guilty of closing the location to avoid the union.

Winton felt this closure is indicative of a wider anti-union bias throughout Canada.

"There is a real anti-organized labour climate right now in Canada that is utterly disgusting and the ignorance that runs across the cultural landscape, from teenagers to people in their fifties about unions and organized labour is mind-boggling," said Winton.

The experience was not all doom and gloom, though. Winton noted the film is unrepresentative in that it does not show the magnitude of support that his group received. All across Canada there were people who took them in and fed them or gave them a place to sleep--something the film fails to portray.

"I'm optimistic that there are small steps being taken all the time and activists from all different areas are achieving goals that will lead to a better world," said Winton. "The film kind of leaves you feeling that it's an impossible uphill battle with the public but it's not. The problem is curbing habitual consumption. That's the battle."

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Wal-Mart sets record with HRC ratings plunge

By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO,
Washington Blade
November 28th, 2007                        [back to top] 

The world’s largest retailer set a record this month but not one its managers are likely to be proud of.

Wal-Mart has the ignominious distinction of having the biggest drop ever from one year to the next on Human Rights Campaign’s annual “Buying for Equality” guide, which ranks companies and identifies their most popular brands. The companies are rated on a scale of zero to 100 with 100 being perfect.

Wal-Mart saw its 2006 rating of 65 plummet to 40 this year. That’s low enough to land in HRC’s red zone (companies that rank zero to 45) which means gays and their supporters are encouraged to “strongly consider other options,” according to Daryl Herrschaft, HRC’s director of the Workplace Project which each year oversees the shopping guide, the Corporate Equality Index and the Best Places to Work guide. HRC doesn’t encourage boycotts.

Wal-Mart’s 2006 65 rating was enough to stay in the yellow HRC zone (46 to 70). Green is best (80 to 100) according to HRC’s criteria.

Wal-Mart’s drop resulted from losses in two key areas, Herrschaft said. This summer the company opted not to renew its membership in the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (it joined in 2006) resulting in a loss of 15 HRC points. A discrepancy from last year's study that was discovered in this year's answers resulted in another 10-point loss.

Because HRC added four criteria to its scoring this year (previously there were seven), two questions of which pertained to transgender sensitivity issues, scoring 100 got tougher. Wal-Mart had scored 57 the four years before 2006. This year’s score puts it behind competitors Target, which just made green with an 80, and Kmart which got a 100.

Unlike Bed, Bath & Beyond, CVS or Lowe’s, Wal-Mart did cooperate with the survey by responding, yet its anti-gay decisions from the past year kept it in the HRC ranking basement with other companies like Toys “R” Us and Radio Shack. Best Buy, Borders, Sears and others were among the retailers earning perfect scores.

Wal-Mart responded to request for comment only with a canned e-mail response from Dan Fogleman, a spokesperson for the company.

“At Wal-Mart, our focus is always on our customers and associates — and that means all of them,” the e-mail said. “As an employer, diversity is truly one of our strengths. Since the very beginning of our company, we have emphasized respect for the individual. To us, that means every associate is valued and a partner in our company’s success.”

Fogleman ignored requests for a phone interview and answers to follow-up questions via e-mail.

Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar was only slightly more forthcoming with USA Today which quoted him as saying Wal-Mart is “proud of our diversity initiative and we think we are taking the right steps.” He wouldn’t comment on whether the rating might hurt Wal-Mart’s holiday sales season.

The rating comes at an uncertain time for the company. According to the Associated Press, Wal-Mart’s 2006 shopping season was its worst ever, though net sales for the third quarter of fiscal year 2008 were up nearly 9 percent over the same period for fiscal year 2007, according to a CNN report.

Wal-Mart’s Black Friday figures weren’t available as of press time but the company told RTT News, a financial newswire service, that it expects its November numbers for this year to fall somewhere between last year’s number and 2 percent higher.

But how much influence does the HRC guide wield and, financially speaking, should Wal-Mart fear its plunging score?

That’s tough to determine as the influence of the shopping guide hasn’t been studied. A researcher at the University of Vermont is working on a study to determine if HRC’s Corporate Equality Index affects stock prices but its results haven’t been published.

Last December, Witeck-Combs Communications/Harris Interactive polled gay consumers about HRC’s shopping guide and asked how likely the guide would be to influence their shopping choices: 72 percent said they’d be influenced by it.

But the guide has an inverse effect in some arenas as conservative groups, often religious, have been known to encourage their supporters to support companies in HRC’s red zone and avoid green zone companies. Herrschaft says HRC’s polling criteria, which assigns point values in key areas, hasn’t been challenged either by companies or conservatives.

Donald Wildmon, founder and chair of American Family Association, sent an action alert to his supporters soon after the shopping guide was published. Its main subject: Wal-Mart.

The group is encouraging its members to stage a “buycott” at Wal-Mart in opposition to HRC’s findings. Wildmon predicts if conservatives support Wal-Mart this holiday shopping season while gays go to Target, observers should “look at Wal-Mart’s sales at the end of December to see who won.”

The Association didn’t respond to a Blade interview request but Wildmon said in his alert that the shopping battle is really about marriage.

“Homosexuals have challenged traditional marriage supporters to do battle,” he wrote. “We will now see if traditional marriage supporters accept the challenge.”

It’s unclear how many shoppers in either ideological camp are aware of Wildmon’s challenge. And because there are many other factors at play — Target has about 1,350 U.S. stores compared to Wal-Mart’s 3,400, for instance — making the holiday shopping season a gay or anti-gay numbers game may be too tricky to calculate fairly.

Herrschaft said the trend in corporate America is to support gay employees and conservatives who avoid such companies will find their shopping options severely curtailed.

“It’s next to impossible today to buy only from a company that doesn’t support gays,” he said. “Any extremely conservative person, if they’re using a computer, they’re probably using a Microsoft computer and they got a 100 percent. If they drive a Ford, GM or Chrysler automobile, they all have perfect HRC scores. If you use a computer, drive a car or wear clothes, chances are you’re supporting a gay-friendly company.”

But ideology aside, isn’t it easy to sympathize with large companies that are constantly being pulled in two directions? Wal-Mart faced enormous criticism from conservatives, Tony Perkins and Family Research Council chief among them, when it joined the gay chamber. Though stopping short of calling for a boycott, Perkins urged supporters to “express their disappointment to Wal-Mart.”

Wal-Mart, then, is stuck in a “damned-if-they-do-damned-if-they-don’t” pinch, unable to please any group completely.

“That’s a good question,” Herrschaft said. “But the vast majority of heterosexual consumers don’t make shopping decisions on these kinds of issues and the company needs to be sensitive to the needs of all its employees. By keeping (gay) employees out, they’re really moving behind the times.”

Wal-Mart has been shifting on gay-related matters for the last few years. Joining the gay chamber, stocking DVDs of “Brokeback Mountain” and exploring the implementation of DP benefits have variously been praised and criticized leading the company, in June, to enact a policy to avoid “highly controversial matters.” That’s when talks on gay benefits ended, Herrschaft said. HRC executives had been involved in those discussions.

Although no large company has publicly attributed weak sales to strong HRC ratings (or vice versa), groups like American Family Association claim to wield influence. The group says its Ford boycott that started in March 2006 resulted in a 9.5 percent drop when the months of October 2006 and 2007 were compared. Ford sales dropped 18 of the last 20 months since the boycott began, the group said. The Association bills itself as a “pro-family advocacy organization” with more than 2 million online supporters.

Meghan Scott, a spokesperson for WakeUpWalMart.com, an advocacy group that has a litany of objections to the way Wal-Mart operates, said the HRC score wasn’t a surprise to her.

“It’s somewhat indicative of the way Wal-Mart treats all its employees,” she said. “If they chose to, they could really lead the way in a variety of areas, with wages, benefits and so on, but time and again, they’ve put the bottom line ahead of everything else.”

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Injured Wal-Mart Employee Case Sparks Outrage, Donation Fund

By Kimberly Morrison,
The Morning News
November 28th, 2007                                [back to top] 

The case of a former Wal-Mart Stores Inc. employee left brain damaged and wheelchair-bound after a collision with a semi-trailer truck, then forced to return the damages awarded for her future medical care back to Wal-Mart, has stirred national outrage over a case seen as an insurance nightmare where Wal-Mart is the bogeyman.

Debbie Shank, 52, was a stocker for Wal-Mart in Cape Girardieu, Mo., when the accident happened. Years of court battles ensued while Wal-Mart footed a $470,000 bill for her care. Her husband sued the trucking company and won. However, only $417,500 remained from the judgment after lawyers and expenses were paid. That money was placed in a Medicaid trust fund.

Three years later, Wal-Mart sued the Shanks for return of the funds paid toward her care. The Shanks lost their last appeal in August, and now their attorney is asking the Supreme Court to hear the case.

But news of the case was largely regional, and even that had quieted until last week, when reports by The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times sparked a wave of media attention that surprised even Shank's attorney.

"NBC is sitting in my waiting room," said Maurice Graham, Shank's attorney, in a phone interview with The Morning News from his St. Louis office.

Graham said the attention was deserving because this case was "among the most dramatic of inequities."

This coming from a man who specializes in business litigation involving catastrophic injury cases.

"It's a terrible tragedy," Graham said. "In this case, a big part of the damages were for her future care. Wal-Mart has not and will not pay any part of that, so they shouldn't be able to recover out of that.

"We're not saying Wal-Mart is not entitled to recovery -- they are entitled to a portion of expenses, but it has to be on a pro rata and equitable basis, not that they get it all."

National exposure of the case has in recent days caught the attention of health care and legal associations, incited venomous commentary in the blogging world, and played out on TV.

Wal-Mart Watch took action, establishing on Tuesday a donation fund for the family through its Web site, amid ongoing debates of legal and moral questions raised by the case.

At the heart of the issue is an increasingly common subrogation clause in employee health care contracts, including the one Shank signed with Wal-Mart. The clause says that if the injured party receives damages from an accident on which the company has paid medical expenses, the company has first dibs on it.

"This is a very sad case and we understand that people will naturally have an emotional and sympathetic reaction," Wal-Mart said in a statement. "When our associates, or their family members, suffer injuries or medical conditions which are the responsibility of others, our plan steps in to pay covered medical expenses so the associate and their families don't have to worry about their bills or have large out-of-pocket expenses. It is only after the associate or their family member receives a monetary payment from the responsible party that our health plan becomes entitled to reimbursement."

Wal-Mart added in its statement that money recovered is returned to the health plan, not the company, and it is done out of "fairness to everyone who contributes and benefits from the plan."

"While the Shank care involves a tragic situation, the reality is that we are required to protect the assets of our health plan so that it can pay the future claims of other associates and their family members," Wal-Mart said.

Jon Coppelman, senior vice president of Wellesley, Mass.-based Lynch, Ryan & Associates, a management-consulting firm specializing in workers' compensation, said the clause is unfortunate, but legal.

"The courts may feel some sympathy for Deborah Shank and her long-suffering husband, but the language of the policy is clear and unambiguous. The settlement dollars -- and then some -- belong to Wal-Mart," Coppelman said. "There is, of course, nothing wrong with this story. The language of an insurance policy has been enforced. The fiduciary obligation of Wal-Mart's health plan administrator has been fulfilled."

The tragedy for the Shank family continued well beyond the loss of their case. A week after losing their appeal, the Shanks also lost a son. Their 18-year-old son, Jeremy, was killed in Iraq while serving in the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division.

The Shank's attorney said Debbie is "totally and permanently disabled," only minimally aware of her surroundings in an assisted-care facility and having "only the shortest of memory."

Donations may be made to the family at http://action.walmartwatch.com/deborahshank.

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Asda store opposed by officials

BBC NEWS                           [back to top]

Asda's plans to open its first supermarket in Inverness have been recommended for refusal. Highland Council planners said the proposal for a 45,000 sq ft (4,180 sq m) store at Slackbuie Farm went against planning policies.

A petrol station and five small retail units are also proposed for the site on the Southern Distributor Road.

The planning application will go before next Tuesday's Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey committee.

Asda, which does not have a store in the Highlands, said it was committed to the Inverness project.

A spokesman said government agency Transport Scotland had dropped its initial objection after the supermarket giant provided more details on potential traffic impacts.

He said the plans also had the backing of local business.

© BBC MMVII

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HELP DEBORAH SHANK

Dear johnny,                                     [back to top]

Seven years ago, a semi-trailer plowed into the driver's side of Deborah Shank's minivan. The 52-year-old Missouri Wal-Mart employee and devoted mother of three suffered permanent brain damage. Today she lives in a nursing home for round-the clock care, unable to walk, feed or dress herself. As the Wall Street Journal reported on November 20, it's a tragic story - but it gets worse: "Wal-Mart started out as one of the good guys in this story, paying almost $470,000 of Shank's initial medical bills. But three years after Shank's husband sued and settled with the semi driver's employer, the retail giant changed hats. It demanded every penny back, plus interest and legal fees -- more, in fact, than the $417,477 the settlement had placed in a special trust fund specifically for Shank's future health care expenses." Wal-Mart sued a permanently brain-damaged woman out of her medical care funds. Thanks to her former employer - the world's largest retailer - Deborah's family is sinking deeper into debt and Deborah will be completely dependent on Medicaid and Social Security for a lifetime of medical care. Wal-Mart Watch is collecting funds to help Deborah Shank's family with her medical bills. Will you make a donation? http://action.walmartwatch.com/deborahshank Wal-Mart's actions are horribly unethical and morally bankrupt, but the company says it's legal - and it's right about that. As the Wall Street Journal explains: The reason is a clause in Wal-Mart's health plan that Mrs. Shank didn't notice when she started stocking shelves at a nearby store eight years ago. Like most company health plans, Wal-Mart's reserves the right to recoup the medical expenses it paid for someone's treatment if the person also collects damages in an injury suit. In cases like the Shanks', where injuries and medical costs are catastrophic, accident victims sometimes can be left with little or none of the money they fight for in court. Company health plans are increasingly adopting language such as Wal-Mart's, which dictates that it is to be paid first out of any settlement, regardless of what remains for the injured person. Moreover, the victim is responsible for all legal costs in pursuing the suit. Last year the U.S. District Court sided with Wal-Mart over the Shank family - making its ruling just six days before Deborah Shank's 18-year-old son, Jeremy, was killed while serving in Iraq. The decision has forced Deborah's family to take drastic measures. Earlier this year, her husband divorced her because of advice from a health care administrator, who said that she would qualify for more public assistance as a single woman. The Shanks aren't gold-diggers. They are an honest, hard-working American family trying to deal with a catastrophic event, and now they're doing it with an empty wallet - thanks to Wal-Mart. Please do your part to help the Shank family by making a donation now: http://action.walmartwatch.com/deborahshank This holiday season, Wal-Mart rolled out a new slogan: "Save money. Live better." But who lives better with Wal-Mart's low prices? Clearly, it isn't Wal-Mart employees like Deborah Shank.

Sincerely, David Nassar
Wal-Mart Watch Paid for
by WalmartWatch.com,
a campaign of Five Stones
and The Center for Community
and Corporate Ethics

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Governor opposes Wal-Mart deal for O’Keeffe art

By Erik Schelzig,
Arkansas Democrat Gazette
November 27th, 2007                                   [back to top]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen thinks Fisk University has entered into a bad deal by agreeing to sell half its ownership of an art collection donated by Georgia O’Keeffe for $ 30 million.

The cash-strapped, historically black university has asked a Nashville judge to approve the arrangement to sell a 50 percent stake in the 101-piece collection to an Arkansas museum founded by Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton. The collection would be shared on an equal-time basis.

“As a businessperson, I would be very concerned at the deal Fisk has cut with the museum in Arkansas,” said Bredesen, who founded a publicly traded healthcare company before entering politics.

A trial is scheduled for February to decide whether Fisk’s agreement to share the collection with the Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville is close enough to O’Keeffe’s wishes to be approved. O’Keeffe died in 1986.

Bredesen, a Democrat, said estimates from art experts and insurers indicate the collection “could easily be worth $ 150 million.” “And $ 30 million for half of it is not a very good deal,” he said.

A spokesman for the Crystal Bridges Museum didn’t immediately have a comment on Bredesen’s remarks, and a Fisk spokesman didn’t return a phone message.

As a former Nashville mayor, Bredesen also said he would like to see the collection stay in the city and state.

The artworks given to Fisk in 1949 include O’Keeffe’s own 1927 oil painting, Radiator Building — Night, New York, and works by Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Marsden Hartley, Charles Demuth and Alfred Maurer.

The artworks were part of the nearly 1, 000-piece collection of O’Keeffe’s husband, photographer and art promoter Alfred Stieglitz, that she gave away after he died in 1946.

Fisk earlier tried to sell the Radiator Building and Hartley’s Painting No. 3 on the open market but was blocked by a Santa Fe, N. M., museum that represents O’Keeffe’s estate.

A judge rejected a later settlement agreement that would have sent the Radiator Building painting to the New Mexico museum for $ 7. 5 million and allowed the school to sell the Hartley painting on the open market.

Bredesen said he’s unhappy with the latest proposal.

“Ultimately the court and Fisk have got to decide: Are you going to sell this thing or not ?” Bredesen said. “And if not, fine. Put it aside and get on with other ways of solving the Fisk problem.” “If you’re going to sell it, I’d rather they go out and sell it properly and take the money and put it in the bank and secure Fisk’s long-term future,” he said.

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Asbestos in Toys Sold at Wal-Mart, Advocacy Group Says

By Andrew Schneider,
Seattlepi.com
November 27th, 2007                          [back to top]

Asbestos has been found in a variety of consumer products, including one of this season's biggest-selling Christmas toys, according to the nation's largest asbestos victims organizations.

The CSI Fingerprint Examination Kit, two brands of children's play clay, powdered cleanser, roof sealers, duct tapes, window glazing, spackling paste and small appliances were among the products in which asbestos was found by at least two of three labs hired by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization.

The group, which was created in 2004 by asbestos victims and their families, spent more than $165,000 to have government-certified laboratories examine hundreds of consumer products over 18 months to determine whether asbestos was present.

It is unusual for a group of volunteers, many of whom have asbestos-caused diseases, to fund research that impacts public health.

"We had to. No one else was doing it," said Linda Reinstein, the group's co-founder and executive director. "This is information that consumers and Congress must have because asbestos is lethal and we naively believe that the government is protecting us, when it's not."

The product that is of greatest concerns to some public health experts is the fingerprint kit, which is a huge seller, according to sales personnel interviewed by the Seattle P-I.

The kit, made in China, is one of several items licensed by CBS after its popular "CSI" science-crime shows. This model has an extensive array of plastic tools, inks and three types of very fine powders -- white, black and glow-in-the-dark. The analysis done for the victim's organization found high levels of two types of asbestos in the white and the glow powder.

Physicians are especially concerned because of the significant likelihood of children breathing in asbestos fibers as they hunt for fingerprints and use a soft-bristled brush to move the powder around.

CBS Consumer Products responded quickly when told of the reported contamination.

"We've asked our licensee to immediately conduct an independent test in the U.S. for asbestos. If the toy is determined to be unsafe, then we will insist that the licensee remove it from the market," a statement from a CBS spokesman said.

The manufacturer and distributor -- Planet Toys in New York City -- said in an e-mail that it frequently inspects the plants in China that make the CSI toys.

"The kit has been tested and has met all safety standards requirements as set by toy safety agencies and legislation, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission," a spokeswoman said, but added, "The agencies don't require asbestos testing and therefore we have never been apprised of any unacceptable levels of asbestos.

"We respect anyone's right to test our products and should their or our future tests reveal anything unacceptable, we'll of course take swift action to remove contaminated products from the market."

Some of the products tested for the organization contained less than 1 percent asbestos, which would not be prohibited under the partial asbestos ban just passed by the Senate. Industry lobbyists succeeded in watering down the complete ban that Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., tried to pass. The House soon will hold hearings on the legislation and is expected to attempt a complete prohibition of all asbestos-containing products.

But other products, including the CSI fingerprint kit, exceeded that level, at about 5 percent asbestos. One of the highest levels of asbestos -- 30 percent -- was found in a roof sealer.

Health experts insist that asbestos at any level must be considered potentially hazardous.

"Any amount is harmful. Even 1 percent can represent millions of fibers, so we need a complete ban of all asbestos, at any level," said Dr. Arthur Frank, co-chairman of the organization's science advisory board and chairman of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at the Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia.

Dr. Michael Harbut, an international authority in the diagnosis and treatment of asbestos-related diseases, calls the 1 percent exemption a "get out of jail free" card provided by the government to those who "profiteer off the asbestos-related deaths of Americans who wrongly believed these types of products are safe."

The products tested for the organization were bought from several national retail chains, including Wal-Mart, Costco, Toys "R" Us, Home Depot, Lowe's, Macy's, CVS, Bed Bath & Beyond and others.

Another product the labs said contained asbestos was Art Skills' Clay Bucket, where asbestos was found in six colors of clay.

The Pennsylvania-based family business uses clay from Thailand and, Jennifer Hogan said, produces "a safe and hazard-free product" which has "passed all toxicology tests required to conform to applicable United States safety standards."

Hogan says her firm appreciates the seriousness of the organization's concerns "and will pursue vigorously any evidence of hazardous substances in our products."

Three varieties of Ja-Ru Toy Clay contained asbestos, according to the laboratory reports. Omnimodels in Jacksonville, Fla., which distributes the clay from China to major toy chains, did not respond to a request for comment.

"There is no excuse for this. The fact that asbestos is still being found in consumer products is appalling," said Dr. Aubrey Miller of the U.S. Public Health Service, who has been researching asbestos health issues with the Environmental Protection Agency for almost a decade. "Even more concerning are products sold to be used by children. They have more time to exhibit the health effects from exposure to these disease-causing fibers."

The laboratories reported asbestos in Scotch High Performance Duct Tape and its All Weather Duct Tape, both of which are manufactured in Canada, according to 3M.

"3M has a policy against using asbestos in our products," said Jackie Berry, a corporate spokeswoman, "and we don't use asbestos in our duct tape."

The labs also said asbestos was found in numerous tests of DAP Crack Shot Spackling Paste and DAP's 33 Window Glazing.

David Fuller, vice president of marketing for DAP, said "neither product contains asbestos. As a responsible company, DAP has been, and will continue to be, in regular contact with our suppliers and will routinely review information and regulations relevant to ensuring the safety and efficacy of our products."

The test results reported high levels of asbestos in Gardner Leak Stopper. A request for comment from Gardner-Gibson's Headquarters in Tampa went unanswered.

Asbestos also was also found in hair rollers, hot plates and small appliances imported from China and sold in major drug store chains. The organization may do additional testing on those products and others.

Paul Zygielbaum, a survivor of mesothelioma, and his wife, Michelle, proposed tests of products readily available on U.S. store shelves.

"Our reasoning was that, while the continuing legality of asbestos doesn't seem to cause public outrage, the actual, unsuspected presence of asbestos in everyday products might do so," said Zygielbaum, who managed the testing.

Everyone involved with the organization's testing is convinced that numerous other products being sold contain asbestos.

"Every exposure to asbestos fibers is associated with an increased risk of cancer and asbestosis," said Harbut, who is co-director of the National Center for Vermiculite and Asbestos Related Cancers. "The use of these sorts of products may explain at least in part why some non-smokers get lung cancer and persons with no occupational exposures develop mesothelioma."

"In a perfect world, the manufacturers of these products would ensure that they are toxin-, carcinogen- and asbestos-free. In the real world, one of the cardinal responsibilities of government is to protect the people. It's just not happening,"

After reporting its findings at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday morning, the organization says it will submit its testing information to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the EPA.

"The government really needs to act responsibly and honestly and understand that political compromises have no meaning to a family devastated by an asbestos cancer," Harbut said.

The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization's Reinstein says, "The government has to do its job."

"There is no reason at all for the American consumer to pull a product off the market shelf and wonder whether it has asbestos in it that can kill them or their family. Just no reason at all," Reinstein said. Her husband, Alan, died of mesothelioma last year.

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WAL-MART committed to Brazil

Planet Retail                    [back to top]

Speaking at a press conference, Wal-Mart Brasil CEO Vincente Trius announced the company’s plans to invest BRL1.2 billion (USD649 million) in the market over the next year. The capital will be mainly used to build 36 new stores and a distribution centre, for which sites have yet to be settled on. Investments will also be made in renovating existing stores. "Brazil has increased in importance for us in the last few years," Trius said. He noted that Brazil is the fourth most important market for Wal-Mart in terms of strategic growth, following Mexico, Canada and the UK. Growth will be pursued through various formats including hypermarkets, supermarkets and wholesale outlets, with focus on low-income consumers via chains like Todo Dia and Maxxi. Trius said that he expected Brazil to continue to grow at current levels in 2008 and inflation would remain under control. He added that it was vital, however, the government push through key tax reforms to allow the expansion to continue. The new stores are expected to create 7,100 new jobs.

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Keller Rohrback Reveals Ongoing ERISA Investigation Of Wal-Mart Profit Sharing And 401(K) Plan

RTT News
11/27/2007                                        [back to top]

Keller Rohrback LLP announced that its ongoing ERISA investigation of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) regarding various investment options now being offered to participants in Wal-Mart Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plan.

Keller Rohrback specified that this investigation mainly focuses on fees and expenses pertaining to those options and bases for selection of investment options for the Plan.

[back to top]

Wal-Mart to invest $649 mln in Brazil next year

Reuters
Tue Nov 27, 2007                              [back to top]

BRASILIA, Nov 27 (Reuters) - The Brazilian unit of the world's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), will invest 1.2 billion reais ($649 million) in Brazil, the company said on Tuesday.

Wal-Mart will build 36 new outlets and a distribution center, said Vicente Trius, chief executive of the Brazilian unit.

"We are very committed to growth in Brazil. It is a strategic market for Wal-Mart," he told a news conference in Brasilia.

The new stores will be built across Brazil in various formats including hypermarkets, supermarkets and wholesale outlets, with focus on low-income consumers via Wal-Mart chains like Todo Dia and Maxxi.

Wal-Mart competes in Brazil with market leader Carrefour (CARR.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) of France and Brazil's biggest home-grown retailer, Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao (PCAR4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research), better known by its flagship supermarket chain Pao de Acucar. ($1=1.85 reais) (Reporting by Guido Nejamkis; Translated by Andrei Khalip; Edited by Steve Orlofsky)

© Reuters 2006. All rights reserved.

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Wal-Mart opens 3,000th international store

igd.com
27 November 2007                               [back to top]

Wal-Mart's International division has reached a milestone by opening its 3,000th store.

In a statement, Mitch Slape, Senior Vice President of International Business Development for Wal-Mart said "In just 16 years, Wal-Mart has gone from just one international retail location to 3,000 with nearly 600,000 associates serving 49 million international customers each week."

The Supercentre store that opened in Sao Paulo was one of five Wal-Mart stores to open in Brazil last week, providing further evidence that Wal-Mart's Brazilian expansion remains firmly on track.

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Desktop Linux: Look Beyond Wal-Mart

By The VAR Guy
Tuesday, November 27                       [back to top]

Yes, you can purchase a $200 Linux PC from Wal-Mart this holiday season. That’s great news for consumers and the open source movement. But a lot of bloggers, including The VAR Guy, need to remind readers that it might be wiser to look elsewhere for affordable, reliable Linux PCs. One prime stop should be ZaReason.com. Here’s why.

Sure, Wal-Mart is selling the gPC from Everex, a $200 system that runs gOS — a specialized operating system based on Ubuntu Linux. For that $200, you get a basic PC, keyboard, speakers, mouse, loads of Web-enabled apps and OpenOffice. It’s not a gaming system, but thousands of folks are discovering gPC is a solid option for basic web surfing and productivity apps. Although exact sales figures are hard to come by, several reports suggest that Wal-Mart’s initial stock of gPCs sold out rapidly.

Wal-Mart has replenished its supply of gPCs. And The VAR Guy just might buy one for the holiday season. However, he won’t likely hand his money to Wal-Mart. Instead, he’s spotted gPCs for sale on ZaReason.com. For those who don’t track the open source sector closely, ZaReason is a small-but-reliable pioneer in the Ubuntu Linux desktop market.

There are several reasons why ZaReason — rather than Wal-Mart — might get The VAR Guy’s money. First, ZaReason allows you to customize the gPC, potentially loading up on extra RAM, a WiFi card, monitor and product literature. Second, ZaReason is responsive and welcomes customer interaction. The VAR Guy sent the company a quick email with a few questions about the gPC, and he received a clear, concise reply within three hours.

So, why hasn’t The VAR Guy purchased a gPC from ZaReason yet? Two words: Dell and Apple. Dell is offering a $100 discount on its Ubuntu Linux desktop, and the price caught The VAR Guy’s eye. And The VAR Guy also spotted a few refurbished Mac Minis and iMacs on Apple’s Web site.

Decisions, decisions. For now, The VAR Guy’s wallet remains closed. But when he opens it up, he doesn’t expect to hand any cash to Wal-Mart. There are far better deals online. And ZaReason deserves special consideration because of the company’s support and laser-like focus on the Ubuntu Linux customers.

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Give a Gift To Our Economy: Shop Locally Owned, Not Wal-Mart This Holiday Season

By Stacy Mitchell ,
Beacon Broadside
November 26th, 2007                          [back to top]

Whether to patronize a chain or a locally owned business is not top of mind for many holiday shoppers, but it should be. It's a choice that has profound implications for our economy.

If you shop at an independent toy store, such as Be Beep in Annapolis, Maryland, you will likely see products made by Beka, a small toy manufacturer in St. Paul, Minnesota.

A family-owned business, Beka has opted not to sell to chains like Target and Wal-Mart. Doing so, explains co-owner Jamie Kreisman, would require moving production to low-wage factories overseas, which would eliminate what he and his brothers most love about the business: their relationships with their employees and working hands-on with their products.

Beka is healthy, but its future depends entirely on the survival of independent toy stores. Over the last decade, Wal-Mart and Target have aggressively overtaken this sector and now capture 45 percent of U.S. toy sales.

If you buy groceries for your holiday meals at an independent grocer, like Catalano's Market in Fresno, California, you will find lots of food produced by small-scale, local farmers, such as Paul Buxman.

A second-generation grower of peaches, Buxman nearly lost his farm selling to supermarket chains, which demand cutthroat prices and truckloads of perfect-looking, though often flavorless, fruit that only industrial farms can supply.

With bankruptcy looming, Buxman dropped the chains and forged relationships with independents like Catalano's. He works hard to give them the best fruit and they honor this by paying a fair price and accepting the natural ebb and flow of supply.

Today, Buxman's farm is back on track. Catalano's is doing well too, but owner Michael Catalano worries about Fresno approving still more chain supermarkets and recently a Wal-Mart. Since 1998, the top five supermarket chains, led by Wal-Mart, have doubled their market share and now capture nearly half of all grocery spending.

Patronize an independent CD store, like Waterloo Records in Austin, and you not only support a business owned by a music aficionado, but help to ensure opportunities for new artists. Many beloved bands got their start when a few store owners fell in love with their first albums and began recommending them.

That does not happen at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and other mass merchandisers, which now account for more than half of all album sales, but stock only chart-toppers and have no room for unknowns.

Chain retailers have expanded dramatically over the last two decades. Home Depot and Lowe's, barely a blip on the radar screen in 1986, control half of the hardware and building supply market. Barnes & Noble and Borders account for half of bookstore sales. Every sector is now dominated by a couple of chains, and Wal-Mart dominates them all, capturing one of every ten retail dollars we spend.

We assume that the chains represent economic progress, but in fact they take far more out of our economy than they contribute.

As the chains have expanded, tens of thousands of independent retailers have lost their livelihoods and laid off hundreds of thousands of employees. A study by David Neumark at UC-Irvine found that every new Wal-Mart store actually eliminates many more retail jobs than it creates.

The expansion of the chains has triggered a cascade of losses in other economic sectors. Some three million U.S. manufacturing jobs have been eliminated since 1990, in part because the chains have pressured companies, including Black & Decker and Levi's, to slash costs by moving overseas.

The chains also return very little of what their stores take in back to the communities where they operate. A study in Maine by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance found that only 14 cents of a dollar spent at big-box store remains in the state's economy.

In contrast, the study found that independent retailers spend more than half their revenue locally. They bank at local banks, hire local accountants, advertise in local media, and require many other local services that chains do not. For mid-sized and smaller cities especially, this is a vital source of economic activity and jobs that pay a middle-class income.

In exchange for all the businesses and jobs they destroy, the chains offer us employment in their stores. Wages for most of these jobs are so low that many big-box employees rely on Medicaid, food stamps, and other taxpayer-funded programs to get by.

None of this looks much like progress. In fact, what the big-box model most closely resembles are the old colonial economies of the European superpowers, which were organized, not to improve the lives of the local inhabitants, but to extract their wealth.

This holiday season, we can declare our independence and begin building a more prosperous economy by forgoing the chains and seeking out locally owned businesses.

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Canadian Fast-Food Chain Cuts Deal To Serve Wal-Mart Customers

MARILYN ALVA
THE NEW AMERICA
November 26, 2007                              [back to top]

Canadians might like to think they are different from Americans. But when it comes to eating out, Canadians are members of a fast-food nation just like their neighbor to the south.

And amid a host of quick-service chains operating in Canada, native player Tim Hortons continues to outplay them all.

It might have something to do with the home-team advantage: Even McDonald's scores as one of the runners-up, along with Dunkin' Donuts, Wendy's, Subway and others.

"We're about $900 million in chain sales bigger than McDonald's (in Canada)," said Chief Financial Officer Cynthia Devine.

At its roughly 2,800 Canadian stores, Tim Hortons serves up lots of coffee with snack items and light meals such as its signature donuts, muffins, soups and sandwiches. About 46% of restaurant-level sales are in hot coffee, mostly during breakfast hours.

Wal-Mart Connection

Tim Hortons will soon buck up against McDonald's in stores of another American institution that's growing north of the border: Wal-Mart.

In a recently announced deal, Tim Hortons will open inside the main entrances of seven Canadian Wal-Mart Supercenters. That's a small number compared with McDonald's footprint in almost all of the nearly 300 Wal-Mart Canada stores, where it operates inside a separate food-service entrance.

But some analysts see the Tim Hortons deal with Wal-Mart as a good running start.

"Certainly the opportunity in Canada is great, as Wal-Mart will continue to expand in Canada," said Stuart Morrow of Research Capital in Toronto.

He sees those first seven Tim Hortons units in Canadian Wal-Marts serving "as a beachhead for bumping into Wal-Mart USA."

As of Sept. 30, Tim Hortons had 352 units in 10 U.S. states.

Founded in 1964 by the late Canadian hockey star Tim Horton, and spun off from Wendy's in 2006, the chain is growing at a rapid clip, though much of the growth has been in Canada.

Before the end of 2007, the company expects to have opened 120 to 140 new stores in Canada and 60 to 80 in the U.S.

Company execs say their long-term goal in Canada is for 3,500 to 4,000 stores. They want to reach the 500 mark in the U.S. by the end of 2008.

Nearly all of the units in Canada and most in the U.S. are run by local franchisees, with the underlying real estate controlled by the company. McDonald's operates similarly.

Many of the company-owned stores in the U.S. -- mostly struggling units in southern New England -- are slowly converting to franchised operations as well.

In its recently reported third quarter, when 40 new units opened, total revenue rose 18.6% from last year to $490.5 million. What's more, earnings per share during the same period jumped 42% to 34 cents a share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect earnings for the full year to reach $1.44 per share, up 17% from last year, when the company started trading for the first time. They see 2008 earnings rising 19%.

Sales at units open at least a year -- a crucial retail metric known as same-store sales -- rose 7.5% in Canada and 4.5% in the U.S.

"The largest contributor is the breakfast and snack market," said Morrow. "Anything up to 10:30 a.m. and between 2 and 4 in the afternoon."

Same-store sales growth in the quarter, the company reported, was fueled by promotions of the breakfast sandwich, new Lemon Crinkle Donuts and a new 12-grain bagel with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids said to have health benefits.

Some modest price increases also factored in.

The hole in between breakfast and afternoon snack time -- lunch -- offers a key growth opportunity, Morrow says.

Chief Executive Paul House said as much during a recent conference call. "We think that because of the success of the hot breakfast sandwich, that a hot lunch offering is a natural evolution for the chain," he said.

Hot Lunch

In a recent report, analyst Adina Bloom of TD Newcrest said she expected Tim Hortons to come out with a new hot lunch offering early next year.

The Tim Hortons breakfast menu got a big boost when the company rolled out hot breakfast sandwiches last year.

According to industry research, breakfast is one of the fastest-growing menu categories. And it's spilling over into other time slots throughout the day.

Among coffee and specialty coffee players in Canada, Tim Hortons has close to a 75% market share for mornings, CFO Devine says.

But the company has plenty of breakfast competition in the overall restaurant market, including the quick-service segment.

As breakfast has become more popular, other fast-food chains have expanded their breakfast offerings. Wendy's added breakfast for the first time earlier this year.

Expanding Menu

Tim Hortons started out in donuts and coffee. Its menu has gradually expanded. But the average check is still a relatively low $3, Morrow says.

In contrast to steakhouses and other higher-ticket restaurants, that low check average has some benefits, he says. It serves as a safety net in challenging economic times.

"Let's face it. With an average check size of $3, people won't cut back that much," Morrow said.

Still, Tim Hortons is looking to increase check sizes. Its newly launched TimCard, a reloadable cashless card similar to one offered by the more upscale Starbucks, should help in that regard, especially at lunch, analysts say.

After all, customers will likely spend more when they don't have to pay in cash. Analysts say the cards should work to speed up service times as well.

In June, Tim Hortons also began offering cashless "tap and go" payments through MasterCard.

Copyright 2007 Investor's Business Daily, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Wal-Mart triples online deals

By Reuters
Mon Nov 26                                   [back to top]

Walmart.com, hoping U.S. consumers did not get their fill of shopping over the long Thanksgiving weekend, will offer more holiday deals online every day this week. The site will offer special prices on 150 items--three times more than a year ago--posting roughly 65 discounts on Monday and then plans to add new deals to the site daily through Friday.

Walmart.com will also promote one special "featured" item each day, like Monday's Xbox 360 bundle, which includes Microsoft's Xbox 360 premium video game console, an extra controller, three games, and messenger bag for less than $400.

The expanded offering of online-only deals comes as Wal-Mart Stores is relying more heavily on its Web site to drive sales and promote low prices this holiday season.

This year, it posted special deals online on the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, attracting roughly 10 million visitors--a significant jump from its typical traffic of 2 million daily visits during other times of the year.

Walmart.com said sales were up more than 40 percent on Thanksgiving, compared with a year ago.

Raul Vazquez, CEO of Walmart.com, said the retailer expects 7 million visits to its Web site on what is known as "Cyber Monday."

Wal-Mart will certainly not be alone in trying to attract shoppers online this week to spend more of their holiday dollars.

Now on News.com Cable dodges new FCC rules, for now Judge: Feds can't trawl Amazon Is tomorrow's Clapton on 'Guitar Hero' today? Extra:Making old hardware play new tunes According to a Shop.org/Shopzilla eHoliday Survey, 72.2 percent of online retailers are planning a special promotion for Monday, up from 42.7 percent two years ago.

Promotions will range from specific deals, to one-day sales, to free shipping on all purchases, the survey found.

With consumers facing economic pressures this holiday, Vazquez said Walmart.com is offering deals that cover a range of prices, from a Thomas the Tank Engine playhut for $10, which is almost 50 percent off, to a Samsung 40-inch LCD high-definition television for $1,198--a 10 percent savings.

Walmart.com said some of its most popular selling items on Thanksgiving Day were the Garmin Nuvi 650 portable global positioning system, a Canon 7.1-megapixel PowerShot digital camera and photo printer bundle, and the Power Wheels Ford F150 pickup truck from Mattel's Fisher-Price division.

Story Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

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Wal-Mart may drive online sales with bare-bones margins

By Tim Conneally,
BetaNews
November 26, 2007                         [back to top]

Wal-Mart economics made simple: sell it cheap, sell more of it. This strategy seems to be well-received by consumers this holiday season, but may handicap the sales of higher-end competitors.

Discount retail giant Wal-Mart is driving its sales by diminishing profit margins. A random sale item pulled from walmart.com, Garmin's StreetPilot c330 Vehicle GPS Navigator, is cheaper than all competitors by a fraction. The lowest price on most comparative shopping sites is $169.00, today on Walmart.com, the item sells for $168.88. The same product on Amazon.com costs $224.95.

Price reductions like this in today's Cyber Monday sale are expected to continue through the holiday season to encourage spending from wary consumers. Loss-leading is a marketing tactic where products are offered at cheaper than cost in hopes of stimulating sales in other, more profitable areas. Due to Wal-Mart's varied selection, this tactic can be employed in numerous product categories with roughly the same effect.

Furthermore, the "ship-to-store" option offered on Walmart.com leverages the company's existing supply channel to give customers a break they might not get otherwise. The consumer is offered free shipping on items purchased on the company's Web site, provided they are delivered to the nearest brick-and-mortar Wal-Mart location rather than the customer's home address.

As a result, Wal-Mart cleverly uses online sales as a tool for bringing customers in the store; and in so doing, it blurs the line somewhat between the virtual and physical storefronts. Analysts last September estimated the ship-to-store option could be responsible for as much as one-third of its online sales.

Economists had been speculating that this will be the "worst holiday season in five years." But with margins being crushed, it seems it will be worst only on retailers who struggle to sell as cheaply as the ubiquitous Wal-Mart.

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Preston Crossing Wal-Mart to stay open 576 straight hours

By Cassandra Kyle
TheStarPhoenix.com
Monday, November 26, 2007                     [back to top]

Wal-Mart Canada is taking advantage of unregulated store hours in Saskatoon by opening one of its city locations for 576 consecutive hours in December.

Starting at 7 a.m. on Dec. 1, Wal-Mart's Preston Crossing location will remain open for 24-hour shopping until Dec. 24, when staff lock up for Christmas Eve at 6 p.m. Elsewhere in the province, Prince Albert's Wal-Mart and Regina's Rochdale Boulevard store will also remain open for 24 hours days from Dec. 1-24.

Eighty stores across Canada are assuming the special holiday hours to "take the stress out of shopping," according to a company executive, who added the additional hours came out of demand from customers for more convenient shopping. The company has offered 24-hour holiday shopping in Saskatoon in the past.

"We initially introduced extended hours thinking it would be a novelty," stated Sylvian Prud'homme, Wal-Mart Canada's senior vice president of operations. "However we find it's becoming a very mainstream convenience for some customers and a necessity for others."

Saskatoon city council voted to repeal the municipality's store hours bylaw in October, leaving store hours in the city unregulated. Prior to the vote, Saskatoon retailers were allowed a maximum of two promotional sales per year, each of which could not last longer than three days, according to the bylaw. On Sundays, 24-hour promotional sales were not allowed, though other sales were permitted within the boundaries of Sunday operating hours, which ran from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Store hour bylaw restrictions no longer apply.

Before October's vote, companies wanting to exceed 24-hour sale boundaries set by the bylaw had to receive permission from city council. Zellers at The Centre mall had applied for special permission from the city before the bylaw was repealed, which automatically allows the store to remain open for its requested period of Dec. 19-24.

The Real Canadian Superstore on Eighth Street had also requested permission from city council to open for additional hours in December before the bylaw was repealed. Superstore management had originally requested to be open from 8 a.m. on Dec. 10 to midnight on Dec. 15, and again from 8 a.m. on Dec. 17 to midnight on Dec. 22. The store will now be open for consecutive 24-hour periods from Dec. 10-24, with the exception of Sundays when the store will be open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., according to a company spokesman.

© The StarPhoenix 2007

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Wal-Mart Canada expands number of stores open 24 hours a day in December

THE CANADIAN PRESS                           [back to top]

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - Wal-Mart Canada says more than one-quarter of its stores will be open 24 hours a day Dec. 1-24 to boost holiday shopping.

In total, 80 Wal-Mart stores across Canada will begin around-the-clock operations in the next week.

Last year, the chain had 59 Wal-Mart stores opened continuously from Dec. 18 and 24. It has 298 outlets across Canada.

"We initially introduced extended hours thinking it would be a novelty," said Sylvain Prud'homme, Wal-Mart Canada's senior vice-president of operations.

"However, we find it's becoming a very mainstream convenience for some customers and a necessity for others."

© The Canadian Press, 2007

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WAL-MART opens new DC in Argentina

Planet Retail                                    [back to top]

In Argentina, Wal-Mart has inaugurated its new distribution centre in Moreno, Buenos Aires. The DC covers some 25,000 square metres. It demanded an investment of ARS50 million (USD16 million) and is designed to service Wal-Mart’s rapidly growing store estate that has seen several recent openings. Wal-Mart Argentina hopes to end the year trading through 19 branches. President & CEO Ezequiel Gómez Berard noted that: “this DC is the biggest long term investment made by Wal-Mart Argentina. Is a clear signal of the commitment of the company to the development of its business in the country.” The DC can process 150,000 cases per day and features space of 3,600 square metres devoted to perishable products.

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Wal-Mart's First Sustainability Report: Just a Gesture or a Just Account?

Anne Moore Odell,
SocialFunds.com                                  [back to top]

When Wal-Mart talks, people listen, whether they agree with the message or not. Two years after Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott announced the company's environmental goals in his "Twenty-First Century Leadership" speech, last week Wal-Mart released a report of its progress, "Sustainability Progress to date, 2007-2008." Full of figures and charts, it covers many sustainability issues from health care coverage and green products to Wal-Mart's giving in local communities to supply chain safety.

Wal-Mart set three ambitious goals as announced in Scott's speech: to be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy; to create zero waste; and to sell products that sustain natural resources and the environment.

David Tovar, Wal-Mart Stores' Director of Media Relations, explained: "We look at this report as an important first step to make our sustainability efforts known. Our efforts have been extensive and we are committed to reaching our goals."

"We view our sustainability work as a journey that provides value to our consumers. We know there are challenges that remain, but we are committed to transparency and making this information available to the public as we work toward our goals," Tovar added.

The report traces Wal-Mart's commitment to sustainability, from consumer to employee, from manufacturer to storefront. The report reads: "We have found that there is no conflict between our business model of everyday low costs and everyday low prices and being a more sustainable business. To make sustainability sustainable at Wal-Mart, we've made it live inside our business. Many of our environmental sustainability efforts, for example, mean cost savings for us, our suppliers and our customers."

Wal-Mart's Tovar explained that Wal-Mart plans to keep stakeholders updated on sustainability with additions to Wal-Mart's web site. No future sustainability report is in the works currently. Wal-Mart will continue, however, to publish its annual "Report on Ethical Sourcing," which it has made available for the past three years.

Here are some of the numbers the report supplies: In 14 worldwide markets, Wal-Mart has 7,022 stores with 1,900,000 employees. It reports $344,992,000,000 in revenues for 2006-2007. In the US, the average full-time hourly wage in 2006-2007 was $10.76. Almost nine thousand factories were audited during this period, with 40 percent of the factories receiving high-risk violations. During 2006-2007, $500 million was invested annually to help meet sustainability goals.

One area highlighted in the employee section of the report is Wal-Mart's commitment to extend health care to all its Associates (i.e., employees). Wal-Mart reports that healthcare is available to all its employees, full and part time and their children, with more than 90 percent of its workers having health care (albeit not all covered by Wal-Mart plans).

Of the employees that have Wal-Mart health care for the first time, 53 percent had no health care before, 27 percent said they couldn't afford health care coverage and 7.8 percent said that they were on Medicaid.

The report notes: "The fact remains that 9.6 percent of Associates say they do not have any coverage at all. That's too many. So perhaps one of our greatest challenges is to better understand why this 9.6 percent decline coverage and what we can do to encourage them to choose it."

The response to the Wal-Mart report has been mixed. Most groups applaud Wal-Mart for a step in the right direction and ask it to continue working toward its goals.

"As the only environmental group with an office in Bentonville, Environmental Defense knows that Wal-Mart is serious about its sustainability program," said Gwen Ruta, Director of Corporate Partnerships at Environmental Defense, a non-profit environmental rights group which helped review drafts of the report. "The company is moving in the right direction, and learning as it goes," she added.

The Big Box Collaborative, a coalition of shareholder activists, environmental, and labor right groups that works to transform large retailers, in particular Wal-Mart, was more cutting in its response to the report: "Wal-Mart continues to give anecdotes with few facts about their systemic change and impact," said Trina Tocco, Coordinator for the Big Box Collaborative.

"It is disturbing to think that even all of changes Wal-Mart purports, they still aren't able to decrease their impact overall because of their unsustainable growth model. This report covers quite a bit of info, but yet doesn't provide enough in depth detail," Tocco continued.

The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) released a statement on the sustainability report. The ICCR has filed a shareholder resolution at Wal-Mart for the past three years requesting Wal-Mart issue a public sustainability report.

"We welcome Wal-Mart's Report as a first step. It demonstrates a commitment by the Company to both develop internal mechanisms for implementation and to be transparent with respect to its sustainability initiatives," ICCR's statement reads.

"It is clear that this first Report demonstrates progress particularly toward the environmental goals that President and CEO Lee Scott articulated two years ago. We recognize that collecting information on key indicators for environmental goals is less difficult than attending to social performance indicators, but without social indicators, the Report pales," ICCR's statement continues.

Environmental Defense offers some specific examples of how they would like Wal-Mart to provide "more transparency, context and a more systematic assessment of progress relative to environmental goals." Environmental Defense suggests Wal-Mart offer more data to help the reader verify all the information in the report.

"Because everything is happening so fast," Tovar explained, "we are going to post sustainability information as it is available. We are being as transparent as possible."

The report is a first stab at creating a sustainability report that sheds light on the largest retailer in the world. And just like Wal-Mart starting to offer florescent light bulbs, even the small changes at Wal-Mart can have a profound rippling effect through its vast supply chain and the economy. Wal-Mart now needs to continue its journey into sustainability, continuing its commitment to its consumers, shareholders and other stakeholders to create a safe supply chain and meet its environmental and social goals.

Editor's note: Bill Baue, a frequent writer for SocialFunds.com, contributed to the writing of the Wal-Mart sustainability report.

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Wal-Mart Stores Cuts Prices Online

Associated Press
11.26.07                                          [back to top]

BRISBANE, Calif. - Walmart.com, the online arm of world's largest retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said Monday it would begin offering online discounts throughout the week.

Beginning Monday and continuing through Friday, the company will cut prices on its electronics, toys, video games, home furnishings and apparel segments as part of "Cyber Monday," traditionally a popular day to make online purchases following "Black Friday," the day after Thanksgiving.

Discount offers range from a Samsung 40-inch LCD high-definition television for $1,198 to a Thomas the Tank Engine Playhut for $10.

Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ) said the offers are nearly triple the number offered a year ago.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Wal-Mart Extends Its Influence to Washington

By Ylan Q. Mui,
Washington Post
November 24th, 2007                             [back to top]

When Conservation International wanted to educate the world about Brazil's indigenous Kayapo Indians, whose Amazon home is threatened by deforestation, it brought an unlikely advocate to Washington: S. Robson Walton, chairman of Wal-Mart Stores.

A partnership between Wal-Mart, reviled by labor unions and their allies as the enemy of the little guy, and an environmental nonprofit group was unthinkable just a few years ago. Critics had long accused Wal-Mart of treating its workers badly and crushing independent businesses with its mammoth stores. Its relentless focus on low prices has been blamed for the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs and deadly pollution in underdeveloped countries. To some, Wal-Mart symbolized capitalism at its worst.

Andrew Ruben, left, Wal-Mart's vice president of strategy and sustainability, with Michelle Harvey and Andrew Hutson of Environmental Defense. Andrew Ruben, left, Wal-Mart's vice president of strategy and sustainability, with Michelle Harvey and Andrew Hutson of Environmental Defense.

For years, the company ignored the attacks, content to hunker down at its headquarters in remote Bentonville, Ark. But as sales began to slow, efforts to expand were blocked and the chorus of critics spread to lawmakers in Washington, the retailer realized it had to act. The partnership between Walton and Conservation International is part of a radical new approach that Wal-Mart calls engaging the opposition.

The environment is the first front.

"It was never part of the conversation before," Walton said during an interview in which he was accompanied by Conservation International's chairman Peter A. Seligmann and Kayapo chief Megaron Txucarramae. "And it's part of every conversation now."

The overarching goal is to improve the company's image so it can operate unhindered by the automatic opposition its reputation has inspired. It also had a specific legislative agenda spanning issues such as normal trade relations with China and the number of hours truck drivers are allowed to work. In its attempt to make its desires known, it has transformed its lobbying force from a humble two-man shop to a $2.5 million operation that employs some of K Street's heaviest hitters.

Campaign donations from Wal-Mart's political action committee to federal candidates jumped from $135,750 during the 1998 election cycle to $1.3 million in 2006 -- the biggest increase and largest amount of any retailer or retail trade organization, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. It has added consultants ranging from a whitewater guide to a former presidential adviser to court the activist groups that have been Wal-Mart's most vocal opponents.

"You don't want Wal-Mart making policy. You want Wal-Mart running retail stores," said Andrew Ruben, the company's vice president for strategy and sustainability. "But we're not naive enough to think we can change without it."

That wasn't always Wal-Mart's philosophy. It started as a five-and-dime store in Bentonville in 1950 with a singular mission to deliver the lowest prices possible. Even after Wal-Mart became a global behemoth and its founder, Sam Walton, became one of the richest men in America, its headquarters remained in this small town. Politics was so far off Walton's radar that former Arkansas senator Dale Bumpers joked that waiting for a campaign contribution was like "leaving the landing lights on for Amelia Earhart."

"They were doing very well without any government assistance, and the government was not interfering with them too much," Bumpers said. "And I guess they felt it would be money sort of wasted."

That worked until 1999, when federal lawmakers blocked Wal-Mart's acquisition of a small thrift in Broken Arrow, Okla., over concerns that the company would use its size and low prices to dominate the industry. So that year, Wal-Mart hired its first full-time Washington lobbyist, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Norm Lezy. In 2000, another Air Force veteran, Erik Winborn, joined the operation.

The two worked alone for the next two years, establishing roots in Washington. They first met and had breakfast with the Arkansas delegation and representatives of states where Wal-Mart had a strong presence, such as Texas and Florida. For the Republican-leaning company, talking to liberals from California and the Northeast was akin to "missionary work," said Asa Hutchinson, a Republican who represented Arkansas in the House.

Hutchinson used to play tennis with Walton but only once received a campaign donation from him: a $500 check with a note saying it was all Walton could afford. Years later, when Lezy and Winborn knocked on his door for help, Hutchinson showed them around the Hill and became an ally in their quest for normal trade relations with China and trade agreements in Latin America.

Wal-Mart also opposed legislation that it said would have increased litigation for companies that administer their own health benefit plans, and it joined a coalition of businesses to overturn ergonomics regulations. As its Washington presence grew, it lobbied for government to work with business on more affordable health care and supported a cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions. This is a remarkable change for a company that so cherished its silence.

Andrew Ruben, left, Wal-Mart's vice president of strategy and sustainability, with Michelle Harvey and Andrew Hutson of Environmental Defense. Andrew Ruben, left, Wal-Mart's vice president of strategy and sustainability, with Michelle Harvey and Andrew Hutson of Environmental Defense.

"When they became the largest retailer . . ., a target was put on their back. They couldn't just any longer quietly exist," Hutchinson said. "The world changed, and Wal-Mart had to change with it."

Some lawmakers are still wary of having their names associated with the company. During her 2006 Senate reelection campaign, Hillary Rodham Clinton returned $5,000 to Wal-Mart's political action committee, citing differences with the company, despite having served on its board from 1986 to 1992. This spring, Clinton was noticeably absent from a reception Wal-Mart sponsored to celebrate a documentary about female senators.

Still, she has accepted $19,190 in donations from Wal-Mart executives and employees this year -- more than half of the total Wal-Mart employees have given to all presidential candidates, according to campaign finance records.

Wal-Mart's latest lobbying disclosures show that the company has eight in-house registered lobbyists and retains about a dozen outside firms. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Patton Boggs signed Wal-Mart as a client in 2000 and has since received $1.8 million, the most of any firm. Washington heavyweight Cassidy & Associates began working for Wal-Mart three years ago and has gotten $640,000. (Both Winborn and Lezy have left Wal-Mart.)

Yet Wal-Mart's $2.5 million in lobbying expenditures in 2006 is small potatoes for a company with annual revenue of about $350 billion. By comparison, General Electric had revenue of $163 billion and spent $21 million on lobbying last year.

Although Wal-Mart has the largest political action committee of any retailer, its opponents outspend it in political donations. In the 2006 election cycle, Wal-Mart gave $1.3 million to federal campaigns, most of them Republican. The Service Employees International Union and the United Food and Commercial Workers, two of the country's largest labor groups, together spent $2.9 million and are ranked among the top all-time donors to the Democrats.

Two years ago, the SEIU and the UFCW launched campaigns against Wal-Mart -- Wal-Mart Watch and Wake Up Wal-Mart, respectively. They criticized the company's health-care plan, saying it charged high deductibles and pushed workers onto state-funded plans. They were behind high-profile but unsuccessful efforts in several states, including Maryland, to pass legislation to force Wal-Mart to spend more on its benefits. The groups also leaked embarrassing Wal-Mart documents, organized protests, and recruited Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and John Edwards to criticize Wal-Mart.

"Wal-Mart is willing to spread its money wherever it thinks it can buy protection for its poor business practices," said David Nassar, executive director of Wal-Mart Watch.

In response, the formerly media-shy company hired the public relations firm Edelman, created a "war room" staffed with former political operatives at its headquarters and dispatched its executives to Washington to meet with lawmakers. And it began looking at the environment as an issue on which it could play offense.

Environmental activists debated which side to join. They worried that Wal-Mart encouraged shoppers to drive long distances and pushed manufacturing jobs to countries with lax environmental regulations. Some, like the Sierra Club, argued that Wal-Mart's social problems were inextricably linked with its environmental ones and refused to work with it.

But others saw opportunity. Even the smallest changes within the company had the potential to resonate not only with its vast customer base -- 176 million weekly worldwide -- but also with the company's roughly 60,000 suppliers.

"You can have the right role to play at the right time," said Michelle Harvey, an activist with Environmental Defense, a nonprofit group that recently opened an office in Bentonville to work more closely with Wal-Mart. "And you can change the trajectory."

Andrew Ruben, left, Wal-Mart's vice president of strategy and sustainability, with Michelle Harvey and Andrew Hutson of Environmental Defense. Andrew Ruben, left, Wal-Mart's vice president of strategy and sustainability, with Michelle Harvey and Andrew Hutson of Environmental Defense.

One way in was S. Robson Walton, who joined the board of Conservation International in 2004 after scuba-diving with Seligmann, the group's chairman, in Costa Rica. A few months later, Seligmann mentioned that an old friend was looking for clients for a new consulting firm, called Blu Skye Sustainability.

That friend was Jib Ellison, who had led whitewater expeditions on five continents before becoming a consultant. Within months of meeting Walton, he was on a plane to Bentonville to meet with H. Lee Scott Jr., Wal-Mart's chief executive.

"We're getting hammered in the press. I know we don't know anything about our environmental impact," Ellison recalled Scott telling him during their meeting in a windowless conference room at Wal-Mart's modest headquarters. "Can you do some research and tell me where we might be exposed?"

Ellison responded: "With all due respect, Mr. Scott, if your concern is around the risks associated with your footprint environmentally and especially if you add your supply chain . . . let me save you years of work and millions and millions of dollars and just tell you: In all areas that matter, there's risk."

Scott hired him on the spot. Over the past three years, Ellison has helped Wal-Mart implement an ambitious environmental program. Wal-Mart, the country's largest private consumer of electricity, has taken steps to make its buildings 15 percent more energy-efficient. It created the first heavy-duty hybrid truck. Its executives carry miniature business cards to conserve paper. It has introduced organic baby clothes, fair-trade coffee and sustainably farmed seafood into its stores.

Wal-Mart says such achievements are good for the earth and good for business. Executives said they have become personally committed to improving the environment. Still, Wal-Mart acknowledges that its success so far is also good politics. Going green has slowly helped Wal-Mart make inroads with its critics.

"We're able to have positive conversations with elected officials that, a year or two ago, we weren't really able to have," Leslie Dach, a former Clinton administration aide who oversees Wal-Mart's corporate affairs and government relations, said at a meeting with analysts last month in Bentonville. "This company can make a real difference in sustainability, and they're choosing to kind of play with us in that space."

The Alliance to Save Energy, a coalition of mostly businesses and trade organizations, recognized Wal-Mart last year for its work in energy efficiency. Five months later, the group's president, Kateri Callahan, and Wal-Mart executive Charles Zimmerman spoke before a Senate energy subcommittee led by Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), who formerly chaired the alliance. ad_icon

Dorgan had criticized Wal-Mart in his book on the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs, titled "Take This Job and Ship It." But when it came to the environment, Dorgan found little to impugn.

"A number of us have disagreements with the marketing strategies of Wal-Mart," he said. "But there's no question that Wal-Mart is an unbelievable merchandiser and a very savvy business competitor.

If you, with that savvy judgment, can take a look at efficiency and say, 'This makes good business sense for us' . . . it ought to be a lesson for others."

Wal-Mart scored a coup last summer when former vice president Al Gore screened his film, "An Inconvenient Truth," at the company's headquarters to a standing ovation. Michael Marx, head of the Business Ethics Network, an umbrella organization for several activist groups, likened it to a "religious revival." Wal-Mart later donated $75,000 to Gore's nonprofit organization, the Climate Project.

"More and more opinion leaders, members of Congress, members of [nongovernmental organizations] have allowed Wal-Mart to get into their hearts and actually feel a lot better about us," Dach said during the meeting with analysts.

But the bridge between the retailer and its critics remains tenuous. In September, Wal-Mart Watch issued a report calling the company's business model "fundamentally unsustainable."

That same month, a coalition of 23 activist organizations delivered a scathing critique of Wal-Mart's environmental initiatives.

"They've realized that they can be green," Marx said. "But if they're not blue and community-friendly, they're not coming to town."

Michigan Shoppers Shun Wal-Mart, Prefer Local Grocers

By Dave Alexander ,
Muskegon Chronicle
November 24th, 2007                        [back to top]

That's the only way to explain the largest retailer in the world putting three of its Wal-Mart superstores in Muskegon and not making a dent on market-leader and regional powerhouse Meijer Inc.

What's more, even with Wal-Mart being the largest grocer in the United States, it was unable to move Muskegon-based Plumb's Valu-Rite Stores from its long-held second position in the grocery sector.

Both Meijer's and Plumb's resilience in the face of a Wal-Mart assault were highlighted in a recent market survey MORI Research Inc. of Minneapolis for The Chronicle.

Since 2003, Wal-Mart has built two new superstores in the market -- Roosevelt Park and Grand Haven Township -- to go along with its Fruitport Township store. Meijer also made a major move in Muskegon County with a third store, located in Fruitport across the street from The Lakes Mall.

The Chronicle survey showed that 91 percent of Muskegon County adults visited a Meijer in the past 30 days compared to 63 percent for Wal-Mart. That Meijer number is up from 85 percent in 2003 and Wal-Mart was down from 66 percent.

"You can see where loyalty comes into play with Meijer vs. Wal-Mart," Lakes Mall General Manager Michael Hagen said of the MORI results. "People see Meijer and they stay with the Michigan store. We like the loyal customers in Muskegon ... you don't have that kind of connection between customers and the retailers in larger cities."

Wal-Mart is the world's largest corporation with sales of $370 billion based on more than 4,000 stores in the United States and hundreds more around the world. Meanwhile, Meijer is a privately owned Grand Rapids corporation with estimated sales of more than $13 billion with 181 stores in the Upper Midwest, making it the 27th largest retailer in the country.

"(Meijer) is doing a great job competing with Wal-Mart, but then again Wal-Mart's presence in West Michigan is still rather limited," said Ben Rudolph, a marketing professor at Grand Valley State University's Seidman College of Business.

Wal-Mart runs into strong regional retailers throughout the country, Rudolph said. "In most (grocery) markets you will find that Wal-Mart is the dominant player followed by a local regional chain and then trailed by a second national player," Rudolph said.

"We are a bit unusual in West Michigan in that we don't have a second national -- at least since Kroger left 25 years ago. We have Meijer instead."

Other notable results showed Family Dollar No. 3 in the market for stores visited in the past 30 days. Compared to 2003, Target fell from third to fourth, Sam's Club from fourth (tie) to fifth and Kmart from fourth (tie) to sixth. Target's move to a larger store in the Lakeshore Marketplace in Norton Shores was completed after the survey was conducted.

The strength of "dollar stores" in Muskegon shows the number of local shoppers looking for deep discount prices, retailers say. There are at least nine dollar-type stores in Muskegon County.

The Lakes Mall lost a dollar-type store last year but picked up another in 2007 that also will be closing, Hagen said.

"Muskegon is too 'dollar store' saturated right now ... there are just too many for all of them to survive," Hagen said.

One of the larger drops in percentage of visitors for "the past 30 days" question was JC Penney, which saw competitor Kohl's build a new store across the street. Penney's has lost traffic but remained strong in sales, Hagen said. Kohl's moved from No. 14 in the 2003 survey to No. 8 based on its new Muskegon store that opened in 2004.

In the grocery sector, Muskegon shoppers showed just as much loyalty to the hometown company in the face of Wal-Mart's major moves in the market. Meijer continued to have a commanding lead in grocery stores shopped "in the past 30 days" with 82 percent.

But Plumb's continued to be the second choice with 56 percent compared to Wal-Mart's 49 percent. The opportunity for Wal-Mart to move up with two new stores in the market was enhanced when No. 4 D&W Food Centers left Muskegon after the 2003 survey.

Plumb's has had solid performances since the new ownership group took over the local chain with four stores in Muskegon County, according to President Jim Nader. The secret to Plumb's continued strength in Muskegon is customer service, Nader said.

"We are always trying to find new ways to beat the big guys," Nader said. "We're doing really well. Our Muskegon stores remain strong and we know that we have some real loyal customers."

There are plenty in Muskegon cheering for the local company.

"Plumb's is staying competitive with its new ownership in a difficult market," Muskegon Area Chamber of Commerce President Cindy Larsen said. The local company was sold to its management team and employees by former owner Roger Eikenberry late in 2006.

"It is important that a locally owned company like Plumb's is a leader in this market," Larsen said. "Their profits will be reinvested in the community."

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Wal-Mart loses court papers bid in tax dispute: report

by Justin Grant
Reuters
Fri Nov 23, 2007                         [back to top]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A North Carolina state judge rejected an attempt by Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) to block public access to certain court documents in a tax dispute with state authorities, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday in its online edition.

Earlier this month, the world's largest retailer filed a motion requesting to have a host of future filings in the case sealed.

North Carolina's attorney general -- opposing Wal-Mart's effort -- argued there was a public interest in maintaining public access to the documents at issue, the newspaper said.

North Carolina's attorney general is challenging a Wal-Mart tax-cutting structure involving real-estate investment trusts (REIT), the Journal said.

The retailer transferred ownership of its stores to various in-house REITs and then cut its tax bill by taking deductions for rental payments which never left the company, the Journal said, adding that Wal-Mart defended the strategy as proper.

Wal-Mart declined to comment.

(Reporting by Justin Grant; Editing by Paul Bolding)

© Reuters 2006. All rights reserved.

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Wal-Mart Exec's Resentencing on Hold

Associated Press
November 23, 2007                                 [back to top]

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) - Former Wal-Mart executive Thomas Coughlin's resentencing for bilking the world's largest retailer will wait until after the U.S. Supreme Court decides a case regarding how judges sentence convicts.

U.S. Attorney Robert C. Balfe signed an agreement with Coughlin's lawyers to hold off any resentencing hearing until after the high court's decision. The case before court challenges how judges can use discretion and impose more lenient jail sentences when statutes call for long prison sentences.

Coughlin pleaded guilty in January 2006 to felony wire fraud and tax evasion charges after embezzling cash, gift cards and merchandise from Wal-Mart, where he worked 28 years and was a protege to founder Sam Walton. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. estimated the loss at nearly $500,000.

The former No. 2 Wal-Mart executive faced more than 28 years in prison and fines of $1.35 million, but U.S. District Judge Robert T. Dawson handed down 27 months of home detention and 33 months of probation. Coughlin was fined $50,000 and ordered to pay $411,218 in restitution. A federal appeals court ruled in August that Coughlin got off too easy.

The agreement between federal prosecutors and Coughlin's lawyers, signed Nov. 12, puts off the former executive's sentencing until a Supreme Court decision. Dawson issued an order Nov. 16 approving the delay.

Dawson's order says the court may reconsider the agreement if the Supreme Court fails to make a decision "within a reasonable amount of time."

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

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Wal-Mart Can't Decide If The Web Is A Lawsuit Target Or A Marketing Opportunity

Tim Lee
Techdirt Insight                               [back to top]

This is becoming something of an annual ritual. Every year, websites obtain leaked copies of retail stores' day-after-thanksgiving sales circulators and post the prices. Every year, retail stores sue those websites claiming they're guilty of copyright infringement. And every year, Techdirt points out that prices are facts, and facts can't be copyrighted. The New York Times had a good write-up of the controversy. The offenders this year are Wal-Mart and Macy's both of whom have sent threatening letters to a site called BFAds warning them not to post information from their ads. The Times story has a couple of interesting tidbits. When confronted by the reporter, Wal-Mart couldn't provide a specific explanation of what was illegal about posting prices. We also learn that at the same time Wal-Mart is sending BFAds threatening letters, it's perfectly willing to send them money as part of its "affiliates program." You would think that the operators of BFAds would take a stand and refuse to do business with them until they retract their lawsuit threat. Meanwhile, a story in USA Today suggests that Wal-Mart might be realizing that the web is an important part of its marketing strategy and not just a place to send cease-and-desist letters. They've started offering special online sale prices for Black Friday, and they offer free shipping to customers who choose to have the purchases sent to their local Wal-Mart store. Maybe next year Wal-Mart should spend less time looking for people to sue and more time looking for ways to attract customers online.

Tim Lee is an expert at the Techdirt Insight Community.

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Gays advised not to shop at Wal-Mart

Steve Leng
21st November 2007                    [back to top]

Wal-Mart, the biggest private employer in the US has been given a "do not buy" rating in a new gay consumer guide.

Human Rights Campaign, the largest gay rights group in America, made its announcement, in time for the festive season, due to the company's refusal to give domestic partner benefits to gay and lesbian workers.

The 2008 Corporate Quality index rated Wal-Mart, along with other retail giants including Toys R Us and Auto Zone, in the red category, advising gays and their supporters to shop elsewhere.

It was a fall of 25 points to 40 from last years guide.

Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar told USA Today: "We're proud of our diversity initiatives and we think we are taking the right steps."

He would not "speculate" on whether the rating would hurt holiday sales.

It is not the first time Wal-Mart has landed itself in hot water around LGBT issues.

Earlier this year it withdrew its membership of the National Lesbian and Gay Chamber of Commerce citing a new policy not to support "contraversial" issues.

Paul Blank, Campaign Director of WakeUpWalMart.com, an action group protesting about what they see as Wal-Mart's erosion of American worker's rights, said at the time:

"Wal-Mart should be ashamed that it would define its support for the GLBT community as "highly controversial."

"While it ignores its explicit support for right-wing George Bush-style Republicans whose policies have cost America middle class jobs, worsened our health care system, helped poison our environment, and blindly support failed strategies in Iraq."

Last year the Corporate Quality index was downloaded from HRC's website more than a quarter of a million times.

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Wal-mart's lawsuit: legal, but wrong

The retail giant's pursuit of funds paid to a severely injured former employee puts hardship on a family.

Los Angeles Times
November 21, 2007                              [back to top]

Deborah Shank's story would have been sad enough, considering the devastating injuries she suffered in a traffic accident seven years ago. Nevertheless, Wal-Mart found a way to add a brutal coda.

As chronicled in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal, Shank, a former overnight shelf-stocker for Wal-Mart in southeastern Missouri, was driving her minivan when she was broadsided by a semi and suffered permanent brain damage. Unable to walk without help, she lost the ability to care for herself or interact meaningfully with her family. Now 52, she lives in a nursing home.

Wal-Mart started out as one of the good guys in this story, paying almost $470,000 of her initial medical bills. But three years after Shank's husband sued and settled with the semi driver's employer, the retail giant changed hats. It demanded every penny back, plus interest and legal fees -- more, in fact, than the $417,477 the settlement had placed in a special-needs Medicaid trust fund for Shank's future healthcare expenses.

The company persuaded a federal district court judge and the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to award it the full amount, even though Shank's family had paid for the lawsuit. Nor did it matter that the settlement covered a fraction of her expenses and losses. Wal-Mart's healthcare plan clearly states that it gets first dibs on any money recovered by injured employees. Such provisions aren't uncommon in health plans, and Wal-Mart isn't the first to enforce one.

Doing what the law allows isn't the same as doing the right thing, however. The company made itself whole at the expense of a helpless former employee who will never be whole again. Instead of having some resources to improve her care, Shank will receive only the basic services afforded her by Medicaid and Social Security. Nor will the trust fund be in a position to reimburse Medicaid (i.e., taxpayers), which stood to collect any unspent money upon Shank's death.

Wal-Mart argues that it's just trying to be fair to those still paying into the company's healthcare plan. Big payouts to insured workers can drive up the plan's premiums. The half-million dollars it spent on Shank's care, however, translates into less than 40 cents per Wal-Mart employee. In its most recent quarter, its stores generated that much in operating income every eight minutes.

Wal-Mart has spent the last few years working hard to rebut healthcare reformers, labor unions, anti-globalization groups and other critics who've argued that it puts profits ahead of humanity. While its advertising campaigns try to put a friendlier spin on the company, its behavior toward Shank tells a different story. If Wal-Mart can't restrain itself, perhaps Congress should prevent health plans from draining settlements won by injured workers with more bills to pay.

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Gay rights group raises red flag on Wal-Mart policies

By Andrea Stone,
USA TODAY                             [back to top] 

The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights group, is giving Wal-Mart (WMT) a red "do not buy" rating in its new consumer guide, bestowing a lump of coal on the retail giant just in time for the holiday shopping season. Citing Wal-Mart's refusal to offer domestic partner benefits to its gay and lesbian workers, the HRC said Tuesday that the USA's biggest private employer has "more work to do in furthering equality." It advised gays and their supporters to shop elsewhere.

Wal-Mart rated a red 40 on a scale of 100, down from a yellow 65 in 2006. It was among 54 companies that scored 45 or lower in HRC's 2008 Corporate Equality index, which assigns ratings to 519 large companies. Also in the red: Toys R Us, RadioShack (RSH) and AutoZone (AZO).

Wal-Mart rival Target (TGT) rated a "green" 80, meaning that "consumers should make every effort to support these businesses."

Wal-Mart has bucked a corporate trend of expanding benefits for gay employees, says Daryl Herrschaft, director of HRC's workplace project. He says two Fortune 500 companies offered domestic partner benefits, comparable to spouse benefits, in 1990. Today, 269 do. "We're proud of our diversity initiatives and we think we are taking the right steps," Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar says.

HRC's low rating comes as Wal-Mart has been enjoying positive publicity about its move this fall to offer better health coverage to more of its 1.4 million U.S. workers.

The company had been pummeled by unions and some state legislators who said it was offering unaffordable health insurance plans.

Herrschaft says Wal-Mart had been moving toward more gay-friendly practices. In 2003, the company added sexual orientation to its non-discrimination policy.

In December 2005, HRC executives were invited to the first of two meetings at the company's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. On the agenda: the intricacies of implementing domestic partner benefits.

Conservative groups angered by Wal-Mart contributions to gay organizations threatened a boycott, and in June, the company announced a policy to avoid "highly controversial issues." Talks on gay benefits ended, Herrschaft says.

Wal-Mart is "moving in reverse on equal treatment of their employees and their gay and lesbian consumers," Herrschaft says.

Tovar, the Wal-Mart spokesman, says he will not "speculate" on whether the rating would hurt holiday sales.

Last year's guide was downloaded from the group's website (www.hrc.org/buyersguide) more than 250,000 times.

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For the First Time Ever, Wal-Mart Welcomes Santa Claus in Stores Coast-to-Coast

PR Newswire
11/20/2007                                   [back to top]

Hundreds of thousands of free photos* with Santa and new Christmas memories!

BENTONVILLE, Ark., Nov 20, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- Wal-Mart today announced that Santa Claus will make a series of appearances at more than 3,000 Wal-Mart Supercenters and discount stores across the country beginning November 24.

During his visits to Wal-Mart, the retailer estimates that Santa will personally visit with more than 1.6 million children over the next three weekends in its stores.

Additionally, children posing with Santa will receive a free 5" x 7" holiday photo keepsake, taken by a Wal-Mart associate and developed onsite.

"We're committed to saving people money so they can have a merrier Christmas with their friends and family," said Lori Kumar, Wal-Mart's divisional merchandise manager for photo processing. "Offering free photos with Santa is one more way parents can save at Wal-Mart this Christmas. And with most mall kiosk Santa photos costing $10 or more, we're expecting to save American families at least $5 million over the next three weekends on these photo keepsakes."

Santa Claus will make an appearance at all Wal-Mart Supercenters and stores on Nov. 24 and 25 and Dec. 1, 2, 8 and 9, visiting with children between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Customers can also purchase additional prints of the photo at the store's digital photo center or order a variety of specialty products that feature the image, including posters, ornaments, Christmas cards, and over 100 different gift items.

Making time to appear at Wal-Mart in the run-up to Christmas is no problem compared to the workload he faces on Christmas Eve.

Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west.

According to scientific data posted on the internet, Santa will visit 91.8 million homes, which works out to 822.6 visits per second, or 1/1,000th of a second for each household. Assuming that each of these 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed around the earth, his total trip will be 75.5 million miles, which means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second -- 3,000 times the speed of sound!

Carrying out this task (and appearing in Wal-Mart) shows why Santa is magic.

Copyright (C) 2007 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

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Wal-Mart Director Buys Shares

Associated Press
11.20.07                                      [back to top]

NEW YORK - A director of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, bought 5,000 shares of common stock under a prearranged trading plan, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday.

In a Form 4 filed with the SEC, James Breyer reported he bought the shares on Thursday and Friday for 46.14 and $46.55 apiece.

The stock purchase was conducted under a prearranged 10b5-1 trading plan, which allows a company insider to set up a program in advance for such transactions and proceed with them even if he or she comes into possession of material nonpublic information.

Insiders file Form 4s with the SEC to report transactions in their companies' shares. Open market purchases and sales must be reported within two business days of the transaction.

Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ) is based in Bentonville, Ark.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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California Sues Toy Makers Over Lead Risk

By NICHOLAS CASEY ,
Wall Street Journal
November 20th, 2007                            [back to top]

Calling on the federal government to enact a more "imaginative and thorough" approach to consumer safety, California Attorney General Jerry Brown sued 20 companies, including Mattel Inc. and Toys "R" Us Inc., for recent lead violations in toys.

The suit, filed in Alameda County Superior Court, alleges the companies knowingly exposed children to lead and failed to provide warning of the risk, which is required under the state Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, known as Proposition 65.

If the suit is successful, the companies could pay a $2,500 fine per toy sold per day, according to the attorney general's office. Mr. Brown said yesterday that the state's goal is to enter into settlement negotiations with the industry to ensure that "they have a team of top flight monitors as the supply chain lengthens."

The suit is unusual as it puts a state at the center of consumer protection enforcement in toys, a duty generally relegated to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. "States are filling in the vacuum," said Mr. Brown, in a reference to recent actions California has taken in other industries, such as curbing carbon-dioxide emissions.

In a statement, Mattel said the case would be "beneficial to all parties." It said it has a three-point check system to help ensure quality controls. Toys "R" Us didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The suit, which was joined by the Los Angeles city attorney's office, also named as defendants Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp., Sears Holdings Corp., KB Toys Inc., Costco Wholesale Corp., RC 2? Corp. and others.

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Three Days of ‘Black Friday’ at Wal*Mart

Dealerscope                         [back to top]

This year, Wal*Mart will hold their traditional ‘Black Friday’ sales event starting on Thanksgiving Day, and ending officially on Saturday, Nov 24, the company announced. Music players, GPS systems, and other electronics are prominent parts of the promotion.

The event will begin online on Thursday where shoppers can go to Walmart.com to find specials on popular electronics, toys, apparel and home items with free shipping through its Site to Store program. The website will also show Wal*Mart’s “Secret In-store Specials” that includes Friday’s sale items not pictured in the circular.

The event continues Friday, starting at 5 a.m. and going to 11 a.m. where the traditional Black Friday offers will be available as well as the Secret In-store Specials. They will also reveal a new set of secret specials that will be available Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday, the last official day of the event, will include many items featured in the ‘Black Friday’ circular continued at the special sale price.

This new extended event is another response to the early leaking of Black Friday circulars by Web sites; Wal*Mart had earlier threatened law suits against the early leak of ‘Black Friday’ sales. Wal*Mart was reported to have filed any actual lawsuits.

Some of Thursdays sales include, the Motorola H670 Bluetooth Earset for $24.87- a savings of almost 60 percent - and the Garmin Nuvi 650 portable GPS system for $298.87, a savings of over 30 percent.

The original ‘Black Friday’ sales this year will include a Polaroid 42 inch LCD HDTV for $798 (savings of $400) and the Sony Cybershot Camera for $79.87 ($50 savings).

Due to this new extended shopping event, Wal*Mart has petitioned Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal of London’s Royal National Observatory, to make Sat., Nov 24 also officially called a Friday, thus giving the week two ‘Black Fridays.’

Copyright 2007 | North American Publishing Company | All Rights Reserved

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Black Friday Ads Target

Wal-Mart 70% of Wal-Mart stock comes from China, ads claim

By Truman Lewis
ConsumerAffairs.Com
November 19, 2007                            [back to top]

Just in time for Black Friday, traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year, union forces are launching an ad campaign against Wal-Mart, claiming that 70% of the retail giant's merchandise comes from China.

The ad campaign is the brainchild of WakeUpWalMart.com, which was formed by the United Food and Commercial Workers two years ago after Wal-Mart blocked an attempt to unionize its stores.

The first wave of the campaign is a series of radio ads running in 40 markets through Friday. Television ads will launch in December.

"No one knows how many unsafe products are sitting on Wal-Mart shelves," the radio ads intone ominously, seeking to capitalize on public concern about unsafe children's products, pet toys and other cheap imports.

Safety a priority? Wal-Mart objects and says that safety is "a top priority."

But in September, lab tests conducted for ConsumerAffairs.com found elevated levels of lead, chromium and cadmium in two Chinese-made pet toys sold at Wal-Mart stores. The test findings were published in their entirety on our Web site.

Rather than addressing the issue, Wal-Mart responded with a public relations blitz attacking the lab that conducted the tests and disputing the findings without making available any scientists or scientific analysis to support its arguments.

Wal-Mart never indicated it planned to remove the toys from its stores and in October, a ConsumerAffairs.com reporter found highly similar pet toys still being sold.

Earlier this year, Wal-Mart's Great Value brand peanut butter was recalled, along with Peter Pan-branded varieties because of salmonella contamination.

Families of at least four elderly consumers blame their relatives' death on the contaminated peanut butter and in June, the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention said it knew of 628 people in 47 states who had been affected by salmonella poisoning from the tainted peanut butter.

A few days ago, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled 36,000 children's storage units sold at Wal-Mart after an eight-month-old boy died when the Chinese-made furniture collapsed on him.

In July, Sleeping Beauty Crown and Cinderella Star earring sets sold at Wal-Mart were recalled because, like other cheap costume jewelry from China, they contained dangerous levels of lead.

Millions of products sold at Wal-Mart have been recalled. Many were sold at other retailers as well but many others were sold exclusively at Wal-Mart.

Last year, Baby Cookie Monster toys made in China and sold exclusively at Wal-Mart were recalled because small parts could come off and cause infants to choke.

A similar hazard caused a large recall last Christmas, when Wal-Mart sold 56,000 stuffed Christmas beagles with small parts that could detach and choke children.

It's not just children's products that have caused safety problems for Wal-Mart shoppers.

Earlier this year, about 1.8 million multi-purpose gas lighters sold at Wal-Mart were recalled because they lack warning labels written in English. In July, 760,000 office chairs were recalled because could easily tip over.

In May 2006, 110,000 "Simply Basic" lighted mirrors were recalled. The cheaply-made mirrors had exposed wiring that posed an electrical shock hazard. In June 2005, it recalled 643,000 flimsy rocking chairs, but not until after 45 injuries had been reported.

Slow to report Nor has Wal-Mart always been quick to report safety defects, as federal law requires. In 2003, the retailer was fined $750,000 for failing to report safety defects in Weider and Weslo brand home exercise equipment.

In 2004, it paid $14.5 million in fines for thousands of violations of California state gun safety laws between 2000 and 2003, including selling ammunition to minors and selling firearms to convicted felons.

Buy China In earlier campaigns, WakeUpWalMart.com has tweaked the giant retailer for turning its back on founder Sam Walton's "Buy America" policy.

"Wal-Mart’s 'Buy America program' has become a 'Buy China' program that makes Wal-Mart and China stronger while weakening America," the group says on its Web site.

It says that Wal-Mart imports $22 billion of Chinese goods, making Wal-Mart the #1 importer of Chinese goods and says that Wal-Mart, if it were its own country, would be China’s sixth largest trading partner.

WakeUpWalMart.com spokeswoman Meghan Scott says she thinks the group's efforts are turning consumer sentiment against Wal-Mart, which she notes has had stagnant same-store sales and stock price over the past year.

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Wal-Mart now giving away Blu-ray movies--with an 80GB PS3

Erica Ogg
November 19, 2007                      [back to top]

If you thought you could escape this Blu-ray and HD DVD format back-and-forth nonsense, well, you were wrong. It's actually just beginning! This holiday season, both sides in the next-generation DVD battle are continuing to ratchet up the pressure on you lucky consumers.

Exhibit A: The folks over at Wal-Mart have followed up their boffo $98 Toshiba A2 HD DVD player with a pretty impressive overture for Blu-ray. Buying an 80GB Sony PlayStation 3 this Saturday will also get you 10 Blu-ray movies for free, as long as all the titles are below $30. (Go to the Wal-Mart holiday shopping site and click "Preview Saturday's Specials.") That's in addition to the five Blu-ray movies that Sony gives new owners with a mail-in rebate.

So, just like that, you're buying a $499 next-generation gaming console and Blu-ray has you in its format clutches to the tune of 15 titles. Sooooo sneaky, right? Well, the HD DVD team's not above such retail tactics either.

Head on over to Amazon.com where you'll see a Toshiba HD-A3 HD DVD player and an offer for three free HD DVD movies (you choose from a list of titles between $20 and $30). That's in addition to 300 and The Bourne Identity that come bundled with the player. Plus, Toshiba also has a mail-in rebate good for five titles.

Sheesh, it's almost tempting enough to give in and buy one...or both.

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Wal-Mart seeks time warp from the Astronomer Royal

BENTONVILLE, Arkansas-As America's retailers wrangle with reluctant consumers this holiday season, Wal-Mart is trying an experiment in time warps for stressed shoppers.

The world's largest retailer said it is asking London's Royal National Observatory to declare that this Saturday officially be named Friday so that the big shopping day after Thanksgiving can go on for two days.

It was a tongue-in-cheek statement from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., but retailers are struggling in earnest to fuel holiday sales after a poor October blamed on higher gas prices, rising heating fuel costs, tightening credit, lower home values and recalls of dangerous toys.

Retailers have pulled out a slew of tricks already, from deep discounts to early shopping hours, ahead of the day dubbed "Black Friday" that kicks off the traditional holiday shopping season.

Wal-Mart said it will unveil Black Friday discounts online starting Thanksgiving Day and will offer additional in-store deals on items like home electronics and toys beyond what it is publishing in circulars this week.

Wal-Mart's statement did not say why it had approached the Royal National Observatory for the day change or if there was a response from Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal. The retailer did not immediately return a call for comment.

Black Friday is so named because it historically was when stores turned a profit.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Wal-Mart's critics to focus on safety: report

By Russel Gold,
Wall Street Journal
November 19th, 2007                                   [back to top]

Union-backed critics of Wal-Mart Stores Inc plan to start their largest ad campaign in a bid to criticize the company during the holiday shopping season, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday in its online edition.

The campaign, which starts on Monday with radio spots in 40 markets, is an attempt to tap into negative publicity surrounding Chinese imports to Wal-Mart, the Journal said.

The ads note that Wal-Mart gets 70 percent of its merchandise from China, a figure the retailer disputes, the Journal said.

According to the Journal, the ads are the product of WakeUpWalMart.com, which is funded by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

The newspaper also said the radio spots will run through this Friday, which is traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year. The ads will run mostly in the South and Midwest where Wal-Mart has a strong presence, the Journal said, adding that television ads will appear in December.

Wal-Mart objected to the notion it was selling unsafe items, the Journal said.

"Our commitment to low prices is never at the cost of safety. Product safety has always been and will continue to be a top priority, spokeswoman Sharon Weber said, according to the Journal.

(Reporting by Justin Grant)

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Wal-Mart Web site central to Thanksgiving sales plan

Reuters                            [back to top]

NEW YORK  - Wal-Mart Stores Inc on Monday unveiled Thanksgiving holiday sales plans, which focus heavily on using its Web site to publicize its discount prices and kick off the extended holiday shopping weekend.

The world's largest retailer has said it would post online-only deals on the Web site on Thanksgiving, which can be purchased the same day.

On Monday, it revealed some of those deals. For example, it will offer a Zune 30 gigabyte MP3 video player for $98.87, which it says is about 25 percent off, and a Garmin Nuvi 650 Portable global positioning system for $298.87, a savings of more than 30 percent, it says.

Wal-Mart also said on Monday that it will post special "secret" deals on its Web site on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, that can then be purchased in stores on Friday -- commonly referred to as "Black Friday," which kicks off the holiday shopping season.

Those "secret" deals are not published in its advertising circulars.

The online push comes as Wal-Mart works to incorporate its Web site more closely with its stores, and boost lagging sales in the United States.

This year, it rolled out a "Site to Store" program, which allows customers to order products on the Web site and have them shipped to a local Wal-Mart store for free. When the merchandise is picked up, Wal-Mart said customers wind up spending more money in the store.

In an interview earlier this month, Walmart.com CEO Raul Vazquez said that while overall U.S. online holiday sales this year are expected to rise about 20 percent, Walmart.com's sales should jump between 40 percent and 60 percent.

(Reporting by Nicole Maestri, editing by Maureen Bavdek)

Copyright 2007 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved.

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A green giant warms up to Wal-Mart

Household products outfit Seventh Generation says its considering doing a deal with the controversial retailer

Matthew Boyle
and Rupali Arora
Fortune
November 19 2007                            [back to top]

(Fortune) -- The outspoken head of eco-friendly consumer product maker Seventh Generation is changing his tune when it comes to the world's biggest retailer, Fortune has learned.

Seventh Generation CEO Jeffrey Hollender, who in the past has equated working with Wal-Mart (Charts, Fortune 500) to selling his company's soul, said last week in a meeting at Fortune's New York offices that he would now consider selling products to Wal-Mart, although he was quick to add that no decision has been reached. Wal-Mart, for its part, did not provide any comment.

Privately-held Seventh Generation's non-toxic products -- which range from laundry detergent to toilet paper and diapers -- will generate about $100 million in sales this year and are currently found everywhere from Target (Charts, Fortune 500) to Walgreens (Charts, Fortune 500) to Amazon.com (Charts, Fortune 500).

The change of heart, Hollender said, came as the result of the retailer's broad-based sustainability efforts, a private meeting he had with CEO Lee Scott late last year, and an internal review of 17 retailers that graded each on their commitment to greener business practices.

"Three years ago, I would have never imagined even considering doing business with them," Hollender said. "[But] the progress they have made is beyond what I imagined or hoped for three years ago."

Wal-Mart sees green This news comes as Wal-Mart has finally released its long-awaited, first-ever sustainability report, a 59-page study that details the goals and progress of the company's much-publicized environmental efforts since 2005. Wal-Mart has pledged to spend $500 million a year on initiatives like opening eco-friendly stores, increasing the fuel efficiency of its trucks, and reducing cardboard packaging.

The retail giant's pledge to green its business practices has made Hollender more comfortable with seeing his products on Wal-Mart's shelves, but he's well aware of the complexity and risks inherent in such a move. (He's probably more aware than most CEOs -- his company's name was inspired by an Iroquois saying about how every decision must be weighed based on the impact it will have on the next seven generations.)

First, Hollender is not even sure if Seventh Generation has the production capacity to handle a big order from Wal-Mart, although it could meet the demand of a small pilot test. Wal-Mart's market share in household products is well over 30%, and its Supercenters are the primary supermarket for 20% of U.S. households, according to TNS Retail Forward.

Then there's the issue of his highly opinionated consumer base, some of whom might boycott Seventh Generation if it supplied Wal-Mart.

"I do believe that if we were to make the decision to do business with Wal-Mart, we would lose some consumers," Hollender said. "This issue is very divisive -- it's almost as polarizing as abortion." Hollender said he would reach out to consumers and retailers before making a final decision.

An organic milk war turns sour Such a move might also not go down well inside the company's Burlington, VT, headquarters. Some employees think Wal-Mart's largely lower-income clientele should have access to Seventh Generation's products, while others recoil at the idea of selling to a company whose public image is so tarnished.

Finally, Hollender is well aware that Wal-Mart's promises in this arena have not always been, um, sustained. For example, the retailer has scaled back its plans to significantly ramp up its selection of organic food, after early sales proved disappointing.

Still, on the whole, Hollender is impressed with the progress Wal-Mart has made. A big factor in Hollender's thinking was a sustainability summit Wal-Mart hosted last month for 400 of its largest vendors. While he's not a Wal-Mart supplier, Hollender attended and came away convinced that CEO Scott is willing to make meaningful changes at the retailer, whose sales were $351 billion last year.

"I'm a cheerleader for Wal-Mart's leadership and progress," Hollender wrote on his blog during the meeting. "But as Lee Scott said, this was a graduation ceremony from kindergarten, and the toughest challenges lie ahead."

Hollender, currently sporting a sling on his right arm from a snowboarding accident, said one of his tête-à-têtes with Scott in Bentonville -- back in 2005 -- also left him impressed. "He was unusually open and disarming," Hollender recalls. "He was very willing to hear my most direct criticism." He also noted with a laugh that Scott surprised Hollender by being there at the door to greet him, displaying the utter lack of pretension that Wal-Mart is famous for.

Wal-Mart may have opened its doors to green crusaders like Hollender, but whether it opens up the shelves at its 7,000 stores remains to be seen.

Al Gore's next act: Planet-saving VC Dell's 'green' push: More than words

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WAL-MART China reveals further details on Tianjin DC

Planet Retail                                       [back to top]

Wal-Mart China has revealed further information on the reopening of its Tianjin distribution centre after relocation. Opened in 2003, the original Wal-Mart Tianjin distribution centre is the only DC serving Wal-Mart stores up north of the Yangtse River areas. The relocation is a strategic move for Wal-Mart’s sustainable development in China. The new DC, developed by Wal-Mart’s wholly owned subsidiary Gazeley, a global leading provider of sustainable logistics space, is located at the Beichen District of Tianjin City and covers an area of 43,000 square metres, with nearly 300 full time employees. The new DC has been partly in use since October and is expected to reach a daily capacity of 330,000 cases per day, four times higher than the old DC, when in full operation, which helps lower distribution and inventory costs for suppliers as well as cutting operation costs for the retailer. Country Director of Gazeley China, Jack Yang said: ”The newly built Wal-Mart Tianjin Distribution Centre features an array of sustainable measures and standards, including reducing emission of carbon dioxide, lowering energy and water consumption, and utilizing recyclable materials, which helps save operation costs while making distribution more eco-friendly. The whole DC uses T5 energy saving light bulbs that save about 20% to 30% more energy than normal light bulbs. The warehouses use day lighting and an air-conditioning heat energy recycling system. Also, the distribution centre employs recyclable energy to reduce energy consumption, for example, installing a 20-square-metre wide sunshine battery and two 10-kilowatt wind power generators that may generate electricity up to 7,300 kilowatt per year. Moreover, the DC is equipped with 10 solar energy water heaters that may provide 1.7 tons of hot water every day and save electricity of up to 25,550 kilowatts every year. Putting all these measures together, Wal-Mart Tianjin Distribution Centre can reduce 31 tons of carbon dioxide emission every year that is equal to the emission data of a family in 138 months.”

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Shopping lists have fewer toys

By Matt Andrejczak ,
MarketWatch
November 18th, 2007                                  [back to top]                        

SAN FRANCISCO: Early indications show that Americans are considering buying fewer toys this holiday season because of widespread product recalls, according to market researcher Harris Interactive.

Harris reported 33 percent of Americans said they will purchase fewer toys, while 45 percent will avoid buying toys manufactured in China, where 80 percent of toys sold in the U.S. are manufactured.

The Rochester, N.Y.-based researcher, which conducted an online poll of 2,565 U.S. adults between Oct. 9-15, said its anecdotal data might not bear out. The results come about a week before Thanksgiving, a time when most consumers start thinking about purchasing holiday gifts.

''It will be interesting to see if the attitudes that people expressed pre-holiday shopping are ones that they will follow through on when in the stores or shopping online,'' Harris said in its study.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued its latest major toy recall on Nov. 7, involving 4.2 million Aqua Dots, an arts and craft kit manufactured in China. The product contained beads with a toxic coating.

''If parents were on the fence about buying Chinese-made toys prior to this recall, we believe many may be pushed over the edge by this one,'' BMO Capital markets analyst Gerrick Johnson wrote in a report.

Toy experts considered Aqua Dots, sold by Spin Master of Toronto, Canada, to be one of the hottest-selling toys this season.

So far, major retailers are offering mixed statements about toy sales. No. 1 retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. cited toys as a weak product segment in its October sales figures, while Amazon.com said it anticipates one of its strongest-ever holiday seasons for toy sales.

Toys Amazon expects to be holiday favorites include:

EyeClops Bionic Eye by Jakks Pacific Inc.

Hannah Montana: Music Jam (Nintendo DS) by Disney.

Barbie Girls by Mattel Inc.

Smart Cycle by Fisher-Price, a unit of Mattel.

Johnson, who recently visited Wal-Mart, Target and Toys R Us stores in Connecticut, California and North Carolina, added that Hasbro's Transformer figures are selling well.

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Building SuperConsumers: Wal-Mart's Unsustainability Report

By Al Norman,
Huffington Post
November 18th, 2007                                 [back to top] 

One of the little-noticed side stories in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, was the impact the storm had on Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott.

"Katrina was a key personal moment for me," Scott admitted. Where others saw devastation, the head of the world's largest retailer saw a vision of his company's lead role on the world stage. "I saw the pain, the difficulty, and the tears," he told business leaders in Chicago in 2005. "But I saw something else. I saw a company utilize its people resources and scale to make a big and positive difference in people's lives...What if we used our size and resources to make this country and this earth an even better place for all of us."

Lee Scott had stumbled on the environment. "Frankly, I thought the environment was the least relevant," he confessed. "We are recycling responsibly and we are not wasteful -- so a Wal-Mart environment program sounded more like a public relations campaign than substance to me." But motivated by his company's experience with the Katrina disaster, Scott committed himself to three environmental goals: 1. To be supplied 100% by renewable energy. 2. To create zero waste. 3. To sell products that sustain our resources and environment. That was October 24, 2005.

This week, Wal-Mart released a 59 page "sustainability" progress report for the past year. The report is meant to convince the public that Wal-Mart believes "what's good for the environment can be good for business too." "To make sustainability sustainable at Wal-Mart, we've made it live inside our business," Scott writes. But the real question is: will anyone outside their business believe that a company with nearly 2 million underpaid workers (more than half of them not buying their company's health plan), millions of square feet of "dark stores," more than 9,000 sweatshop factories, and more than 7,000 trucks on the road---will ever meet sustainable dimensions?

Sustainability to Wal-Mart does not mean walking with a light footprint on the earth----the company opened a new store in America every 44 hours last year, and shut down just as many discount stores along our roadways. To Wal-Mart, sustainability means "we don't believe our customers should have to choose between products they can afford and products that are ethically sourced, high-quality, and environmentally friendly." In other words, sustainability at Wal-Mart means sustaining their net profits, which means growing its bottom line enough to keep stockholders in the green. "We make no claims of being a green company," Scott admits. "But what we are saying is we're doing sustainability in a way that's real and right for Wal-Mart." But sustainability done the Wal-Mart way amounts to little more than the public relations campaigns Scott disparages.

This week's report is crammed with "performance metrics" that range from the obscene (profit per worker: $6,409.47) to the bizarre (combined weight Wal-Mart employees say they have lost: 184,315 pounds). Wal-Mart's metrics go far beyond the environment to economic and social components, including health, diversity, and quality of life. But it all comes down to pushing the company's advertising slogan: "Save more. Live Better." As Scott asserts, "Families who save money can use the savings to participate in the digital revolution, put more food on their kitchen tables, buy more environmentally friendly products, and achieve their aspirations." In other words, Wal-Mart superstores can turn normal consumers into superconsumers. The key to Wal-Mart sustainability is "Buy More Products." Driving us all towards increased per capita consumption is, in fact, anathema to sustainability. What Wal-Mart calls "Sustainability 360" is actually a journey towards Unsustainability. The company counts how many fluorescent light bulbs it sells, how much it reduces in vendor packaging, and how many tons of aluminum its employees say they have recycled. Not only are such numbers questionable, they fail to lead to sustainability. Wal-Mart believes that by driving up consumption on the planet, they are somehow "reducing the amount of waste we send to landfills." Their vision of converting sweatshop factories into "good neighbors and good employers that offer responsible pay and benefits" is nothing more than Happy Talk.

Also this week 23 organizations, coordinated by the group Big Box Collaborative, issued a joint report critiquing the Wal-Mart sustainability movement. The analysis, prepared by some of the country's most respected public interest groups, includes sections on Wal-Mart's specific commitments in seven product areas -- organics, seafood, shrimp, forest products, cypress mulch, product packaging, and toxic chemicals -- as well as sections on global warming and Wal-Mart's international business practices. The report argues "that even if Wal-Mart achieved all of its stated goals, the company's business model is inherently unsustainable." The report explains that Wal-Mart is like an elephant that can't get out of its own way. "Wal-Mart's goal to cut its annual greenhouse gases by five million tons would be admirable," the study says, "if it weren't for the fact that the company publicly acknowledged in 2006 that its global operations created 220 million tons of greenhouse gases every year. That's more than 40 times the emissions the company says it would like to eliminate." The analysis also suggests that Wal-Mart as Lobbyist doesn't put its money where its sustainability is. Two-thirds of Wal-Mart's Political Action Committee contributions in the last election went to candidates who earned failing grades from the League of Conservation Voters. "Wal-Mart claims to be a leader in the battle against global warming, yet it's one of the largest contributors to politicians with the worst records on global warming," says Corporate Ethics International. "Wal-Mart can change to more efficient light bulbs, but that doesn't change its carbon footprint or the enormous social consequences of its globally unsustainable business model," a spokesman from Global Exchange notes. "If we look at its practices internationally, Wal-Mart has used its market power to cut costs at the expense of workers and the environment across the developing world." "Can a company claim to be "sustainable" when it drives down wages, refuses wages to some 20,000 minors working in its Mexican stores, pays unsustainably low prices to its suppliers (leading to sweatshop conditions), drives local stores and markets out of business, and disregards the wishes of the communities where it establishes its stores?"

Even on the hot-button issue of global warming, Wal-Mart's metrics don't add up. According to the Institute for Policy Studies and Friends of the Earth, Wal-Mart's supply chain itself creates more than 40 times the emissions the company aims to eliminate. Combined with emissions from its retail operations, Wal-Mart's greenhouse gases are the equivalent of about half the amount produced annually by France. If you consider the estimated 2 million tons of annual carbon emissions associated with shipping from China to U.S. ports, pollution from inefficient non-U.S. trucking fleets, and the health impacts of port pollution on local communities, Wal-Mart's cheap imports don't look so cheap anymore. Wal-Mart's contribution to sprawl has increased shopping travel to the point where traffic associated with its stores produces more carbon dioxide than all of its other U.S. greenhouse gas emissions combined.

Two years ago, Lee Scott wrote about his experience at an 'environmental' store-opening in McKinney, Texas. The McKinney store had all the bells and whistles: solar panels, shredded tires for mulch, heating supplied by used cooking and motor oil, mature trees shading the building, and wind turbines. "Our customers flocked to it," Scott boasted, and then added in a totally oblivious way, "the store manager is enjoying nearly 10% energy efficiency gains versus a 'normal' Super Center located a couple of miles down the road." That's the problem with Wal-Mart's sustainability vision: a couple of miles down the road from all the glitz and metrics, is all the company's wastefulness, inefficiencies, over-building, and junked public relations campaigns---and the company's boss doesn't even see it. Scott's vision itself is unsustainable. "Thankfully Katrina's don't come around very often," Scott concludes, "but the world needs help all the time. People and the environment are being pushed to the limit."

Unfortunately, Wal-Mart is doing much of the pushing.

Copies of the critique report are available at here. Wal-Mart's progress report available at here.

Al Norman is the founder of Sprawl-Busters.com, and the author of "The Case Against Wal-Mart."

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Child's death prompts recall of storage racks made in China

By Colleen Locke ,
9news.com
November 17th, 2007                   [back to top] 

KUSA – Jetmax International has recalled 38,000 storage racks because they can tip over, trapping and suffocating young children.

An 8-month-old boy died after he pulled on the rack. It landed on his neck and he asphyxiated.

The storage racks were made in China. Wal-Mart sold the storage racks under the name "Home Trend Kids 9 Canvas Bin Boy's and Girl's Organizers" from August 2004 through July 2005.

Here are the UPC numbers for the organizers: • UPC 9223900109 (Boy's) • UPC 9223900122 (Girl's) Jetmax says consumers should stop using these racks and contact them for a free repair kit to stabilize the base.

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Wal-Mart Faces Accusations of Anti-union Practices in Argentina

Marie Trigona
November 16, 2007                             [back to top] 

Americas Program, Center for International Policy (CIP)

Wal-Mart's aggressive efforts to keep labor unions out of stores worldwide have come under fire across the hemisphere. Workers report how the retail chain systematically violates international labor laws protecting workers' rights to free association and union organizing. As the world's largest private employer, Wal-Mart has set a precedent for bad working conditions for employees in the United States and abroad.

Due to weak U.S. labor laws, Wal-Mart's most impressive violations of workers' rights take place in the United States, where Wal-Mart's founder Sam Walton opened his first store in 1967. The mega chain's legacy was built over decades based on providing shoppers with low prices, but at the cost of workers, who face aggressive anti-union tactics, low salaries, often no benefits, tight surveillance, and degrading working conditions. In some cases, they are even forced to work without pay and off the clock.

The Case in Argentina

Wal-Mart has drawn the attention of Argentine lawmakers for anti-union practices in the corporation's stores throughout the South American nation. Earlier this year, Argentina's national congress led an investigation into Wal-Mart's labor practices in the corporation's 15 Argentine retail outlets. Following reports of the firing of union delegates and abusive working conditions, Wal-Mart was called before a congressional investigative committee in July 2007.

Workers report that Wal-Mart uses humiliating tactics in the stores, in some cases going as far as prohibiting workers from taking bathroom breaks. In a particular case, a 19-year-old cashier was prevented from going to the bathroom after she asked for permission. Although she was menstruating, the supervisor made her wait for 30 minutes. When she had stained her pants, the supervisor accompanied her to the bathroom and brought her new pants and underwear for her to continue working her shift. In October 2007, workers and human rights activists protested outside a Wal-Mart store to call attention to the retail chain's working conditions in Argentina. During a theater performance actors mocked the humiliation that Wal-Mart workers must endure. In one particular scene, a performer explained what a "mystery shopper" is‹a supervisor disguised as a customer to spy on Wal-Mart employees. The theatre troop also parodied the mega-store's pin system, a way to award workers for missing bathroom breaks and working overtime without overtime pay. The retail chain prohibits workers from referring to themselves as employees, and insists on the term "associates." They are forced to sing the Wal-Mart anthem at work, complete with pom-poms.

Dark Pasts in Private Security

In addition to reports of anti-union practices, Wal-Mart has come under public scrutiny for hiring a former military officer connected with the 1976-1983 military dictatorship as head of security. Alfredo Oscar Saint Jean served during the nation's bloody military junta in cities where clandestine detention centers operated. Outside a Wal-Mart store, human rights representatives participated in an escrache or "exposure" protest calling for an end to impunity for military officers who participated in the systematic disappearance of 30,000 people in the so-called Dirty War.

Unions Beware

In line with Wal-Mart stores in the United States, the retail chain in Argentina has taken measures to ensure limited union organizing. Tactics detailed in Human Rights Watch's report mirror the working conditions reported by workers in Argentina's stores, although conditions in Argentina for union organizing are slightly better than for U.S. Wal-Mart associates. Workers organizing a union at the Wal-Mart Avelleneda store have faced firings and even violent threats. The retailers union that represents Wal-Mart workers and is affiliated with the CGT umbrella union, has been all too compliant with the company's resistance to unionize workers. When Falcón and Cordoba were elected as union delegates independent from the CGT's retail union, Wal-Mart fired Cordoba on two occasions. Both delegates have received phone calls from anonymous callers threatening that if they do not stop union organizing activity they will be physically assaulted. One single store in Buenos Aires reports sales of more than $3.3 million per month, and an employee makes about $300 a month. With rising inflation, Wal-Mart's salaries fall below poverty levels, where a family needs a minimum of $600 a month to meet basic needs. Worldwide Wal-Mart has been reported for paying employees low salaries and for unfair labor practices. The situation for the retail chain's employees in Brazil is similar to workers in Argentina. In Mexico, Wal-Mart has faced allegations of unlawful labor practices. Newsweek magazine, in a 2006 article, reported that Wal-Mart had been using some 19,000 teenagers to work as unpaid baggers at its stores in Mexico. The teens between 14-16 were denied wages and had to rely entirely on customers' tips as compensation. Wal-Mart officially describes the youths as "volunteers." Wal-Mart's success has been due to a key motivation: driving out competition. Wal-Mart stores offer incredibly low prices, which some call predatory pricing, until many potential competitors are driven out of business, unable to keep up with the mega-store's buying power. Later, when Wal-Mart is left with little competition, it can manipulate higher prices for customers accustomed to buying everything from groceries, clothes, electric appliances, to gasoline in one convenient location. Globally, workers face a bleak horizon with many retail giants and manufacturers using competition to drive down wages and labor costs. The retailer has also used this method with the workforce, hiring young people with little organizing experience and poor work histories to comply with high production rates. With an army of young people eager to find work, Wal-Mart has an endless supply of "associates." Like Ford in the 1920s, Wal-Mart has also created a production model. In Ford's factories, workers had the benefit of stable jobs and livable wages, although workers endured social control and exploitation. Whereas Ford's model was designed so that employees could buy the final product, a Ford vehicle, the situation for Wal-Mart workers is dismal. Many of Wal-Mart's employees can't afford to shop in their employer's stores, and they must endure unstable and precarious work conditions. According to union activist Falcón, Wal-Mart has a good image in the eyes of shoppers but a bad reputation for its treatment of workers. Wal-Mart may have met its match, with union delegates eager to improve working conditions and unionize more workers in stores. Argentine workers are pushing for independent union representation, and seem to be making strides despite pressures. Marie Trigona is a journalist based in Argentina and writes regularly for the Americas

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At Wal-Mart, 'Green' Has Various Shades

By Ylan Q. Mui ,
Washington Post
November 16th, 2007                             [back to top] 

Two years ago, Wal-Mart chief executive H. Lee Scott Jr. outlined ambitious goals to turn the world's largest retailer into a more environmentally friendly company. In a speech titled "21st Century Leadership," he vowed that Wal-Mart would one day create zero waste, be completely supplied by renewable energy and sell more sustainable products.

That day remains a long way off.

Wal-Mart yesterday released its first report on its progress in meeting those goals, and showed mixed results. It has made significant gains in some areas, selling 22 seafood products that have been certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council and developing the first heavy-duty hybrid truck. But on other hot topics, such as pollution in China and eliminating waste, it is still grappling with where to begin.

"We make no claims of being a green company," Scott said in a written statement. "But what we are saying is we're doing sustainability in a way that's real and right for Wal-Mart."

Some environmental and activist groups have remained skeptical of Wal-Mart's intentions and its progress. In September, a coalition known as the Big Box Collaborative organized 23 nonprofit organizations to deliver a harsh critique of Wal-Mart's sustainability initiative, arguing that it mislabeled organic food and that the large number of stores it plans to open will negate efforts to decrease its greenhouse-gas emissions. According to Wal-Mart's report, the company's global carbon dioxide output rose 9 percent, to 20 million tons, last year.

"Working with Wal-Mart is a little like dealing with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," said Michael Marx, executive director of Corporate Ethics International, which contributed to the critique. "Environmentally, I really believe it wants to do the right thing. The Mr. Hyde Wal-Mart often turns around and does terrible things to totally undercut all its good work."

To tackle its environmental goals, Wal-Mart set up more than a dozen "sustainable value networks" that connect its employees with suppliers, advocacy groups and independent experts to work on hot button issues such as consumer electronics, jewelry and packaging. Some networks have 15 members; others have 500. Meetings end with what the company calls "go-do's," as in "What are you going to go do now?"

Wal-Mart's foray into sustainability has resulted in some unlikely bedfellows, with groups such as the National Defense Resource Council and Oxfam working with Wal-Mart on select issues.

This summer, Environmental Defense opened an office in Bentonville, Ark., where Wal-Mart is headquartered, with two staff members, Michelle Harvey and Andrew Hutson. They were there to work with Wal-Mart on its environmental goals. Shopping at the Wal-Mart near Harvey's house -- "my Wal-Mart," she called it a few months ago while pulling up in a minivan that still bore a Takoma Park bumper sticker -- she and Hutson ran into Charles Zimmerman, vice president of prototype and new format development. He was inspecting the new motion-detection lighting system in the frozen food section, which helps save energy by turning the freezer lights on when someone approaches and turning them off when they leave. Zimmerman slowly crept down the aisle to test their sensitivity.

Harvey bounded over to shake his hand. She peppered him with questions about refrigeration: What is Wal-Mart doing about the open vertical cases in the dairy aisle, where cold air escapes into the store? What about the horizontal cases that store sausage and egg biscuits and turkeys?

Hutson explained that Wal-Mart has what he called a "ready, fire, aim" culture. "Part of our reason for being here is to help them aim better," he said.

When Wal-Mart does aim correctly, its size has the potential to turn even the smallest tweaks into landslide changes. The sustainability report cites the example of the Charmin 6 Mega Roll pack, which contains the same amount of toilet paper as a regular pack of 24 rolls. That allows Wal-Mart to ship 42 percent more units on their trucks, eliminating 89.5 million cardboard rolls and 360,087 pounds of plastic wrapping and reducing its fuel consumption by 53,966 gallons.

But progress across the sustainable value networks has been uneven. Wal-Mart has set a goal to reduce solid waste from its U.S. stores by 25 percent by next October. But it is still developing a system to track waste through its supply chain and admitted in the report that it has no accurate way to measure how much it may have already eliminated.

Wal-Mart also estimated in the report that it buys goods directly from thousands of factories in China and its suppliers source products from many more. It also recognized that the country's tremendous growth -- which critics say is fueled in part by Wal-Mart's insatiable demand for low-cost goods -- "does not come without unintended consequences."

The China network, however, is still putting together a model factory program to showcase best practices with 13 volunteer suppliers. But exactly how those factories can be more environmentally friendly while staying profitable is up for debate.

"We are proud of our first steps, but the challenges we face are significant and complex," the report said.

Still, several environmental groups applauded Wal-Mart for putting out the report, which was originally scheduled to be released this summer, even as they cautioned that more work needed to be done.

"It gives Wal-Mart the opportunity to kind of take a hard look in the mirror," said David Willett, a spokesman for the Sierra Club, a nonprofit group that has been critical of Wal-Mart and has not worked with the company. "I think we still need to see some more from them to show really how committed they are."

In the report, Wal-Mart acknowledged that expectations of the company are high -- and so are its goals. In a recent interview about the environmental initiative before the report was released, S. Robson Walton, son of Wal-Mart's founder Sam Walton and chairman of Wal-Mart's board of directors, said that he was not worried if the company never achieved them.

"A lot of our goals are aspirational," he said. "I think the things that we've accomplished so far have been significant. . . . It's the progress that's important."

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Mixed response to Wal-Mart’s ‘green’ report

By Jonathan Birchall
Financial Times
November 15 2007                          [back to top] 

Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, published its first report on Thursday on the environmental and social sustainability drive it launched just over two years ago in one of the most dramatic transformations in US corporate history.

But the 60-page progress report received a mixed welcome from environmentalists and socially concerned investors, who expressed some disappointment with the lack of measurable data provided.

Lee Scott, the chief executive officer, declared: “We make no claims of being a green company.” But he said the report showed Wal-Mart’s progress on issues ranging from slowing the growth of its greenhouse gas emissions to improving the health of its employees.

“Our carbon footprint is growing slower but it is still growing. We are reducing waste but we are far from the day when we have eliminated waste in our stores.”

Environmental Defense, which works with Wal-Mart on its sustainability efforts but does not receive any funding from the retailer, said the report “reveals areas where Wal-Mart has made progress and areas where they have more to do”.

“It would benefit by providing more transparency, context and a more systematic assessment of progress relative to environmental goals,” said Gwen Ruta, the group’s head of corporate partnerships.

The report includes detail on the greenhouse gas produced by Wal-Mart’s operations on a country-by-country basis.

However, it continues Wal-Mart’s habit of offering isolated facts on its efforts, without context that provides a broader understanding of the impact of changes.

Ms Ruta highlighted the lack of detail on issues such as a reported 15 per cent increase in the efficiency of its US fleet of 7,000 truck.

The report also highlights the use or energy-saving innovations, such as lower-energy lighting and low-flow bathroom taps, without giving information on the extent of their deployment.

“We’d also like to see Wal-Mart present more data that allows readers to verify the information presented,” Ms Ruta said.

David Schilling, at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, said: “We recognise that the report is a first step.” But he added that Wal-Mart needed to “really dig in on social sustainaibility”, on issues such as the conditions in its supply chain and healthcare.

Mr Scott said that while the company’s environmental efforts had attracted most attention, sustainability “has broad economic and social components”, including “the quality of life of the people who make the products we sell”.

The report was originally scheduled to come out in April but was repeatedly delayed. Executives said that was because of the complexity and scale of the process. Outside groups involved said the company also seemed to have underestimated the scope of the data required.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

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Wal-Mart to Pay Pa. Plaintiff Legal Fees

Associated Press
11.14.07                                       [back to top] 

PHILADELPHIA - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has been ordered to pay $36.4 million in fees and expenses to attorneys representing Pennsylvania employees who won a class-action award for working off the clock.

The award entered in favor of the plaintiffs including fees and interest now totals $187.6 million, Common Pleas Judge Mark Bernstein wrote in an opinion issued Wednesday.

The suit involved 187,000 current and former employees who worked at Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ) and Sam's Clubs from March 1998 through May 2006.

A city jury last year rejected Wal-Mart's claim that some people chose to work through breaks or that a few minutes of extra work here and there was insignificant.

The plaintiffs initially won a $78.5 million class-action award for lost wages. Most of the group qualified for a share of another $62.3 million in damages under a state law invoked when a company withholds pay without cause for more than 30 days.

Similar lawsuits charging that Wal-Mart violated state wage laws are in play across the country.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Why Wal-Mart Set Up Shop in Italy

By JESSE DRUCKER ,
Wall Street Journal
November 14th, 2007                           [back to top] 

More than 4,500 miles separate a small Wal-Mart Stores Inc. office in Florence, Italy, from the company's dozens of Illinois retail outlets. But thanks to a convoluted tax arrangement, court records show, Wal-Mart's Italian operation has helped the giant retailer cut its state tax bill in Illinois by millions of dollars a year.

Wal-Mart set its affairs so that its Italian outpost is the only operating unit of a real-estate subsidiary that controls billions of dollars of the retailer's property in Illinois and other states. Because technically its only employees are based in Italy, the real-estate unit claims its operations are foreign, exempt from Illinois corporate income taxes.

Earlier this year, the Illinois Department of Revenue objected to the Italian tax maneuver, demanding $26.4 million in back taxes, interest and penalties. Wal-Mart paid the amount in dispute and then sued the state for a refund, according to a complaint filed in May in Illinois Circuit Court in Springfield, Ill.

A Wal-Mart spokesman declined to comment beyond a prepared statement: "We have a disagreement with the state of Illinois over our tax liability last year, and we've asked a judge to resolve that for us." He declined to explain why Italy was chosen as the home of this particular foreign operation or whether Wal-Mart has other such arrangements.

The dispute with Wal-Mart is part of a wider effort by some states to crack down on what they believe is abusive use of so-called 80/20 companies. These companies are domestic subsidiaries that conduct at least 80% of their business overseas. States typically don't tax income from outside the U.S., and many companies have used 80/20 subsidiaries to legitimately shield foreign operations from state taxation.

But authorities in several states have challenged a number of companies over the 80/20 units, claiming the structure was improperly used to shift income away from the purview of state taxing authorities.

The misuse of 80/20 companies is "shocking to the conscience," said Brian Hamer, director of the Illinois Department of Revenue. "These kinds of manipulations clearly were never contemplated by the state legislatures," added Mr. Hamer, who wouldn't comment on any single company or legal case. "It ought to have been clear to businesses that this was highly questionable conduct."

Illinois tax authorities are in a dispute with Mc Donald?'s Corp. over nearly $11 million stemming from its use of an 80/20 subsidiary. Details are sketchy, but Mc Donald?'s, based in Oak Brook, Ill., says in court papers that a Delaware financing unit that owns restaurants in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, conducts 80% or more of its business activity outside the U.S., exempting its operations from being included in Illinois tax calculations.

Minnesota, BNSF Wrangle Meanwhile, Minnesota tax authorities are taking issue with interest payments made by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. to a pair of Delaware subsidiaries doing business in Canada. The railway company deducted the interest associated with the payments but didn't pay taxes on most of the income received by the subsidiaries. The state's revenue department says in an audit report that this was "done purely for tax avoidance purposes." The Fort Worth, Texas, company paid a disputed $4 million in back taxes and interest and sued the state in May for a refund.

A McDonald's spokeswoman said: "We believe the results of our business have been properly reported to the state of Illinois." A Burlington Northern spokesman declined to comment. At the prodding of the Illinois revenue department, that state's legislature in 2004 passed a law essentially shutting down the abusive use of 80/20 units. The Minnesota state legislature enacted one change in 2005 and has considered several other bills since then to shut down alleged abuse of the structure.

States Crack Down

Wal-Mart's Italian tax-planning maneuver is the latest disclosure of a strategy by the firm to cut state taxes. A page-one article in The Wall Street Journal in February focused on how the Bentonville, Ark., retailer cut taxes in some states by paying rent to a real-estate investment trust it owned, even though the money never left the firm.

That REIT strategy has been challenged by tax authorities in several sates; some have enacted laws to close the REIT structure since the Journal article. However, the REIT tax structure saved money only in some states -- those that tax income solely from operations within their borders. This taxation system, known as "separate reporting," can make it simpler for companies to shift income out of state to tax-friendly jurisdictions such as Delaware or Nevada. But "combined reporting" states such as Illinois are much tougher. They add together all profits of a company's domestic operations, regardless of what state they are in, and then allocate a portion of those profits to their state.

Theoretically, combined reporting makes it harder for companies to shift income to more advantageous locales.

Because Illinois rules apply only to domestic profits -- not world-wide income -- companies can get around the rules by figuring out ways to effectively shift income overseas.

Wal-Mart's 80/20 structure worked like this: The company first transferred its Illinois stores to its in-house REI Ts?, paid rent to the REI Ts? and then deducted those payments from its taxes. The REI Ts?, in turn, paid that money to their 99% owner, a Wal-Mart unit based in Delaware. Ordinarily, Illinois's combined-reporting rules wouldn't permit a company to cut its taxes by shifting income to a Delaware unit. But in late 2001, Wal-Mart formed a Delaware subsidiary called WMGS Services LLC, records show. WMGS, with offices in Florence, was a wholly owned subsidiary of Wal-Mart Property Co., which also was 99% owner of Wal-Mart's main REIT.

In its filing, Wal-Mart contends that Property Co.'s ownership of the Italian unit converted Property Co. into an 80/20 company. In other words, at least 80% of its employees and its property were overseas, exempting its income from taxes.

Though Property Co. is the 99% owner of the REIT -- which owns dozens of stores in Illinois -- Wal-Mart says Property Co. owns no real estate itself. And although Wal-Mart has more than 48,000 employees in Illinois, the firm contends Property Co. has no employees in the state, either.

The only employees of Property Co. were in Italy, the company says. Property Co. was set up to own the majority of the shares of Wal-Mart's main REIT and has no employees anywhere, Wal-Mart has said in court records elsewhere. (In its court filing in Illinois, Wal-Mart says that WMGS's employees and property were in Turin, Italy; an official with the company in Florence and a Wal-Mart spokesman in the U.S. say the company doesn't have an office in Turin.)

WMGS employs 22 people at its office in central Florence, according to a company official who answered the door there on a recent weekday morning. The office is responsible for procuring merchandise from around Europe, he said. Wal-Mart has no stores in Italy.

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As Wal-Mart goes, so too does the market

John Heinzl
The Globe and Mail
Wednesday, November 14, 2007                       [back to top] 

When Wal-Mart speaks, the stock market listens. There is perhaps no better gauge of the consumer's mood or of the overall health of the U.S. economy than the world's biggest retailer.

So when Wal-Mart Stores Inc. came out with better-than-expected results for the third quarter yesterday, raising hopes that the holiday season might not be such a washout after all, Wall Street went on a buying spree that would make the most ardent Christmas shopper proud.

Posting its biggest advance in nearly two months, the Dow Jones industrial average leaped 319.54 points, or 2.5 per cent, to 13,307.09, as all but two of the 30 Dow members rose. For its part, Wal-Mart climbed 6.1 per cent for its biggest gain in more than five years.

But the surge of the discount chain, whose renewed focus on low prices is paying off in higher sales, wasn't the only reason investors were cheering yesterday. Financial stocks also rallied as investors hoped - prayed might be a more accurate word - that the worst of the subprime crisis may be over.

Citigroup's battered stock, hammered by billions of dollars worth of subprime-related writedowns, jumped 6.9 per cent for the biggest gain on the Dow, followed by JPMorgan Chase, up 6.3 per cent.

Among other financials, Goldman Sachs Group gained 8.5 per cent after saying it doesn't plan any big writedowns on mortgage-related assets. Merrill Lynch rose 7.1 per cent and Bear Stearns added 5.6 per cent.

Even Bank of America rose, despite saying it expects to write down $3-billion of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) in the fourth quarter. The 5.2-per-cent gain in Bank of America reflects a belief that the losses are manageable for the bank, and that the stock - which had tumbled 15 per cent in recent weeks - had already discounted the bad news.

It was a "huge, broad-based rally," said Al Goldman, chief market strategist at A.G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis. And "financial stocks were leaders."

The rally also spread to technology stocks, reversing several days of steep losses on concern that a slump in the financial industry would curtail sales of computer-related gear.

Apple jumped 11 per cent - its biggest gain in more than a year - after China Mobile said it's in discussions to sell the iPhone.

The good cheer spilled over to Canada, pushing the benchmark S&P/TSX composite index up 100.18 points or 0.74 per cent to 13,705.14.

The biggest contributors to the index's gain were the biggest losers of Monday's 265-point drop - namely Research In Motion and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan. Yesterday, they rose 8.2 per cent and 7.6 per cent.

Relief over the extent of subprime-related losses also figured in Bay Street's advance.

Royal Bank was the third-biggest contributor to the S&P/TSX's gain, rising 3.1 per cent, after saying it expects a pretax charge of about $360-million on subprime CDOs and mortgage-backed securities.

Bank of Nova Scotia, meanwhile, said it will take a fourth-quarter writedown of $190-million relating to investments in asset-backed commercial paper and structured credit instruments. The stock rose 1.3 per cent.

On Wall Street, another contributor to the advance was Home Depot, which jumped 2.3 per cent even after profits fell sharply from a year ago and the company cut its full-year outlook.

That goes to prove one thing: When Wall Street is in the mood to rally, there's no point getting bogged down by the details.

© The Globe and Mail

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Wal-Mart shrugs off US gloom

World's largest retailer beats expectations but suggests hard-pressed US consumers will pinch pennies this Christmas

Rhys Blakely
November 13, 2007                            [back to top] 

Wal-Mart reported better-than-expected third-quarter profits, suggesting that the world’s largest retailer has so far avoided ill effects from the US housing slowdown and soaring oil prices.

The budget group, which owns Asda in the UK, reported a quarterly profit of $2.85 billion, up 7.9 per cent from the same period a year earlier and beating analyst forecasts. Same-store sales for the quarter not including petrol rose 1.5 per cent.

The shares were up 6.1 per cent as UBS reiterated a buy rating. "We believe [Wal-Mart] is well positioned for further profit improvement given the performance in the third quarter," analyst Neil Currie wrote to clients.

Revenues grew 8.8 per cent to $90.88 billion, about three quarters of which came from the US.

Related Links Wal-Mart shaken as shoppers run out of money Wal-Mart to confront investor wrath Wal-Mart court battle Lee Scott, the Wal-Mart president and chief executive, suggested the group would look to compete by using its scale to undercut rivals as the Christmas quarter approaches.

“During the Christmas and holiday season, our price leadership position will benefit both our customers and the company. We have set the stage for a successful fourth quarter,” he said.

Asda sounded a less confident note. It said that third-quarter sales had grown in the low single digits, but warned that consumer confidence in the UK remains “fragile” with rising mortgage rates starting to impact consumer spending.

Wal-Mart’s performance helped boost Wall Street. In midmorning trading in New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 108.6 points, or 0.84 per cent, to 13,096.2.

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Wal-Mart's Good Results Won't Excite Investors

Tom Van Riper,
11.13.07                                                [back to top] 

By all measures, Wal-Mart is doing pretty well. Wall Street doesn't care.

With reason. Despite about a billion dollars a day in revenue, Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ) just isn't a growth company any more, and investors don't like it. Since February 2003, just before the onset of the latest bull market, Wal-Mart's shares have fallen 8% while the Dow and S&P 500 indexes almost doubled.

Tuesday, the company posted third-quarter earnings of $2.86 billion, an 8% gain that beat Wall Street's expectations. Wal-Mart earned 70 cents per share, up from 62 cents per share in the same period a year ago. The 70 cents includes an after-tax gain equal to 1 cent per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had forecast earnings of 67 cents per share on revenue of $91.67 billion.

Wal-Mart had revenue of $91.95 billion in the period ending Oct. 31, up 8.8 percent from $84.47 billion a year ago. In the fourth quarter, the company expects earnings between 99 cents per share and $1.03 per share. Earnings for the full year should be between $3.13 and $3.17, including a $40 million restructuring charge, the company said. Analysts project quarterly earnings per share of $1.02 and full-year profit of $3.09 per share.

Not bad. But don't expect much more than yawns on Wall Street.

It's not like Wal-Mart isn't trying. Over the past couple of years, the company has experimented with everything from upscale items to new locations in urban areas. The efforts mostly flopped--consumers just don't turn to Wal-Mart for nice clothes and expensive plasma televisions, and the company has made little political headway in union-heavy cities. Culture clashes with European and Asian shoppers keep overseas efforts spotty. The company pulled out of South Korea and Germany last year.

As the pharmacy sales growth shows, getting back to basics may be a smarter bet. With expansion plans tapped out past 3,910 Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores, analysts applaud efforts to extract more profits by sprucing up current stores with better lighting and wider aisles. Why? The anti-Wal-Mart ruckus is confined to urban areas, so getting traditional customers in rural and suburban towns to continue to come out by giving existing stores a face-lift may help. Not upgrading the shopping experience risks customer defections to the likes of Target (nyse: TGT - news - people ) and Costco (nasdaq: COST - news - people ).

Ultimately, the company is valued by the return it generates from its assets. So slower square-footage growth combined with store improvements designed to keep current customers shopping longer may be just what the doctor ordered.

-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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WAL-MART WATCH                                    [back to top] 

WAL-MART POSTS 3RD QUARTER PROFITS; FUTURE REMAINS UNCERTAIN

Wal-Mart cautious on holiday earnings [CNN Money] Wal-Mart Stores posted better-than-expected third-quarter earnings Tuesday but offered a cautious outlook about the fourth-quarter, which includes the all-important holiday shopping period. The world's largest retailer earned $2.9 billion, or 70 cents a share, from continuing operations, up from $2.6 billion, or 62 cents a share.

Flickinger Says Wal-Mart Is No Longer a Growth Company: Audio [Bloomberg News] Burt Flickinger, managing director of Strategic Resource Group, talks with Bloomberg Ken Prewitt about challenges facing Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Wal-Mart Needs A Plan [Forbes] Despite about a billion dollars a day in revenue, Wal-Mart just isn't a growth company any more, and investors don't like it.

Wal-Mart Profit Rises After It Offers More Discounts [Bloomberg News] Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said quarterly profit rose more than analysts estimated and boosted its full-year earnings forecast after luring customers with holiday discounts. Wal-Mart shares rose 3.3 percent in early U.S. trading. "We believe we are well-positioned to win in this environment,'' Chief Executive Officer H. Lee Scott said on a recorded call today."

Wal-Mart's Net Rises 7.9% On Higher Profits in U.S. [Wall Street Journal] Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said its third-quarter net income grew 7.9% on higher profits at U.S. stores. The company also raised its outlook for fiscal 2008 earnings.

Wal-Mart posts profit surprise [Marketwatch] The world's largest retailer reported net income of $2.86 billion, or 70 cents a share, for the three months ended Oct. 31, up from $2.65 billion, or 63 cents, earned in the year-earlier third quarter.

Wal-Mart Results Lift Stock Futures [Associated Press] Wall Street looked to rebound on Tuesday after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. posted better-than-expected earnings and hinted that consumer spending might be stronger than expected going into the holiday shopping season. The world's largest retailer reported results that surpassed Wall Street projections. The results also showed that heavy discounting during the quarter did not hurt margins, which the company said bodes well for the fourth quarter.

WAL-MART AND HEALTH CARE

A Health Plan for Wal-Mart: Less Stinginess [New York Times] For much of the last decade, the retailing behemoth Wal-Mart Stores has been associated with stingy health care as much as low prices.Across the country, politicians and labor groups derided the company’s health plans for their high expense and bare-bones coverage. Two states, California and Maryland, even passed laws demanding, in effect, that the company spend more on employee health benefits...So now, after spending two years seeking advice from everyone from Bill Clinton to executives at Starbucks, Wal-Mart is overhauling its health plans.

The Public Face of Wal-Mart’s Health Care Program [New York Times] For much of the last decade, labor groups and state governments pilloried the health care Wal-Mart offered its 1.4 million workers and the executives who oversaw it...What follows are brief excerpts from a lengthy interview with Ms. Dillman, conducted in her office near Wal-Mart’s headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., in October.

WAL-MART COULD BENEFIT FROM SLOWDOWN

Wal-Mart may gain market share as economy slows, Goldman says [Bloomberg News via Asbury Park Press (New Jersey)] Wal-Mart Stores Inc. rose the most in a month after Goldman, Sachs & Co. said the world's biggest retailer may take business from rivals as a slower economy drives customers to its lower-priced goods. Wal-Mart "typically gains share in a slowing consumer environment," analysts led by Adrianne Shapira wrote in a note to investors. That may help Wal-Mart reclaim sales lost last year when the company's "strategy waffled and skewed toward trendy, higher-priced goods."

IS WAL-MART DECEIVING AMERICANS WITH NEW AD CAMPAIGN?

Does Wal-Mart really save families $2,500 each year? [Blogging Stocks] Wal-Mart instituted a new customer slogan this year: "Save Money. Live Better." Although it was intended to reinforce the retailer's position that it helps families in an age of increasing prices and general inflationary pressure, much of the public didn't get the memo, apparently.

RECALLED TOYS STILL BEING PROMOTED BY WAL-MART?

Recalled toys make it into Wal-Mart's Holiday Guide [KHON 2 (Hawaii)] Parents shopping for their kids this Christmas have to make their list and check it twice. The growing number of recalls has made it a huge challenge. Two toys recently pulled for safety concerns even fell through the cracks of a major retailers' holiday ad campaign

WAL-MART IN MEXICO: SHARES DROP AS NEW BANKS UNDERCUT COMPETITION

Walmex's decline leads bolsa lower [Houston Chronicle] The bolsa index dropped Monday 972.96 to 28,185.90, the lowest since Aug. 16. Shares of Wal-Mart de Mexico fell 2.3 percent to 38.09 pesos after the analysts removed the company from their list of 15 preferred Latin American shares.

Wal-Mart Bank in Mexico Undercuts BBVA, Citigroup [Bloomberg News] Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, made its first foray into banking, opening branches in Mexico and undercutting fees at the biggest local lenders, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA and Citigroup Inc. WAL-MART FALLS SHORT ON RESPONSIBLE EMPLOYMENT

It pays to be socially responsible [National Post (Canada)] When it comes to employee relations, Costco gets CSR but Wal-mart doesn't. Costco pays a decent wage, has a good benefits program and invests in employee development. Wal-mart views these as needless costs.

WAL-MART FILM PREMIERES IN CANADA

Wal-Mart Nation [CBC] Wal-Mart Nation is an hour long, documentary journey through the complex and fascinating world of the international anti-Wal-Mart movement.

MALAYSIA SITE FIGHT: WAL-MART NOT COMING TO MALAYSIA AFTER ALL?

Wal-Mart may not be coming to Malaysia [The Edge Daily (Malaysia)] It looks like the US-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc, which was initially reported as planning to set up operations in Malaysia, may not be coming soon since there was no such application from the world’s largest retailer in the first place.

TEXAS SITE FIGHT: IN COURT TODAY

Fight Over Proposed Wal-Mart Goes to Court [KLBJ 590 (Texas)] A group protesting the re-development of Northcross Mall into a Wal-Mart Supercenter plans to fight the city of Austin in court today.

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Mass Layoffs? In Booming China?

Shu-Ching Jean Chen,
11.13.07                                                [back to top] 

HONG KONG - Looking at the latest wave of mass layoffs made by China’s locally owned and multinational corporations alike, you wouldn’t know the country is in the midst of an unprecedented economic boom.

China’s largest telecommunications equipment maker, Huawei Technologies, has proposed dismissing more than 5,000 employees. Last month, Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ) laid off 110 staff in its global procurement center in Shanghai. At the same time, mass layoffs were reported from across the country, from angry workers at a kindergarten in Beijing to hundreds of teachers recently dismissed in Shenzhen and many more at local private enterprises. That follows earlier actions taken in August by the nation’s largest television station, China Central Television, which sent home 1,800 of its temporary employees, making up 20% of its workforce, and in July by South Korea’s LG Electronics (other-otc: LGEAF - news - people ), which after a 14-year presence in the country retrenched, lopping off 11% of its China head count.

What’s going on? Earlier, such layoff announcements looked like isolated incidents. As trickles turned into tidal waves, China’s media and analysts started to find a common denominator in these mass layoffs, pinpointing the high-risk groups: certain temporary workers, whom employers now must sign on at a greater cost, and staff that have served long tenures, who will soon receive almost ironclad terms of employment, all thanks to a new national labor law, effective January 1, 2008.

The new law, which threatens to raise the cost structure of many companies operating in China, is also blamed for the decision this week by the world’s fourth-largest digital camera maker, Japan’s Olympus (other-otc: OCPNY - news - people ), to locate a new production plant in Vietnam rather than adding to its existing two in China.

Proponents of the new law, including China’s Premier Wen Jiabao, point to the better protection it offers to the country’s long-disadvantaged low-income workers, whereas corporations and business owners are concentrating on the increased difficulty and higher cost of any future downsizing initiatives.

The new labor law, passed in June after it spent three years in the drafting stage, dictates that employers provide employees that have worked ten consecutive years with the company a contract of permanent employment that would protect them from redundancies except under certain extreme circumstances spelled out in the legislation. Huawei and LG Electronics, not coincidentally, targeted for job cuts staff members who were approaching the ten-year limit.

Another big beneficiary of the new law will be long-term temporary workers, who currently are not covered by formal contracts. They should be hired as formal staff if they have signed temporary contracts with a company more than twice or if the duration of their temporary status exceeds ten years. Recent layoffs at CCTV and the Shenzhen schools involved workers falling under this heading.

The new law also introduces benefits such as mandatory employer-paid insurance for contracted employees, layoff compensation payouts to be pegged to inflation and new compulsory paid holidays to be given to Chinese laborers.

Corporate employers across the country are watching closely how other competitors respond to the new law as a guide as to what wiggle room they might have to protect their bottom lines, while wary employees are waiting to see whether they might be the next to go.

Hence, employees at state-owned or quasi-state companies are particularly pleased by the intervention by the nation’s powerful umbrella labor organization, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, in the situation at Huawei, a company growing in good part from the support of the People’s Liberation Army. In a dispatch issued on Saturday, the official Xinhua News Agency said Huawei must shelve its current layoff action and to seek approval from its company labor union as part of a compromise reached between the company and the nationwide union federation.

Employees previously dismissed by Wal-Mart and LG Electronics won’t be so lucky. Even though Wal-Mart last year took the unprecedented step of allowing labor unions to function within its China retail operations, its 1,000-member global procurement center in China, which operates as a separate unit, has not been unionized and thus would not be shielded from job dismissals. Former LG workers, though, have been seeking remedy in the form of arbitration from their local government labor bureau.

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Wal-Mart Needs A Plan

By Tom Van Riper,
Forbes
November 12th, 2007                          [back to top]  

By all measures, Wal-Mart is doing pretty well. Wall Street doesn't care.

With reason. Despite about a billion dollars a day in revenue, Wal-Mart just isn't a growth company any more, and investors don't like it. Since February 2003, just before the onset of the latest bull market, Wal-Mart's shares have fallen 8% while the Dow and S&P 500 indexes almost doubled.

Analysts expect the retail giant to post a 67-cent per-share profit on almost $92 billion in revenue when it reports Tuesday morning, compared to 62 cents and $84.5 billion in the same period a year ago. That's about 8% growth in revenue and profit. But unless there's a big surprise in the earnings, don't expect much more than yawns on Wall Street.

The company said same-store sales were up only 0.4% in October, despite holiday discounting. They project a 2% gain for November amid slowing apparel and home goods sales due to housing market problems and $3 gas. Toy sales got hit by safety recalls. The company also eliminated their layaway program.

A bright spot: The pharmacy business, where they broadened their cheap generic drug program, was a leader in October with double-digit sales growth.

It's not like Wal-Mart isn't trying. Over the past couple of years, the company has experimented with everything from upscale items to new locations in urban areas. The efforts mostly flopped--consumers just don't turn to Wal-Mart for nice clothes and expensive plasma televisions, and the company has made little political headway in union-heavy cities. Culture clashes with European and Asian shoppers keep overseas efforts spotty. The company pulled out of South Korea and Germany last year.

As the pharmacy sales growth shows, getting back to basics may be a smarter bet. With expansion plans tapped out past 3,910 Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores, analysts applaud efforts to extract more profits by sprucing up current stores with better lighting and wider aisles. Why? The anti-Wal-Mart ruckus is confined to urban areas, so getting traditional customers in rural and suburban towns to continue to come out by giving existing stores a face-lift may help. Not upgrading the shopping experience risks customer defections to the likes of Target and Costco.

Ultimately, the company is valued by the return it generates from its assets. So slower square-footage growth combined with store improvements designed to keep current customers shopping longer may be just what the doctor ordered.

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Recalled toys make it into Wal-Mart's Holiday Guide

By Tannya Joaquin ,
KHON 2 News
November 12th, 2007            [back to top] 

Parents shopping for their kids this Christmas have to make their list and check it twice. The growing number of recalls has made it a huge challenge. Two toys recently pulled for safety concerns even fell through the cracks of a major retailers' holiday ad campaign.

“Cool!,” said Avery Koomoa.

Something inside Wal-Mart's holiday guide immediately catches Avery's eye.

“Transformers!,” says the 7-year old.

5th grader Jeremy Stevens even knows what page to turn to for his toy of choice.

“Which one? This is my favorite part,” said Stevens.

It was two other ads that caught our eye. The Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Kitchen was recalled last week because of small parts separating.

“I heard that one on the radio I think. About small pieces kids choking on it,” said Avery’s father Ben Koomoa.

This one listed a "Top 12 Toy" also concerned us. It's for the Aqua Dots Super Studio, also pulled last week because chemicals inside are toxic. hey contain chemicals similar to the so-called Date Rape Drug.

Walmart Spokesman Kory Lundberg told KHON2, "Unfortunately, this book was printed and shipped prior to completion of the additional testing and the recalls of these two products."

Wal-Mart says toy safety is a priority and it's taken additional steps this year to test products and work with suppliers and our government on new standards.

If a manufacturer recalls a product, Walmart's spokesman says " we immediately remove it from shelves, our web site, and place a block on the item at our registers."

This season, parents won't only scramble to find the year's hottest toys, but also to keep the wrong ones out of their keiki's hands.

Inside Wal-Mart stores, there are fliers listing recalls in the toy section.

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Earnings Preview: Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Associated Press
11.12.07                                                    [back to top] 

NEW YORK - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reports earnings for the fiscal third quarter on Tuesday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period.

OVERVIEW: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (nyse: WMT - news - people ), the world's largest retailer, is focused on cutting prices and turning around its apparel and home segments. It launched a new ad campaign during the quarter focused on its low prices with the tagline "Save Money. Live Better."

In September, the company expanded its national $4 generic prescription drug program by about 10 percent, adding drugs for conditions including glaucoma, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, fungal infections and acne.

In August, Wal-Mart said it will step up testing and safety reviews of the toys it sells to reassure consumers after a series of recalls of Chinese-made toys over hazards to children.

Same-store sales grew 3.1 percent in August, 1.4 percent in September and 0.4 percent in October. Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance because it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

BY THE NUMBERS: Wal-Mart expects earnings from continuing operations in the third quarter to be between 66 cents and 69 cents per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect a profit of 67 cents per share on revenue of $91.77 billion.

ANALYST TAKE: JPMorgan analyst Charles Grom, who rates Wal-Mart "Neutral," said in a note to investors Monday that he expects earnings of 68 cents per share.

"Positive drivers include labor savings (as Wal-Mart realigns store staff to match sales rates), cleaner inventories (warmer weather benefited sales), and continued momentum with Sam's Club," he wrote. "Conversely, continued rollbacks likely hurt gross profit margin, while disappointing sales in higher margin categories (apparel and home decor) will negatively impact mix again."

Goldman Sachs (nyse: GS - news - people ) analyst Adrianne Shapira, who rates Wal-Mart "Buy," said Wal-Mart's focus on low prices is a clearer message than it had a year ago, when the company focused on trendier, higher-priced goods.

"We believe Wal-Mart re-establishing its productivity loop-based earnings model (lower prices to drive traffic/sales and lever expenses) is the right strategy for the right time as consumers tighten their belts," she wrote.

WHATS AHEAD: In October, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Chief Financial Officer Tom Schoewe told investors and analysts at a conference that sales growth will slow this fiscal year to 9 percent from nearly 12 percent the year before and then be between 5 and 8 percent the next two years. Schoewe said the company focused on using the cash flow generated by its U.S. and international stores more efficiently, including building fewer Supercenter stores and managing corporate costs better. Wal-Mart's annual square-footage growth will decline from 8.8 percent last year to around 6 percent this year and between 5 and 6 percent in the next two years, Schoewe said.

STOCK PERFORMANCE: The stock dropped 5 percent during the first three quarters of the fiscal year beginning Feb. 1, including a nearly 2 percent drop during the third quarter.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. 

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Wake Up Wal-Mart: Global Warming Regulation is Bad for Business

By Tom Borelli
Saturday, November 10, 2007                                [back to top] 

Wal-Mart needs to appreciate an observation made by Napoleon: “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”

At the recent U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Summit, Wal-Mart announced the company was forming a partnership with the Clinton Climate Initiative to develop and sell energy saving products for lower prices to cities. This announcement is further evidence that Wal-Mart’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies are damaging its business.

Wal-Mart believes it can use the concern about global warming to improve its public image. Accordingly, the company is disclosing its estimated environmental impact and promoting its actions to reduce its carbon footprint. By following this model of a CSR company, Wal-Mart hopes to earn public credit by playing an active role in being part of the “solution”.

The problem for Wal-Mart is its CSR strategy has blinded it from the reality that global warming alarmism and subsequent regulation is a colossal business risk. In the short term, the company will get some positive headlines for being “green” but in the long term, the impact of high-energy prices from global warming regulation will harm its business.

Unbelievably, Wal-Mart’s CSR strategy includes lobbying to increase its operating costs. Wal-Mart is demonstrating its “responsibility” in fighting global warming by supporting a cap-and-trade regulatory scheme to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

In 2006, Wal-Mart joined a number of other companies in a Senate hearing and urged Congress to establish mandatory emissions on carbon dioxide. At the hearing, Wal-Mart’s vice president of corporate strategy and sustainability said, “Because we see climate as a critical social issue and because we believe that greenhouse gases can be cost-effectively reduced throughout the economy, Wal-Mart would accept a mandatory cap-and-trade system to control greenhouse gas emissions.”

Since fossil fuels account for over 80 percent of U.S. energy supplies, cap-and-trade will drive energy prices significantly higher.

Because of its mammoth size, energy is a major driver of Wal-Mart’s operating expenses. It operates one of the largest truck fleets in the nation. In fact, according to its website, Wal-Mart owns almost 7,000 trucks that drive over 870,000,000 miles a year and consume an estimated 134,158,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

In addition, Wal-Mart is the largest private consumer of electricity in the U.S. Clearly, even a modest increase in energy prices will dramatically increase the operating cost of its business.

Importantly, higher energy prices will also harm its customers. In August, the company reported disappointing quarterly earnings that were partially attributed to higher gasoline prices that reduced consumer spending.

With oil prices approaching $100 a barrel, Wal-Mart’s customers will be squeezed even further. According to a recent story in the Wall Street Journal, the cost to heat a home in the northeast could more than double, “Between 2000 and 2005, the average cost in New England for a winter's supply of heating oil was about $900 a household. Last year, it hit a record $1,433 and this year it could reach $2,200, said Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association.”

Wal-Mart does recognize its energy liability and it is trying to reduce its energy consumption in its truck fleet and stores – that’s good business. However, these savings will be overwhelmed by a dramatic rise in energy prices resulting from global warming regulation. Even if the company obtains revenue from selling carbon credits, its customer’s purchasing power will be reduced.

Ironically, by acting “responsibly” Wal-Mart is negligent to its shareholders, employees and customers. Supporting regulations that will decrease their customer’s standard of living and add to its operating costs is an example of corporate irresponsibility.

A responsible company would first investigate the claims about man’s role in climate change and set a business course based on reality despite the prevailing notions of the liberal elite. Such an investigation would lead Wal-Mart to recognize the unproven relationship between carbon dioxide emissions and global warming. In this scenario, Wal-Mart would execute a completely different strategy: lobby for a national policy encouraging domestic energy exploration.

However, conducting this type of due-diligence is counter to the CSR movement whose philosophical underpinning is socialism.

Finally, it will only be a matter of time until the labor unions and environmental activists use Wal-Mart’s immense carbon footprint, which the company has graciously provided on its website, as an argument against building more superstores. In the U.S., its truck fleet emits 1,365,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide and its stores release over 15 million tons of carbon dioxide.

Prompted by its critics, many mayors will find it politically expedient to oppose construction of new superstores. With some mayors campaigning against bottled water to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, targeting Wal-Mart is a no-brainer.

It’s amazing that Wal-Mart’s critics have remained quiet so far. But then again, perhaps Wal-Mart’s critics are heeding Napoleon’s advice.

Thomas J. Borelli, PhD. is the editor of FreeEnterpriser.com, a shareholder activist and a senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research, a Townhall.com Gold partner. The opinions expressed are his own.

Be the first to read Tom Borelli's column. Sign up today and receive Townhall.com delivered each morning to your inbox. Sign up today!

Copyright © 2006 Salem Web Network. All Rights Reserved.

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Wal-Mart Is Directly Responsible for Deadly Toys

By Cliff Schecter,
Brave New Films
November 9, 2007                         [back to top] 

With their Chinese toy selection, Wal-Mart might save you a few cents while killing your kids. Heartwarming.

Retailers such as Wal-Mart put so much pressure on suppliers to produce cheap goods that health, environmental and labor protections get brushed aside. Wal-Mart is the nation's top importer of Chinese-made products. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) reports the giant retailer's reliance on cheap goods made in China has cost this country nearly 200,000 jobs since 2001.

The U.S. trade deficit with China reached a whopping $233 billion last year, and imports for Wal-Mart alone accounted for $27 billion-11 percent of the growth in the U.S. trade deficit with China since 2001.

Newman cites a new report from ILRF, which analyzes Wal-Mart's ethical standards and its effect on working conditions globally. Ethical Standards and Working Conditions in Wal-Mart's Supply Chain concludes that Wal-Mart has not invested the necessary resources or taken the necessary actions to ensure that its ethical standards program is actually enforced.

Yeah but their prices are a bit lower, so who cares if the cost is the lives of our kids, jobs, wages, healthcare and products that aren't crap.

Cliff Schecter blogs at Brave New Films.

© 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.

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Foolish Forecast: Wal-Mart Opens Its Doors

Rich Smith
fool.com
November 9, 2007                                [back to top] 

Savior of the penny-pinching housewife, bane of the small-town shopkeeper, and favorite customer to just about every factory in China, the world's biggest retailer is gearing up to report its fiscal third-quarter 2008 earnings numbers on Tuesday. Who are we talking about? Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), of course.

What analysts say:

Buy, sell, or waffle? Twenty-six analysts monitor the bully from Bentonville, three more than last quarter. Eighteen of them rate the stock a buy, seven more a hold, and one a sell. Revenue. On average, they're looking for sales to grow 9% to $91.72 billion. Earnings. Profits are predicted to rise 8% to $0.67 per share. What management says: Along with everyone else in Retail World, Wal-Mart reported its October sales yesterday, and the news was not good. Total sales rose 8.4% in October (versus October of last year) -- showing a deceleration from the year-to-date performance of 8.6% sales growth. And the most-watched statistic, same-store sales, showed a meager 0.7% gain for the month, or just half the rate that Wal-Mart had clocked year to date.

It was a miserable performance, but par for the course. According to media reports, the retail industry in general reported its worst October sales in 12 years. You couldn't throw a brick in a shopping mall without hitting a store that underperformed expectations. Among the big-name retailers, only a handful of firms bucked the trend, with Costco (Nasdaq: COST), BJ's (NYSE: BJ), and Target (NYSE: TGT) producing better-than-expected same-store sales growth of 9% 4.8%, and 4.1%, respectively.

What management does: Before you try to jump out a department-store window, though, remember that the long-term picture at Wal-Mart isn't nearly so bad. A retailer simply doesn't get to become the world's biggest retailer without knowing a thing or two about business. Take a gander at Wal-Mart's rolling margins. For more than a year of rough-and-tumble retailing, gross margins have stuck tight to the 24.2% level. Granted, the operating margin is starting to show signs of weakness, but on the bottom line, Wal-Mart's net has held up just fine.

Margins 4/06 7/06 10/06 1/07 4/07 7/07

Gross 24.0% 24.0% 24.2% 24.2% 24.2% 24.2%

Operating 6.0% 5.9% 5.9% 5.9% 5.9% 5.8%

Net 3.5% 3.2% 3.2% 3.2% 3.2% 3.4%

All data courtesy of Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's. Data reflects trailing-12-month performance for the quarters ended in the named months.

One Fool says: Wal-Mart's initiatives to further expand its pharmacy business with clinics and increase its $4 generic prescription drug selection may be the perfect antidote to lagging foot traffic in its stores.

Think about it. People on prescription drugs come back to the same place, again and again, for refills on their meds. If that place happens to be located in the middle of a Wal-Mart, it stands to reason that Wal-Mart's drug program will be putting more and more repeat buyers in its aisles. It's the exact opposite effect of the company's ill-considered foray into competing with Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) by renting DVDs by mail (which I argued at the time would give shoppers an incentive to stay away from Wal-Mart's stores, and which plan Wal-Mart subsequently abandoned). This time, the brilliant boys from Bentonville have a much better plan.

For more Foolishness:

The company initiated a slash-and-burn pricing strategy for the holidays. Some wonder if Wal-Mart's better than Target. There's no retreat in Japan for Wal-Mart.

Legal Information. ©1995-2006 The Motley Fool. All rights reserved.

 [back to top] 

Don't seal Wal-Mart tax filings, state urges

By David Ranii,
Reuters
November 9th, 2007                                [back to top] 

Wal-Mart's efforts to bar the public from seeing court documents filed in its tax battle with the Department of Revenue don't pass the First Amendment test, the state contends.

In court documents filed Wednesday, attorneys for the state argue that the First Amendment right of public access to documents filed in court can be overruled "only in unusual circumstances." And Wal-Mart, the state asserts, has failed to make its case that an exception should be made in this instance.

Wal-Mart sued the state last year, seeking a $30.2 million income tax refund and arguing that it was overcharged by the state. The state counters that the retailer used tax shelters to obscure its "true earnings" in North Carolina.

Last week, after The Wall Street Journal posted files from the court dispute online, Wal-Mart filed a motion in Wake County Superior Court that sought to seal future filings, shielding them from public view. Documents already filed wouldn't be affected.

Posting the documents on the Web creates "unreasonable and undue annoyance" to Wal-Mart in the midst of its legal battle with the state, Wal-Mart argued in seeking to have future files sealed. The company maintained that the outcome of the case shouldn't be swayed by "outside forces."

Those reasons aren't good enough, the state contends.

The state also contends that a federal appeals court has ruled that plaintiffs must show that sealing documents would serve an important government interest, which Wal-Mart failed to show.

The public's right to review the court file in a serious dispute that involves the world's largest retailer "is obvious," the state argues.

A hearing date for the issue has not been scheduled.

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Toy Beads Sicken 7 More Children in US

By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER
Associated Press
11.09.07                                                        [back to top] 

WASHINGTON - Seven more U.S. children were sickened after ingesting Chinese-made toy beads that were recalled earlier this week because of a toxic chemical coating, the government said Friday.

The reports of the sickened children, six of whom were hospitalized, came from at least five states: Texas, Delaware, New Hampshire, Illinois and Utah, according to a spokeswoman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The agency recalled the Spin Master Aqua Dots toy Wednesday after two children were knocked unconscious, and then hospitalized, by eating beads covered with a chemical that metabolizes into the compound gamma hydroxy butyrate - the so-called date-rape drug.

The compound can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death.

CPSC spokeswoman Julie Vallese said the agency received reports on Thursday and Friday of seven additional children sickened by the product, bringing the total to nine. Product recalls frequently spur additional reports of harmed consumers, she said.

One of the first original cases that spurred the recall, involving 20-month old Jack Esses, originated in Arkansas.

The recall covers 4.2 million of the Aqua Dots toys, which consist of colored beads that can be arranged into designs and then fused together when sprayed with water.

The agency received its first report of a sickened child Monday and ordered stores to pull the toy two days later, Vallese said.

The CPSC follows up with retailers to ensure they are no longer selling a recalled product by visiting stores and performing Web surveillance, she said.

The CPSC also reaches out to auction Web sites and second-hand stores to ensure they don't resell the goods, she added.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (nyse: WMT - news - people ) said Thursday that it has directed its stores to remove the toys from shelves and has placed a stop on the products at its cash registers to prevent their sale.

Consumers are encouraged to return the toy to its distributor, Toronto-based Spin Master, Vallese said, which will provide a replacement toy.

The toys are manufactured in China for Australia-based Moose Enterprises, which sells them in 40 countries. Australian officials pulled them off the shelves Tuesday after three children there were hospitalized after swallowing the beads.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Commission rejects plan by Wal-Mart

By Danny Bernardini
11/09/2007                                [back to top] 

Citing inconsistent staff reports and a fear for public safety, a county commission Thursday night shot down a proposal for a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Suisun City. The Solano County Airport Land Use Commission voted 5-2 that the environmental documents for the store were not consistent with Travis Air Force Base Land Use Compatibility Plan (TALUCP).

"Public safety is the issue,"commission chairman John Foster said before the vote. "It should be a unanimous decision based on the charter."

Commissioners heard reports from Solano County staff, Suisun City staff and managers, legal teams for Wal-Mart and more than an hour of public comment before voting against the project.

The proposed project would include 230,000 square feet of commercial space including the 215,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter, plus a fuel station with mini-mart, an 8,000-square-foot sit-down restaurant or commercial use site and parking on a 20.8-acre site.

At issue was how many people would occupy the store, to be located at the northwest corner of Highway 12 and Walters Road. The TALUCP calls for no more than 300 people per acre on the site and no more than an average of 75 people indoors per acre.

County staff maintained, that by using a formula of 1.5 people per automobile and taking into account how many parking spaces were in the lot, that only 70.2 people per acre would occupy the store at a time. Staff said their calculations took into account that every parking lot space would be occupied. Much of the commissioners' discussions centered around how the number of people per car was estimated. Foster had several issues with the calculations of shoppers, and cited numerous news articles that showed crowds of up to 2,000 people at special events or sales.

"I'm suspect of how this 1.5 was created," Foster said. "We should be counting people, not parking spaces."

The issue will now return to the City Council of Suisun City.

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Wal-Mart 401(k) plan under investigation

PR Newswire
November 8th, 2007                                [back to top]

Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announce that it is investigating Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ("Wal-Mart" or the "Company") concerning the investment options being offered to the participants in the Wal-Mart Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plan (the "Plan") and whether Plan administrators breached their fiduciary duties to Plan participants in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. The investigation concerns whether administrators of the Plan have prudently and loyally managed the Plan, the fees and expenses pertaining to the various investment options offered to Plan participants, and the bases for the selection of those investment options for the Plan.

If you are a participant in the Wal-Mart Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plan and have information or would like to learn more about these claims, please contact Howard Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020 by telephone at (215) 638-4847, Toll-Free at (888) 638- 4847, or by email to howardsmithlaw@hotmail.com.

If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this Notice or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020, by telephone at (215) 638-4847, Toll-Free at (888) 638-4847, 

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Dangerous Mistakes Being Made At Wal-Mart Pharmacies

By Ginger Allen ,
cbs11tv.com
November 8th, 2007                                 [back to top]

You're in pain and you need a prescription filled, so you take it to your neighborhood pharmacy and assume you're going to leave with the right medication. It's something we've all done, but CBS 11 Investigator Ginger Allen found serious mistakes being made at some very popular local pharmacies.

A trip to a popular local pharmacy only made conditions worse for Richard Behney of Tarrant County. Richard was having back pain, and went to the doctor. He left with a prescription and headed to the Wal-Mart pharmacy on Mc Cart? Avenue in Fort Worth. “I loved the idea of going to Wal-Mart and getting a $4 prescription filled,” Richard said.

But, shortly after beginning the medication, Richard noticed he wasn't getting any better. “I had taken 29 tablets before one night I just went in and picked up the bottle and looked at it, and said whoa, this isn't me. Nothing here is me,” he added.

Richard's doctor prescribed Meloxicam, an anti-inflammatory medication and instructed him to take it once a day. But he ended up with a prescription for Hydralazine, which is a blood pressure medication. The instructions for that prescription said to take it twice a day. When Richard looked closer he noticed the prescription was actually for a woman named Christina. Richard told CBS 11 News, “The drug is different, the doctor is different, everything. The medication is different.”

As a result of taking the wrong medication, Richard suffered a severe allergic reaction. His legs and arms began to break out. His feet started to swell and a surgical scar began to open. “My life has really been upside down. I've just gone from one bad thing into another thing,” he said. Richard filed a complaint with the Texas State Board of Pharmacy. In August, the agency sent him a letter, saying it had opened a case. The agency's executive director, Gay Dodson says those kinds of mistakes are dangerous. According to Dodson, “If you give them the wrong drug, at the wrong strength and if it's a drug that has an immediate action, there can be very bad results.”

The state investigation into what happened at the Wal-Mart on Mc Cart? Avenue is still ongoing. Wal-Mart told CBS 11 News, “Mistakes are rare, but even one is too many."

CBS 11 News has discovered this is far from the first potentially dangerous mistake at a local pharmacy in recent years.

In May, 2006 the pharmacy board fined a different Wal-Mart. It suspended the license of the Wal-Mart pharmacy on I-30 in Garland after a pharmacist dispensed the wrong dosage of medication to a five-month-old infant.

A similar punishment was handed down in February, 2006 to the CVS pharmacy on Hedgecoxe Road in Plano. There, a pharmacist dispensed the wrong medication to a seven-month-old.

The Walgreen's in the 11000-block of East Northwest Highway in Dallas was fined and its license suspended in May of 2006, after a pharmacist made multiple mistakes. Dodson has advice for consumers.

She says, “If the drug is a different color, if it's a different shape, if something looks wrong or it's not what the doctor told you what you were getting, stop and ask the pharmacist. Ask them to check and double check."

Richard Behney wished he had taken a closer look at the prescription he was handed. He's still suffering the lingering effects of taking the wrong medication.

Walgreen's says the pharmacist in question at the East Northwest Highway location is no longer employed with the company.

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Wal-Mart China Responds To Staff Reduction

ChinaRetailNews.com
November 8, 2007                               [back to top]

In response to media reports that Wal-Mart's Global Outsourcing Center will eliminate more than 200 staff, including about 100 from China, Dong Yuguo, public relations director of Wal-Mart China, says that Wal-Mart's reduction of staff has nothing to do with the upcoming Labor Contract Law of China and Wal-Mart's outsourcing in China won't be affected as a result of this law.

Dong says that Wal-Mart's Global Outsourcing Center in Shenzhen is indeed reducing staff and a total of 250 employees from China, Singapore, Turkey, the Philippines and Sri Lanka have been involved, including 110 staff from the company's four outsourcing branches in Shenzhen, Shanghai, Putian and Dongguan. Dong says that they began planning the staff reduction a few months ago and did so just to optimize the company's outsourcing system and to avoid a waste of resources. He says that while reducing the staff, Wal-Mart has created more than 100 new jobs and it will do its best to compensate the staff affected in the reduction.

However, some employees from Wal-Mart have disclosed to local media that Wal-Mart has acted without logic during the staff reduction. They say that Wal-Mart has required the staff involved to hand over their work immediately on the same day when they were given the notice to leave and stop the use of their credit cards and employee cards which Wal-Mart offered previously provided them.

Legal experts quoted in local media say that Wal-Mart has violated China's new Labor Contract Law at least on procedures, for, according to the existing Chinese Labor Law, companies can't remove employees except for economic reasons or major changes in operations which result in difficulty in implementing the labor contract.

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Wal-Mart Posts Weak Sales Growth; Other Retailers Expecting the Same

By KEVIN KINGSBURY,
Wall Street Journal
November 8th, 2007                              [back to top]

Retailers are posting a second-straight month of weak sales growth for October, many missing expectations, with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. highlighting the trend with a 0.4% increase.

Unseasonably warm weather for much of the period held back the purchase of colder-weather goods. Complicating that was surging crude-oil prices, which have found their way to gasoline pumps the past several weeks, and sinking consumer confidence amid the continued fallout from the summer's credit crunch and its impact on the housing market. Wal-Mart saw flat U.S. same-store sales at its namesake chain, while Sam's Club had a 2.7% increase, excluding fuel sales. Wal-Mart last month projected total same-store sales to be flat to up 2%.

The company on Thursday noted "solid" Halloween sales at Wal-Mart stores, but cold weather-related products struggled.

The retail giant started October by kicking off its holiday pricing strategy earlier than ever, a move than might have been pushed along by concerns over consumer spending. Following that was price cuts on more than 15,000 items, 20% more than last year, and starting "Black Friday" prices three weeks before the actual day.

Despite potential impacts to profit margins from those October price moves, Wal-Mart last month raised its fiscal third-quarter earnings view by 4 cents a share. Going ahead, the company sees November U.S. same-store sales flat to up 2%.

Wal-Mart has been posting weak same-store-sales growth for several years due to a number of issues, including economic ones as well as cannibalization of sales by new stores from existing ones. Through October, Wal-Mart's same-store sales for fiscal 2008 increased 1.4% in the U.S., versus 2.3% a year earlier. Growth for all of fiscal 2007 ended up at 2.1%, the company's weakest ever.

Sam's Club rival Costco Wholesale Corp. reported a stronger-than-expected 9% rise in October same-store sales, with a 7% increase domestically, two percentage points of which was due to rising gasoline prices. Same-store sales surged 17% internationally because of the slumping dollar; excluding that, the increase would have been 4%.

Outside of the still-strong drug stores, discount stores were projected to be the best performing sector for October, with apparel chains expected to see slightly lower same-store sales due to weakness at Gap Inc. and meager growth anticipated at teen retailers and department stores.

Gap, despite posting a bigger-than-expected 8% drop in same-store sales, sees third-quarter earnings of 28 cents to 30 cents a share, above analysts' expectations.

Limited Inc. -- parent of Victoria's Secret -- posted a 6% drop in same-store sales last month, versus projections for a 1.6 decline.

High-end department store operator Nordstrom Inc. which has consistently been a strong performer, posted a surprise 2.4% drop in same-store sales. Macy's Inc., posted a 1.5% decline, below its forecast of down 1% to up 2%. Teen retailers had a mixed performance.

Zumiez Inc. late Wednesday posted lower-than-expected growth in October and said fiscal third-quarter and fiscal-year earnings would fall short of analysts' expectations. Thursday, Wet Seal Inc. reported a wider than anticipated 5.4% decline in same-store sales and projected a third-quarter net loss.

On the other hand, Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. slightly increased its quarterly earnings forecast despite posting a surprise drop in October same-store sales. Aeropostale Inc. beat expectations with a 3% gain and also boosted its earnings view.

Meanwhile, Chico's FAS posted a 11% sales slide and projected third-quarter earnings below analysts' mean estimate. Also, Stein Mart Inc. forecasted a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss. Department store Bon-Ton Stores Inc. slashed its fiscal-year earnings outlook.

The Thomson Financial Same Store Sales Index was projected to rise 2% in October, versus last year's growth of 3%. Excluding Wal-Mart, the index was seen increasing 2.7%, compared with 2006 growth of 4.9%.

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One of Wal-Mart’s Top Picks: Aqua Dots

By Tim Hanrahan ,
Wall Street Journal
November 8th, 2007                                   [back to top]

Last month, Wal-Mart named its 12 top toy picks for this holiday season. On the list were Spider-Man action figures, Elmo, a games based on “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader” and various other toys. And, unfortunately, the “Aqua Dots Super Studio,” which it said combines “creativity and crafting to create multiple designs — just add water!”

In the company’s Oct. 1 press release announcing the picks, a company official is quoted as saying: “You really can’t go wrong with any of these toys.” Indeed, the Aqua Dots — and the overseas version — were expected to be a popular toy this Christmas. Now, however, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said it plans to launch a recall of four million Aqua Dots toys after children in the U.S. and abroad fell seriously ill after swallowing the toy’s beads.

The toys are made in China, and the recall deals another blow to parents’ confidence in the toy industry just as the Christmas shopping season is getting under way. As of Wednesday night, the toy was listed on Wal-Mart’s Web site at $16.86, rolled back from $24.87, but was no longer available for purchase.

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Discount Chain Sales Results for October

Associated Press
11.08.07                                       [back to top]

NEW YORK - Summary of October same-store sales results for discount category store chains, with percentage increase or decrease over the same month last year.

BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. (nyse: BJ - news - people ) 4.8 pct

Costco Wholesale Corp. (nasdaq: COST - news - people ) 9 pct

Family Dollar Stores Inc. (nyse: FDO - news - people ) 0 pct

Target Corp. (nyse: TGT - news - people ) 4.1 pct

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (nyse: WMT - news - people ) 0.4 pct

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Wal-Mart Sales Miss Forecasts

Associated Press
11.08.07                                        [back to top]

BENTONVILLE, Ark. - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Thursday its October U.S. same-store sales climbed 0.4 percent, missing Wall Street's expectations.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial predicted a same-store sales increase of 1.1 percent.

Wal-Mart Stores (nyse: WMT - news - people ) results were flat, while Sam's Club same-store sales increased 2.7 percent.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

For the year to date, same-store sales rose 1.4 percent, with Wal-Mart Stores edged up 0.7 percent and Same-Club same-store sales climbed 4.8 percent.

The company said it expects November same-store sales to be between flat and up 2 percent.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Tesco's Fresh & Easy: Have Wal-Mart, Costco, Met Their Match?

By Jane Wells
cnbc.com
07 Nov 2007                                     [back to top]

Tesco is an awful name for a company that sells food, don’t you think? Makes me think of Texaco, or Test-co, or something else that starts with “test” which I won’t mention here. Perhaps that’s one reason why you won’t see the name Tesco anywhere on the UK grocery giant’s long-awaited, very expensive entry into the U.S. market.

Tesco’s U.S. stores are called, “Fresh & Easy,” which sounds… fresh… and easy (also could be a great name for an online dating site).

Tesco has spent three years investigating how Americans shop and came up with a store concept it thinks solves the most unique dilemma it found here: we tend to shop at several stores to buy groceries because we can’t find everything we want in one place. Fresh & Easy hopes to be that one place.

In learning all this, the British research team--aware of the cutthroat nature of the U.S. grocery business--worked in a very James Bond-like fashion going store to store. No credit cards were used, everything was bought using bags of cash! They sometimes posed as Hollywood producers, or cafe owners. The whole thing smacked of a spy novel, or maybe more like NASA observing Martians. But after all that, the first six of 122 stores are opening Thursday, and I got an exclusive sneak peak inside.

So here’s what a Fresh & Easy store is like. It’s about the size of a Walgreen’s, small for a grocery store. It has an upbeat, lemon-lime paint scheme, but the layout is very simple and straightforward. Everything is pre-packaged and displayed on easy grab-and-go shelves. The food is very fresh, with few additives (watch out, Whole Foods), and it is all very reasonably priced.

Here’s what intrigues me about the layout. The stuff you most likely would want to grab quickly is right near the front—what a concept! These are items like produce or milk or prepared meals for the microwave. This is very different from your average supermarket, where you have to go all the way to the back to get milk so that you are forced to look at all kinds of tempting products along the way.

However, the overall Fresh & Easy store vibe is…plain. Which isn’t a bad thing, just different for those of us conditioned to viewing shopping as "an experience"--the flat-screen TV’s greeting us at Costco, the eye candy at Whole Foods (which I call “Grocery Disneyland”). Fresh & Easy screams “get your stuff quickly and go, because you’re a busy person!” Which I am!

Whether Americans will dump their Kroger-Costco-Whole Foods-Circle K-Trader Joe’s-Wal-Mart for Fresh & Easy remains to be seen. This is the land of brand loyalty, bred into us at a young age. I buy Starkist tuna because my mother bought Starkist tuna, and someday my kids will probably buy Starkist tuna, too. There's no Starkist tuna at Fresh & Easy.

There's a lot of Fresh & East tuna, which no one’s ever heard of. But then, there was a time when I had never heard of Whole Foods...or Costco. Now I couldn’t live without them. Or maybe I can.

© 2007 CNBC, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Wal-Mart to Pay Wis. for Overcharges

Associated Press
11.07.07                                                [back to top]

MILWAUKEE - Wal-Mart will pay the state of Wisconsin almost $90,000 for overcharging customers for bulk coffee and vegetables, the state announced Wednesday.

Inspectors for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection found 280 violations of weights and measures rules at nine Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ) stores canvassed last year. The inspectors checked a total of 40 Wal-Mart stores.

They found violations at stores in West Bend, Appleton, Oshkosh, Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, Manitowoc, Prairie Du Chien, Platteville and Rice Lake, the DATCP said in a news release.

The stores were charging customers for the weight of packaging when they bought bulk items such as coffee, broccoli and sweet potatoes, the DATCP said. State law requires stores to subtract the weight of packaging material when weighing food.

"In some cases, consumers were paying 21 cents too much for a bag of grind-it-yourself coffee," DATCP administrator Janet Jenkins said.

Consumers who believe they have been overcharged can call the DATCP at 1-800-422-7128.

A Wal-Mart spokeswoman did not immediately comment on the fine.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Opinion: Trade pacts have paved way for toxic toys

By Jesse Jackson,
Chicago Sun-Times
November 6th, 2007                                            [back to top]

Our children are at risk. Some of the Halloween buckets that children put their candy in were found to have levels of lead that massively exceed legal limits. So do the elongated vampire teeth that children put in their mouths. Twenty million toys marketed by Mattel, sold at Toys R Us and Wal-Mart, were recalled this summer for excessive lead and other dangers.

The reasons for this are clear, and are detailed in a new report from the Campaign for America's Future on "Toxic Trade." China now claims to make about 80 percent of all toys sold in the United States. Our imports from China are up nearly 4,000 percent over the last two decades. At the same time, the budget and staff of the Consumer Product Safety Commission has been cut in half over the last 25 years. It now has one full-time employee -- a guy named Bob -- tasked to test the tens of millions of toys imported into the United States.

Lead has been banned in U.S. toys for decades. But China is notorious for not enforcing safety or consumer or environmental standards. Companies such as Wal-Mart force their suppliers to relocate to China and elsewhere to get the cheapest labor and provide the cheapest products. Chinese labor unions, part of the state apparatus, have no way to protest poisonous production processes. The companies now admit that they don't adequately test the products they import. As the threat has gotten bigger, succeeding administrations have decimated regulatory budgets and staffs.

Most of the toys we purchase for our children are not tested at all, no matter how hard Bob works. When the Consumer Union tested toys that had not been recalled, it found that many had excessive levels of lead or other dangers.

This threat to our children is the direct result of conservative policies pursued by both parties. They have passed trade accords such as NAFTA or the WTO -- in which China is now a member -- which protect investors' rights but provide no protection for worker rights or consumer and environmental standards. And at the same time, they've allowed corporate lobbies to slash our regulatory budgets and staffs, while limiting the legal liability of companies for their suppliers.

Many parents are terrified. They want to know what to do. The United Steelworkers has launched a campaign to warn families about toxic toys and offers a test you can do on your own to see if the toys you've purchased are safe (www. stoptoxicimports.org). But as the Steelworkers union warns, the test is complicated and can produce false results. Clearly the government and the companies should be doing the testing. Our trade accords should mandate consumer and environmental standards. Global companies should be held responsible for their suppliers. Retailers should be liable if they sell toys that violate basic standards.

Yet amazingly, Nancy Nord, the acting head of the Consumer Product Commission, has told Congress she opposes legislation that would give her agency increased authority, resources and staffing. Why? Perhaps because Nord was a U.S. Chamber of Commerce lobbyist before joining the Bush administration. And the Washington Post reports that she's taken junkets paid for by corporate lobbies. Corporate cronyism and corruption is a signature of this administration -- but this time it is putting our children at risk. That's why the Campaign for America's Future has launched a petition to call for Nord to resign.

Americans have a right to assume the toys they buy their children this Christmas won't poison them. This administration should put ideology and corporate cronyism aside and get this done -- or we'll all be setting up laboratories in our basements.

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OSHA's Wal-Mart Investigation

By Pallavi Gogoi,
BusinessWeek.com
November 6th, 2007                                 [back to top]

The Labor Dept.'s Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has opened an investigation into a whistleblower complaint against Wal-Mart Stores (WMT). OSHA sent a letter to Chalace Epley Lowry, the employee involved, saying the agency is "notifying the party named in the complaint about the filing of the complaint" and "conducting an investigation into your allegations," according to a copy of the letter reviewed by BusinessWeek.

BusinessWeek wrote in June about Lowry (BusinessWeek.com, 6/13/07), an administrative assistant in the company's communications department, after she reported what she believed could have been insider trading by a senior executive. The executive was quickly cleared. But in the process, Lowry's identity was revealed to the executive. This resulted in her having to look for another position within the company, with no guarantee that she would get one.

Stressful Complaint It's unclear how strong Lowry's OSHA complaint is since she ultimately did find another job within Wal-Mart's legal department (BusinessWeek.com, 10/16/07). She has decided to pursue her complaint with OSHA because she contends Wal-Mart broke its own promise of confidentiality by revealing her identity, which caused her three months of extreme stress as she looked for a new job. She says she has been diagnosed with stress-induced angina, has separated from her husband, and has had her house foreclosed. "Wal-Mart has been very careful about the way it's handled me—there's been no loss of wages and I haven't been demoted," says Lowry. "Still, I think that I did the right thing and they did me wrong by disclosing my identity."

Wal-Mart declined to comment for this story. In the past, the company has said it revealed Lowry's identity only after she agreed to the disclosure. (Lowry says she was never given a choice.) Wal-Mart also said it decided to move Lowry out of the communications department only because she asked for the change.

A Political Issue The investigation comes amid a debate over the role of whistleblowers in American business. Many Democrats have argued that current whistleblower protection laws aren't strong enough, even in the wake of legislation passed after the accounting scandals at Enron and WorldCom. On Nov. 1, Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) introduced a new proposal to strengthen and standardize the laws. "Employees who expose illegal practices or safety violations benefit us all," says Woolsey. "But when they blow the whistle, they are often retaliated against. They are demoted, lose their jobs, and are blacklisted."

Whistleblowers frequently do not fare well after reporting what they believe to be wrongdoing. OSHA administers whistleblower protections under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was enacted July 30, 2002. In an article published in the latest issue of the William & Mary Law Review, Richard Moberly, an assistant professor of law at the University of Nebraska, writes that during the first three years, only 3.6% of the employees who filed Sarbanes-Oxley complaints with OSHA won. The agency fielded 491 employee complaints, resolved 361 of them, and only 13 times were the decisions in favor of the employees. "In the first three years after the statute's enactment, the act hasn't protected the vast majority of employees who filed a Sarbanes-Oxley retaliation claim," says Moberly.

OSHA's own, more up-to-date figures show somewhat better results. The agency says that from 2002 through Sept. 30, 2007, a total of 1,059 employees filed whistleblower complaints. Of the 1,032 cases handled so far, 728 complaints were dismissed and 138 were withdrawn. OSHA found 165 complaints, or 16%, in favor of the employee, of which 148 were settled and issued orders in 17 cases.

Identity Disclosure Lowry made her controversial complaint last spring when Mona Williams, Wal-Mart's vice-president for corporate communications, had asked her to make digital copies and send some papers that Lowry thought were stock-related. A few days later, Lowry found out that Wal-Mart was planning a $15 billion stock buyback, and she worried that Williams might have traded on insider information by exercising her stock options. Lowry was prompted to file her complaint with the company's ethics department, in part because of an orientation session she had when she started at Wal-Mart in January that emphasized corporate ethics.

Wal-Mart has said its ethics office investigated the matter and Williams was cleared the same day the complaint was filed. A spokesman for the company said in June that Lowry mistook a deferred compensation form for an options exercise request. Soon after she filed the complaint, however, Lowry's identity as the whistleblower was disclosed to Williams—the development now most in dispute. At that time, a distressed Lowry said it was impossible to remain in the communications department since Williams was effectively her boss, so she asked for a transfer.

Lowry says she should have cause for action because the company disclosed her identity, a potential form of retaliation. But that argument hasn't been tested yet, says Michael Kohn, general counsel at the National Whistleblower Center, a Washington (D.C.) group that reviews laws to ensure proper protection for whistleblowers.

Bryan Little, deputy assistant secretary at OSHA, declined to comment on the specifics of this case. However, he says: "If a person engages in an activity protected by the law, and if his or her employer takes an adverse employment action such as firing, demoting, transferring, or other adverse action and there is a nexus between the protected activity and the adverse action, retaliation may have occurred."

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Report: Wal-Mart won't interfere with Travis

By Ian Thompson
DAILY REPUBLIC                                                      [back to top] 

SUISUN CITY - Whether or not a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter in eastern Suisun City adversely affects Travis Air Force Base lands back before the Airport Land Use Commission on Thursday.

Solano County planners will assert the supercenter won't attract more people to the store than allowed by the Travis airport land use plan.

'We agree that it is consistent and that it will not harm Travis Air Force Base,' Suisun City Manager Suzanne Bragdon said of this latest report.

The retail giant wants to build a 227,000-square-foot supercenter on a 20.8-acre triangle of land just north of Highway 12 and just west of Walters Road. Plans also include a service station and a sit-down restaurant.

Initially, planners said the supercenter is consistent with Travis' airport land use plan despite a caveat that stated that during the holiday season it will attract more people to the store than is allowed.

Under the plan, the proposed Superstore can't have more than an average of 75 people per acre at any one time (averaged over the entire site), or 300 people per any single acre at one time.

Just before the commission's early October public hearing, planners recrunched the numbers and decided the supercenter violated the airport land use plan because of what they called a holiday season 'worst-case scenario.'

The new findings were presented just as the meeting started and angry Suisun City officials successfully demanded the public hearing be postponed to give them time to examine the new information.

Armed with studies from three different traffic-consulting firms, Suisun City fired back in late October arguing that the county overestimated how many people would be at the supercenter at any one time.

In response, the county staff recrunched their numbers a second time and now say that the Supercenter is indeed consistent with the Travis airport land use plan.

Wal-Mart opponents slammed the proposal at a Monday morning news conference, saying the superstore will encroach on the base and threaten its future.

'It would encroach on Travis in a negative way and would prompt the Air Force to move or reduce activity at the base,' Wal-Mart opponent Dwight Acey of Suisun City said.

Acey and others reiterated that the Supercenter would make Highway 12 more dangerous and bring blight to nearby neighborhoods.

Supporters say Wal-Mart will not threaten Travis or other businesses in Suisun City but attract more of the retail dollars Suisun City residents now spend in Fairfield.

If the commission agrees that the Superstore is consistent with the Travis airport land use plan, the Suisun City Planning Commission and the City Council could approve the project as early as January.

The Airport Land Use Commission meets at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Solano County Administration Center at 675 Texas St.

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Humidifiers sold at Wal-Mart, other stores recalled

By Julie Vorman,
Reuters
November 6th, 2007                            [back to top]

WASHINGTON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Some 84,000 humidifiers sold at Lowe's Companies Inc (LOW.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and other nationwide retailers were recalled because of water leaks that can be a fire hazard, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Tuesday.

The fans were made in China for the Hunter Fan Co, which has received four reports of water leaks, including one that resulted in a fire, the safety agency said.

The recalled items were sold under the name "CareFree Humidifier Warm Mist" for between $40 and $65 from September 2005 through February 2007, the government said.

Consumers should stop using the humidifiers and contact Hunter Fan to receive a free replacement or refund, the safety agency said.

Model numbers and photographs of the recalled humidifiers were posted on the agency's Internet site at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08064.html.

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Wal-Mart disputes number of layoffs

Bloomberg News
November 5, 2007                  [back to top]

Wal-Mart Stores, the largest retailer in the world, said Monday that a reorganization of its global purchasing center in southern China will result in 110 jobs being made redundant, rejecting a media report it plans to fire 1,200 people.

Wal-Mart's Global Procurement unit, based in Shenzhen city, "decided to reorganize some of its operations to realign some of the existing resources and use technology to enhance efficiency," the retailer's China spokesman, Jonathan Dong, said. Dong said the 1,200 number cited in a newspaper's report was "inaccurate."

Wal-Mart, which bought $18 billion of products from China in 2005, is aiming to get a third of its sales growth from outside the United States, as American sales slow.

Southwest Securities, a brokerage in the western China city of Chongqing, plans to become the latest of the securities firms in the nation to go public through a so-called back-door listing to bolster capital.

The company will conduct an "asset restructuring" with publicly traded Chongqing Changjiang River Water Transport, the operator of freight transportation said in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Semen Gresik, the second-largest cement maker in Southeast Asia by value, said it would spend about $1.5 billion to increase capacity by 38 percent in the next six years as demand for the material surges.

Sino Gold Mining, the owner of the second-largest gold mine in China, plans to start production at a second mine in China late next year after winning approval to develop the deposit.

The Jilin Development and Reform Commission issued the permit for the White Mountain gold mine, the company, based in Sydney, said.

Hyundai Steel, the second-largest steel maker in South Korea, said third-quarter profit rose 4 percent after it increased exports and product prices. Net income in the three months ended Sept. 30 rose to 102 billion won, or $113 million, from 97.8 billion won a year earlier, the company said. Sales climbed 27 percent to 1.75 trillion won.

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Roehm, Wal-Mart End Legal War

By Noreen O'Leary
November 05, 2007                               [back to top]

Former Wal-Mart marketing exec Julie Roehm said she would not pursue her wrongful termination lawsuit against the company, citing the financial costs involved. Now that Roehm has said she would not refile her suit, Wal-Mart said it would no longer pursue its litigation against her.

In August, a Michigan state judge threw out the case, filed there in December, saying the proper jurisdiction was Arkansas, headquarters of the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer. In March, Wal-Mart filed a counterclaim.

In a statement, Roehm said she is not receiving any money or compensation to settle her complaint to recover severance outlined in her contract.

"I thought that a settlement agreement would be reached within a few weeks. Instead, the lawsuit has expanded into other issues, and has become more difficult and financially draining than I ever imagined," Roehm said in her statement.

In addition to the costs involved, Roehm acknowledged that the decision reflects the fact that certain allegations she made against Minnesota businessman Irwin Jacobs and Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott were untrue. In May, Roehm had filed a counterclaim, alleging that Scott received "preferential prices" on a "a number of yachts" and "a large pink diamond for his wife" from Jacobs, whose Jacobs Trading Co. has exclusive rights to buy unsold Wal-Mart merchandise. Roehm alleged that Scott violated Wal-Mart's ethics policy. Wal-Mart had fired Roehm after it accused her of accepting gifts from DraftFCB during an agency review that later resulted in the agency's procurement of the business. Jacobs filed a defamation suit in response, a complaint he is now withdrawing.

Sources said Roehm, who is still living in Bentonville, originally filed her suit believing the employment laws were more favorable in Michigan, her former home state. Since her dismissal, she has been doing consulting and "weighing offers" for other full-time employment, sources said.

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Wal-Mart, Roehm Drop Lawsuits

By ANN ZIMMERMAN ,
Wall Street Journal
November 5th, 2007                                   [back to top]

A barrage of litigation triggered by the firing of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. marketing executive Julie Roehm has ended as all sides agreed not to pursue lawsuits against each other.

Ms. Roehm said she has decided not to press forward with a wrongful-termination suit against Wal-Mart, and she acknowledged that certain allegations she made about the retailer's relationship with Minnesota businessman Irwin Jacobs were inaccurate. In response, Mr. Jacobs said he plans to withdraw a defamation suit he had filed against Ms. Roehm. Wal-Mart said it will drop its countersuit against Ms. Roehm.

Wal-Mart fired Ms. Roehm last December. In a March court filing, the Bentonville, Ark., company accused Ms. Roehm of using company-paid travel to conduct an affair with a subordinate, and of accepting restaurant meals and pricey vodka from a company competing for Wal-Mart's advertising business. Ms. Roehm has denied the allegations.

In a May federal-court filing, Ms. Roehm fired back, alleging that Wal-Mart Chief Executive Lee Scott obtained from Mr. Jacobs "a number of yachts" and "a large pink diamond" at preferential prices. Mr. Jacobs's companies do a range of business with Wal-Mart, including selling it boats and buying its unsold goods. [Julie Roehm]

In August, a Michigan state judge dismissed Ms. Roehm's wrongful-termination suit against Wal-Mart, saying the case should have been filed in Arkansas.

In a statement Friday, Ms. Roehm said she will drop the case because the litigation was financially draining. She added that her decision was influenced by a "recent exchange of information between her lawyers and those for Wal-Mart and Irwin Jacobs, which explained the inaccuracy of certain allegations included in her legal filing, specifically allegations about Lee Scott and Mr. Jacobs."

In a statement he plans to release today, Mr. Jacobs said he will drop his defamation suit filed in Arkansas state court. "I am pleased Julie Roehm has finally come to her senses...and has publicly admitted she was wrong," Mr. Jacobs said. "I feel totally vindicated."

"Since Ms. Roehm is dropping all claims against the company, we will also drop our counterclaim," said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Mona Williams. "We are satisfied with the resolution and are ready to put this behind us and move on." Ms. Roehm said she received no settlement money from Wal-Mart.

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Wal-Mart Ad Executive Drops Lawsuit

By CHUCK BARTELS
Associated Press
11.05.07                                        [back to top]

A former Wal-Mart ad executive has decided to drop her breach-of-contract lawsuit against the world's largest retailer, saying that the lawsuit had become financially draining and more complex than she had expected.

"I just decided not to pursue it," Julie Roehm said in a telephone interview Monday. She wouldn't elaborate beyond a prepared statement that her lawsuit had wound up going beyond her effort to recover $1.5 million in severance pay.

She also acknowledged that allegations of ethical breaches she made in her original suit, which was dismissed, contained inaccuracies.

Roehm said the lawsuit brought a financial strain. Beyond that, Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ) detailed in court filings how Roehm and subordinate Sean Womack had an extramarital affair and showed favoritism toward an agency that was lobbying for Wal-Mart's account. The suit also accused Roehm and Womack of trying to find a job with the ad agency.

In August, a judge threw out Roehm's suit filed in Michigan, saying the matter should be heard in Arkansas, where Wal-Mart is based. With Roehm's decision to not refile, Wal-Mart spokeswoman Mona Williams said Monday the company would drop its countersuit against Roehm.

Roehm said she received no money from Bentonville-based Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer.

Roehm's statement also said information exchanged among Roehm's lawyer, Wal-Mart, and businessman Irwin Jacobs revealed "the inaccuracy of certain allegations" about Jacobs and Wal-Mart Chief Executive Officer Lee Scott.

Roehm's initial suit sought up to $1.5 million and alleged Wal-Mart breached its contract with her. Wal-Mart filed a counterclaim accusing Roehm of having an affair with her subordinate Sean Womack and of accepting gifts and otherwise showing favoritism toward an agency that was lobbying for Wal-Mart's account. The suit also accused Roehm and Womack of trying to find a job with the ad agency.

In May, Roehm claimed in another court filing that Scott violated the company's ethics policy by accepting trips and discounts on yachts and jewelry from Jacobs, a wealthy entrepreneur who does business with Wal-Mart. Both Wal-Mart and Jacobs denied all of Roehm's claims. Jacobs sued Roehm for defamation.

Roehm said she is content to drop the matter.

"I have decided to accept Wal-Mart's decision to terminate my employment and move on. I am not receiving any money or other compensation to settle my case," Roehm said in the release.

Jacobs, in a statement released to The Wall Street Journal, said he feels vindicated by Roehm's statement and that he'll drop his counterclaim against her.

Roehm departed Wal-Mart in December 2006 after less than a year with the world's largest retailer. Roehm had been brought on to help the company promote more high-end merchandise, a move the company has since backed away from.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Wal-Mart quadruples size of distribution center in
N China

chinaview.cn
2007-11-04                                    [back to top]

TIANJIN, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- An expanded distribution center for Wal-Mart in north China's Tianjin has been completed to meet the growing demand of the world's leading retailer's business in the Chinese market.

The expanded center in Tianjin's Beichen district, can handle 330,000 packages of goods, quadrupling the capacity of the original one, according to Gao Jian, a logistics and distribution officer at Wal-Mart.

The center is the second for Wal-Mart on the Chinese mainland. The other is in the southern coastal city of Shenzhen.

The Tianjin distribution center will supply goods to up to 90 Wal-Mart stores. Currently, it is responsible for supplying goods to 28 super centers and one Sam's club in north China.

The center in Tianjin, which was built in 2003, began to be expanded last year.

Wal-Mart has opened 91 stores on the Chinese mainland since its entry into China in 1996.

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Wal-Mart's Terrible Nintendo Wii Knock-Offs

Posted by Zonk 
Saturday November 03                                     [back to top]

MaryAlan writes "Wal-Mart is now selling an electronic LCD game in the kid's section that resembles a Wiimote so closely that even Wal-Mart employees can't tell them apart in a picture. But the games — made by ToyQuest out of L.A. — are complete and utter crap, to the point of being unplayable. Their only redeeming feature is that they look like the Nintendo Wii, which means Wal-Mart is relying on brand confusion to sell any of these things to unsuspecting customers. There is a gallery of photos online, so you can take a look at side-by-side pictures with a true Wiimote, down to the fake speaker on the front."

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Don't Buy Linux From Wal-Mart

By Sean Michael Kerner
November 2, 2007                            [back to top]

You can now buy a Linux PC at Wal-Mart! Woo hoo!

The only problem is that it's really more of a Google network PC that could easily be run on hardware that costs significantly less than $199.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm a big fan of the world's largest retailer. I shop at Wal-Mart all the time. The store often really does offer the lowest price you can get (love those Rollbacks!). I'm not so sure that's the case when it comes to running a bare-bones PC, however.

Computer hardware vendor Everex's new gPC is supposed to be a really inexpensive PC that could meet the basic needs of computer users. As my esteemed colleague Andy Patrizio reported earlier this week, the gPC comes loaded with Google's suite of applications -- such as Gmail, Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Google Calendar, Google Product Search, Google Blogger, YouTube, Google Maps, and Google News. Other free apps include Meebo for instant messaging, GIMP for image editing, Firefox, Xing Movie Player, RhythmBox, an iTunes substitute, Facebook, Skype and OpenOffice.org 2.2.

From a hardware point of view, the gPC is a mini-tower system that comes with a Via C7-D low-power x86 clone running at 1.5GHz. Sounds pretty snazzy for only $199, doesn't it?

The reality is that you can to do better.

If cost is your primary driver for choosing a low-end PC, let me give you a tip from my own personal archive. Pick up a PC from the trash -- literally or figuratively. I've actually done both.

There are countless millions of old PCs out there that never moved beyond the Windows 98 era. Microsoft has cast off support for Window 98, so those that still run that operating system -- and don't think that millions of people aren't -- are essentially running unprotected, insecure systems. Often, of those Win98 PCs, most are considered to be too slow to run Windows XP and are certainly too slow for Vista. What typically happens is that those older-but-still-workable machines end up in basements, on the curbside and ultimately in even worse fates -- in landfills.

They aren't too slow for Linux, though. Let's take a Pentium III 800 Mhz machine, for example. What was once a cutting-edge Intel CPU today is half the power of what Everex is offering. Still, many different flavors of Linux will easily install on such a system. In fact, I'm running Kubuntu 7.10 on such a machine right now, using it to write this very column.

How much did the system cost me? Not much. I got this particular system from someone that gave it away so they could upgrade to a higher power CPU just to run Vista.

Thanks to Google Apps, all you really need for basic computer needs is a PC that can connect to a broadband network and has a Web browser. Sure, YouTube video and Flash can consume system resources -- which is why I'm not recommending you use a Pentium 90MHz-based machine (though I do use one in my infrastructure for file sharing and Web hosting.) But for Web browsing, word processing and e-mail, you don't need much more power.

There are likely many orphaned older Pentium III and even Pentium II systems that exist in the limbo of not being up to snuff for Windows, and yet are not yet totally unusable. It is those machines that live in the no man's land between operating systems, and which are ripe for being reclaimed and given a new Linux lease on life.

Sure you could go and buy a machine from Wal-Mart -- but hey, wouldn't you want to get the PC for free? Yes, you do have to actually install the Linux distribution yourself, but it's not all that scary. To tell you the truth, you don't even have to actually install Linux to get its benefits. Linux is full of LiveCD distributions that will boot a full operating system from a CD drive without the need to actually touch a hard drive. If you can put a CD into your computer and turn it on, you can run Linux.

That said, there is still money to be made from Linux for Wal-Mart and other retailers.

Perhaps Linux vendors could help Wal-Mart as part of a new eco-initiative. Wal-Mart could have an old PC "amnesty day," during which people could bring in their old equipment and have it updated with a fast, modern Linux operating system. Linux vendors could provide service and support at the in-store level, helping to reduce the number of old PCs ending up in landfills.

Or here's another idea: Retailers could sell bare-bones PCs without an OS installed. On the shelf next to them could be Linux distros (for free, with support offered for those who want it) as well as Windows. Shouldn't it be cheaper to sell hardware without any OS, and let the user decide? Wal-Mart (and other retailers) could then presumably sell the hardware at an even cheaper price point than $199.

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Clinton, Wal-Mart Push 'Green' Cities

By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press
11.02.07                                                     [back to top]

SEATTLE - Former President Bill Clinton told more than 100 mayors Thursday that stopping global warming depends on them demonstrating that it makes economic sense. He said his foundation is teaming up with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to save cities money on environmentally friendly supplies by buying in bulk.

"We will not get a global agreement on climate change unless you can prove this is not a burden," he said. "This is the greatest opportunity we have had in our lifetimes."

The Clinton Foundation has previously worked with 40 of the world's largest cities to create a buying pool to bring down prices for green supplies such as hybrid vehicles and more efficient street lights. It's the same approach the foundation used to dramatically cut the price of AIDS drugs in Africa.

In addressing a climate summit organized by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Clinton announced that the 1,100 cities represented by that organization will become part of the purchasing group. Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ), the nation's largest retailer, said it would work with Clinton's foundation and the cities to bundle orders and product specifications for green technology.

Clinton and many of the mayors present criticized the White House, saying it has done little about global warming and has missed a chance to boost the nascent "green collar" economy - the jobs created by making the U.S. more sustainable, from the people who install solar panels to scientists who develop new technologies.

Wal-Mart, which has embarked on a broad environmental drive to cut costs and burnish its reputation, is offering to help the mayors as it has met resistance in some big cities, including New York and Chicago, to its plans to expand into metro areas from its rural and suburban base.

Wal-Mart has set targets for reducing energy use and packaging waste and selling more environmentally friendly products. Steps include switching to only concentrated liquid laundry detergent that reduces packaging and water use, converting its truck fleet to use less fuel, and asking suppliers to provide data on their greenhouse gas emissions.

But the company isn't the only one whose reputation is at stake. Clinton asked the mayors to think about their legacy and to keep score from an environmental standpoint. "The only way to keep score in public life is whether people are better off when you quit than when you started," he said, telling them the challenge is "your kind of deal."

Cities cover just 2 percent of the planet's land but are responsible for three-quarters of its greenhouse gas emissions - and therefore present the greatest opportunity for reducing those emissions, Clinton said. Much of that progress can be made by picking the low-hanging fruit: replacing wasteful light bulbs with high-efficiency ones, finding the leaks in the water-supply system, capturing the harmful methane produced by landfills and turning it into electricity.

The big orders from cities for more efficient heating and cooling systems for public buildings, ultra-efficient LED lights, or hybrid buses guarantee income for the companies that make them, help bring prices down and create jobs, Clinton said. They also save the cities money on energy.

Earlier in the day, former Vice President Al Gore, winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize for his climate work, spoke to the mayors by satellite from Tennessee and urged them to continue their work. He told them that his audiences around the world are heartened to learn that while the White House refused to support the Kyoto Treaty, 710 U.S. mayors - led by Seattle's Greg Nickels - have signed an agreement to abide by the treaty's call to reduce carbon emissions.

The two-day summit is designed to allow mayors from around the country to share ideas about how to combat climate change locally. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was scheduled to deliver Friday's keynote address.

AP Business Writer Marcus Kabel contributed to this report.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Democrats laud product safety overhaul

By Aaron Sadler ,
Arkansasnews.com
November 1st, 2007                                  [back to top]

Out of concern over the safety of imported toys, Senate Democrats on Wednesday heralded legislation that toughens penalties for safety violations and revamps a federal oversight agency.

Legislation to add employees and money to the Consumer Product Safety Commission passed a committee this week and could be considered by the Senate before the end of the year, said Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark.

Pryor sponsored the bill that would boost the agency's budget, as well as increase from $1 million to more than $100 million the civil penalties that could be levied on manufacturers, importers and sellers of unsafe goods. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in a news conference that the bill gives the agency "the tools and resources necessary to deal with the flood of dangerous products before the situation gets worse." Prospects for the bill are uncertain, since the Bush administration and Nancy Nord, chairwoman of the agency, oppose it.

Nord said in a letter to lawmakers that the bill would shift the focus of the agency from public safety to litigation.

Pryor said his office had a "constructive dialogue" with Bentonville-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc., over the legislation but the nation's largest retailer was concerned about the bill's consequences.

"I can't say that Wal-Mart is 100 percent happy with the bill because this does give the CPSC many more teeth," Pryor said. The legislation authorizes penalties for retailers who sell recalled products.

"We do support aspects of Pryor's bill on the development of new safety standards," said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Melissa O'Brien. "We'll also continue to work closely on improvements to the bill to ensure the CPSC's authority doesn't risk being undermined or misdirects resources away from the work to keep products safe."

The same time the lawmakers touted the bill, the agency issued several more toy recalls Wednesday. They included a set of fake teeth used for Halloween costumes. The teeth contained 100 times the legal amount of lead. Pryor and other Democrats criticized Nord for her opposition, but unlike House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Pryor refused to call for Nord's resignation.

"How is it as an agency that they're overwhelmed, they need help, they're drowning, but they don't want us to pass this bill?" Pryor said.

Nord's resignation would effectively shut down the commission, which needs two members to conduct business. Her departure would leave only one member.

"There's only one thing worse than Chairwoman Nord continuing and that is her leaving," Durbin said. This year more than 20 million Chinese-made toys have been recalled because they contain lead paint or because of other safety problems. Meanwhile, the agency employs only one scientist to test toys.

The agency polices more than 15,000 kinds of products. And even as imports have skyrocketed over the past three decades, the CPSC's staff dwindled from just over 900 employees to 420 today.

Pryor's legislation puts the number of employees to 500. "They are just totally incapable of protecting us from unsafe products," he said.

Nord maintains that new mandates required in the bill would necessitate many more.

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Wal-Mart Canada to sell books, magazines and gift wrap at U.S. list prices

THE CANADIAN PRESS                              [back to top]

TORONTO - Wal-Mart Canada Corp. says it will sell all of its books, magazines, greeting cards and gift wrap at U.S. list prices starting on Thursday as the Canadian dollar continues to rise above the greenback.

The Canadian branch of the world's largest retailer said that, for example, a greeting card that cost $3.99 Canadian will cost $2.99, which is its U.S. price. Oprah magazine will cost $4.50, instead of $5.75 and the book Love In The Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez will cost $14.95, instead of $19.95.

"With the strength of the loonie leading some Canadians to consider U.S. shopping alternatives, we're creating a more compelling case for customers to shop and save with Wal-Mart Canada," said the company, which has 293 outlets nationwide.

The price cuts come as the Canadian dollar edged closer to its all time high of 106.14 cents US on Wednesday, closing at 105.85 cents US, its highest close since August, 1957.

Wal-Mart Canada already announced "best-ever year of price reductions" in recent days, saying it has been squeezing suppliers for cost concessions.

The move comes alongside dozens of other retailers also chopping prices as the loonie soars. For example, Hudson's Bay Co. recently reduced prices on items at nearly 300 Zellers discount department stores, while The Canadian Tire store in the border city of Sarnia, Ont. began matching prices with U.S. retailers last week.

Last week, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty warned retailers that they could expect more cross-border shopping if they didn't respond to calls from shoppers to cut prices.

Statistics Canada reported last week that cross-border shopping trips by Canadians rose 4.2 per cent in August from July to 1.5 million overnight trips.

Retailers have blamed suppliers for refusing to chop the prices they charge at wholesale, and also said that it can take months before product prices adjust to the current price of the dollar.

© The Canadian Press , 2007

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Wal-Mart Asks North Carolina Court To Seal Documents in Tax-Dispute Case

By Jesse Drucker,
Wall Street Journal
November 1st, 2007                            [back to top]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is seeking to block public access to certain court documents in a tax dispute with North Carolina state authorities.

The giant retailer Tuesday filed a legal motion with a North Carolina state judge, asking to have a range of future filings in the case sealed from public view. Past filings would be unaffected.

The company's legal action followed a page-one article in The Wall Street Journal last week that detailed how Wal-Mart paid its outside auditor, Ernst & Young LLP, to design complex strategies to cut its state-tax bills.

Along with the article, the Journal posted several documents on its Web site that had been publicly filed months earlier as court exhibits by the North Carolina attorney general's office, including internal Ernst & Young memorandums and correspondence with Wal-Mart.

"The posting of such business correspondence on public websites causes unreasonable and undue annoyance and oppression of a party that is attempting to litigate a serious dispute with a public agency," wrote Wal-Mart's attorney, Jasper L. Cummings Jr., a tax-controversy attorney at Alston & Bird LLP. "The Chief Justice of North Carolina has determined this to be an exceptional case...It is important that this case go to decision and not be unfairly influenced by outside forces."

In the case, North Carolina's attorney general is challenging a Wal-Mart tax-cutting structure involving real-estate investment trusts. A decade ago, the company transferred ownership of its stores to various in-house REI Ts?, then reduced its tax bill by claiming deductions for store-rent payments that never left the company. Wal-Mart has defended the strategy as proper.

Wal-Mart wants the judge to issue an order sealing from public view any future filings of many of the documents the company turned over to the state as part of the discovery process in the case, as well as documents the state obtained from Ernst & Young as part of a separate but related court dispute. If the judge grants the request, the documents couldn't be viewed by the public, although the rest of the proceeding would remain open.

Legal experts say that Wal-Mart may have a difficult time convincing the judge to seal future filings based on the argument that their disclosure could harm the company, particularly given that the documents have been sitting in a public court file for several months. "Had they made this argument on day one, that would be one thing, but it's not day one anymore," said Martin Garbus, a First Amendment attorney at Davis & Gilbert LLP in New York. "If the sky didn't fall the first time, why would it fall now?"

A Wal-Mart spokesman declined comment: "We never discuss legal strategy, especially during the pendency of a trial." A spokeswoman for the North Carolina attorney general also declined comment, saying, "We're reviewing the motion."

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Can Google and Wal-Mart break the Microsoft desktop monopoly?

by Dana Blankenhorn
November 1st, 2007                                 [back to top]

Despite the great hype, both here and elsewhere, over Everex’ new “Google PC” this may be less than meets the eye.

Or it could be more.

It may be less because the Everex gPC TC2502 is not much of a computer. It runs a 1.5 MHz processor, with just 512Megabytes of RAM and there’s no monitor. It looks, in fact, like a stranger from the mid-1980s.

A version of the same PC, running Windows Vista, was released in July for $298, also through Wal-Mart, as a back-to-school item. This is the picture we ran with that story. The New York Times ran the same picture with its story today.

But the price point here is just $199, and it does run Open Office, and there’s no reason why, if this does well for Christmas, Everex couldn’t bring out new versions which are more attractive, even laptops.

The GOS (Google Operating System) being shipped is actually just a version of Linux licensed through Google, which includes fast access to things like Google Mail, and Google Documents (although you can also run Open Office for that).

The keys to the story, of course, are the brand names — Google and Wal-Mart. Combine Google’s branding power with Wal-Mart’s distribution and you have a very mighty force indeed.

But what happens when these buyers need tech support, as they will? Will Wal-Mart handle the back-end of these transactions well, or poorly? Is Everex scaled to handle it? Who’s going to connect these things to the Internet, which seems like an essential service for them? What happens when these poor buyers get the bill for that service?

And if it does turn into a Christmas fiasco, will the companies get another shot at the market?

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Coughlin Loses Bid to Prevent Sentencing

By MARCUS KABEL
Associated Press
11.01.07                                              [back to top]

Wal-Mart's former No. 2 executive could face possible prison time after a federal appeals court denied Thomas Coughlin's bid to overturn a decision rejecting his original sentence of home detention as too light.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis on Wednesday denied Coughlin's appeal for a new hearing on the sentencing decision, according to court records.

Coughlin's lawyers declined to comment on the decision, which leaves the 8th Circuit's earlier ruling in force.

The appeals court ruled in August that a judge's decision to give Coughlin home detention rather than prison "does not fall within the range of reasonableness." The appeals court ordered a new sentencing hearing.

That sentencing hearing has not been scheduled yet in U.S. District Court in Fort Smith, Ark., according to court records.

Federal prosecutors appealed Coughlin's sentence after U.S. District Judge Robert T. Dawson sentenced Coughlin to 27 months home confinement.

Lawyers for Coughlin say he has health problems that should preclude him from going to prison.

In January 2006, Coughlin pleaded guilty to felony wire fraud and tax evasion charges after embezzling cash, gift cards and merchandise from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (nyse: WMT - news - people ) The company estimated the loss at nearly $500,000.

Coughlin, 59, could have been sent to prison for 28 years. Coughlin was also ordered to serve 33 months of probation, pay a $50,000 fine and ordered to make $411,218 in restitution.

A majority of the three-judge appeals panel on Aug. 28 rejected arguments that Coughlin's health problems - heart failure, obesity, diabetes and gout - might not receive satisfactory treatment in prison.

Prosecutors had wanted a prison term of at least six months. The 8th Circuit agreed with prosecutors that, based on what was said in court, Coughlin's sentence seemed too light.

In a dissent, Judge Kermit E. Bye said the district judge had properly found that Coughlin suffered from poor health and that the sentence should stand.

Coughlin has been serving his home-confinement sentence at his ranch home and cattle farm near Centerton, his attorneys have said. He wears an electronic ankle monitor and can leave only for doctor's appointments and church, according to court records. Coughlin could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the appeal.

Coughlin worked at Wal-Mart for 28 years and served as founder Sam Walton's protege.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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SuperTarget Threatens to Out-Wal-Mart Wal-Mart

FP Trading Desk
SeekingAlpha.com                       [back to top]

Target's food self-distribution push expected to pay off over long-term, mirror Wal-Mart

Target Corp.’s (TGT) move into food self-distribution may not pay off for several years, but there should be substantial benefits when its distribution centre is built and its SuperTarget grocery base is established.

That’s the opinion of Citigroup analyst Deborah Weinswig, who said the move will boost Target’s gross margins, increase productivity at its stores, lead to better in-stock levels, improve quality assurance and flexibility, and allow the company to sell local items.

Rival Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) opened its first food distribution centre in 1993, which along with rapid expansion of its supercentres, drove growth during the following ten years, Ms. Weinswig told clients in a note.

She expects Target will mirror Wal-Mart by leveraging its relationship with SuperValu to run its distribution centres. Wal-Mart did this with McLane’s, a subsidiary at the time.

The first distribution centre will be in Florida, which Ms. Weinswig says provides convenient access to Southeastern states. It is expected to supply 42 SuperTargets in Florida and neighbouring states, and potentially some discount stores as well.

The analyst rates Target a “hold” with a US$66 price target.

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Wal-Mart to jump ‘Black Friday’ gun

By STEVE PAINTER ,
Arkansas Democrat Gazette
November 1st, 2007                                    [back to top]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will begin offering “Black Friday” type deals on a limited number of items three weeks before the traditional day-after-Thanksgiving launch of Christmas specials, the company said Wednesday.

The world’s largest retailer said the first five deals would be posted on its Web site, www. walmart. com, today for prices in effect Friday through Sunday.

Bentonville-based Wal-Mart, struggling to maintain sales gains in stores open at least a year, has already said it will aggressively discount merchandise this fall and winter. The company also has taken steps aimed at preventing its special deals from being leaked in advance.

“They have been so adamant with vendors about not sharing any information whatsoever. They really see price as their only and best weapon to try to regain some of the momentum they have lost the last two to three years,” said Mark Hunter, who runs an Omaha-based retail consulting service.

The term “Black Friday” refers to the day retailers historically became profitable for the year, or moved from being in the red to in the black. Christmas sales account for as much as 40 percent of annual sales for some retailers.

One of this week’s deals already posted on the Web site is an Acer laptop computer for $ 348.

Wal-Mart spokesman Linda Blakley said the company will offer other deals before Black Friday. For competitive reasons, she said, the company is not saying when those deals will be posted or how many items will be featured.

Blakley said some specials also will be advertised via outlets other than the Web site.

Camille Schuster, a California retail consultant and marketing professor, said she had already seen a television commercial for the Acer laptop where she lives in Escondido. Shoppers may not be ready for the Christmas rush, she said. “If you push them too early for Christmas, they’re likely to resent it,” she said. Results of a national survey released in October indicated shoppers intend to wait even later than normal this year to buy gifts. The survey by The NPD Group Inc., a New York-based retail research firm, found that 41 percent of shoppers plan to start Christmas shopping after Thanksgiving, up 10 percent from last year’s survey. NPD said its findings are based on 1, 943 completed interviews from the company’s online consumer panel. Wal-Mart’s stock closed Wednesday at $ 45. 21 a share on the New York Stock Exchange, down 16 cents or 0. 35 percent.

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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,