AP: Wal-Mart will defend reputation in ads

You guys never miss a chance to pat yourselves on the back do you?

“The retailer had its worst holiday sales season in years, WakeUpWalMart.com spokesman Chris Kofinis said. “

Seems to me they should have asked Wal-Mart about how they did this holiday season. Why is it relevant what a spokesperson from an anti-WalMart propaganda site had to say or thinks about WalMarts Christmas sales.

What’s wrong with WalMart running commercials in an attempt to bolster their reputation.  It may work or it may not who knows.  What I do know is companies run these types of ads all the time and the AP doesn’t feel it necessary to write about them.  Why exactly is WalMart expected to sit back and be attacked all the time.  Why can’t they fight back against the well funded attacks they recieve daily from this group and others.  Even slimy politicians are in on the act now.  I’m actually surprised they’ve taken it this long without mounting a stronger counter attack.  Oh well, that’s my two cents on the whole issue.  I’m sure WMW will censor this first thing in the morning anyway. 

Peace

Tony,

When I was growing up, my parents told me, “The world doesn’t OWE you a living, if you want things from live, you have to go out and work hard for the things you NEED”, and that is what I did.  Now, I am hearing that Wal-Mart OWES their employees a living, so I guess my parents were wrong, all you have to do is whine loud enough to get the things you NEED, to heck with that working hard for them.  Gee, and I wasted my life working, instead of whining, what a ‘fool’ I was!!

The Folksy Spin also know as HL Scotts Folly, will try and spin the sad news that Wal-Mart is just doing the best they can.  It could be said and should be said if they directed some of the ad money toward helping their associates Wal Mart might be believed.  Thave have millions to defend their programs.  Propaganda Wal-Mart style.  We are just good ole boys doing Good Things.  Dump mistakes are mistakes they continue to deny deny deny. 
The Impossible Dream is that H.L. Scott has no plan and is only trying to defend is poor position.

So much of Wal-Mart’s current business model is diametrically opposed to Sam’s business philosophy that this propaganda assault is doomed to failure.

“The key to success is to get out into the store and listen to what the associates have to say.” ~ Sam Walton

Why do you suppose it is very difficult to find the Sam Walton quote that went something like this: “"Treat your employees well and you won’t have to hire a bunch of lawyers to keep the unions out.”?

Over the past couple of years I have noticed a steep decline in the number of Sam Walton quotes available on line. I guess anyone that wishes to dispute Bentonville’s latest propaganda campaign will just have to go back to the source, Made in America

Ken

Here are some quotes from Mr. Sam’s autobiography:

“I’m afraid that in those days (early Wal-Mart days) we paid people as little as we could get away with”.

“We will try to buy American if the price is right. I said that if the American price is within 10% of the offshore price, we will go with the American price”.

“If you can’t be available to work weekends, you shouldn’t be in the retail business. You have to be available when your customers need you”.

So, Mr. Sam admits that Wal-Mart pays RETAIL wages, buys foreign goods and demands schedule flexibility. Not much different from today, is it?

Let’s also be clear about something: Mr. Sam died in 1992. Here is a number detailing Wal-Mart’s growth since then.

1995-2,704 stores, 675,000 employees, $93.6 billion in sales
2005-6,200 stores, 1,600,000 employees, $312.4 billion in sales

In 1992, when Mr. Sam passed on, Wal-Mart had about 1,800 stores with less than 500,000 employees and about $60 billion or so in sales. This year, Wal-Mart will have close to 1.7 million employees at more than 7,000 stores and do more than $340 billion in sales. This company is much, much larger than it was in Mr. Sam’s time. It had only 2 stores outside the US (in Mexico) when Mr. Sam died. It had a great CEO in David Glass, which allowed Mr. Sam to travel around to the stores and see his workers.

American culture has changed for the worst. Respect for others and their property, a sense of community, cleanliness, courtesy, personal responsibility and work ethic have pretty much declined. Today’s youth are, for the most part, undisciplined, rude monsters. We have allowed our society to become this way. This is why Wal-Mart’s workers turnover so often and why people in general lack respect and work ethic. This is what we get for subsidizing an entire generation of welfare moms and paying for a Nanny State. We get chaos.

I know for a fact that Target, K-Mart, Giant Eagle, Kroger and other places are really no better off when it comes to the quality of their workers or their turnover rates.

Society is sick.

EllisW,

Well stated, it is just hard to see a future from here.  These anti Wal-Mart people tend to want business to solve all their problems for them and if they get their way, business creation looks bleek.  There has to come a point, where the government and business cannot support this younger generation and the whole system will collapse.  I feel sorry for my grandchildren, because they won’t have the opportunity to have a good life.  All one has to do, is look at is what we pay in taxes for entitlements and total taxes we have to pay, to see that this senerio is unsustainable.  These people want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, labor is fine, but without business, labor is unemployed and without the wealthy, you have no business.  You can only take so much from the rich, before they become poor and when everyone is poor, where do you go to fulfill your needs.

I don’t know what planet you’re from, Bob, but here on Earth, the rich are getting richer.

As for wanting business and government to cure all our ills, that’s merely pro Wal-Mart, neo-capitalist jive.

I can’t speak for anyone but myself but all I want is for Wal-Mart to clean up their act.  They could be a shining example of free enterprise instead of the poster child for exploitation.

Better not cheaper!

Hey BOB… let me ask you a question...Have you ever worked for Wal-Mart?

Bill boob can’t get passed the hiring process. to stupid.

After working for 50 + years, i have seen a lot of changes in this country, some good, some bad, however if anyone thinks that workers, and people in general are worse off today than they were 50 years ago need to talk to more older people, we all know a few older people, grandparents for example.
In my younger days i worked as many as 70 or more hrs a week, why would i do such a thing, simple, no one owes me anything, besides, i was only making around one $ per hr, and at any time i could be replaced in a second.
( millions of americans were in the boat with me)
Also i wanted to eat and have a place to sleep, and when tv came about it was nice to have a small black and white tv set to watch, also try to keep an old car to drive, when it would run, anyway,,,,,, no computers.... no cell phones.... no central air for those hot summer days, gosh, us older folks must have been crazy, or just willing to work for a living.
It’s so easy today to get food stamps, help with housing and many other handouts.......we all know someone doing that very thing, and guess what, most all of them have a computer, cell phone, color tv , air condition for those hot summer days, and, they think someone owes it to them. gosh, no one should have to work any more than want to, right.....
Until people get back to working for for what they have and, want in life, things will only get worse.

I have worked for walmart six years, and have been treated better, and have more and better benefits now, than at any time in my life. and i am only working 16 hrs a week now.
Health ins for myself in 2006 for around $450.00 for the entire year, also have profit sharing and 401k, and other great benefits. ( the hourly pay will compare to any other retail company, and will top most of them)

Work hard, be honest, be truthful, and you can do almost anything you want to do in this country.
It’s up to you, no one else....

Have a great 2007

Ken V,

“I don’t know what planet you’re from, Bob, but here on Earth, the rich are getting richer.”

That is right, but you guys want that to stop and take their money away from them.

“I can’t speak for anyone but myself but all I want is for Wal-Mart to clean up their act.”

And, just what does that entail?  More money, better benefits and fixed schedules?  And, forget the customer, employee needs come first?

Bill,

“Hey BOB… let me ask you a question...Have you ever worked for Wal-Mart?”

No, I made better choices in life and worked where the money was!!

cj,

“Bill boob can’t get passed the hiring process. to stupid.”

In order to get hired, you have to apply, I never had to, I went for the better jobs.  Yeah, I was too stupid, that’s why I was able to retire at age 60 and never applied or worked at Wal-Mart.  I never tried to get into McDonalds either, have you ever worked there?  Takes a lot of intelligence to work fast food or retail, doesn’t it?

bry,

Do you believe the way these people think?  They are so spoiled and think the world owes them a living (Living Wage), I wonder what would happen to them if they had to go through what we went through.  I remember, the first time I made $7,000.00 in one year, I thought I was living the good life. But, guess what, if you try to tell the young folks about it, they think you are lying, after all, doesn’t everyone NEED a cell phone to talk on as you drive around town?  What we considered luxuries, they consider necessities. 

“Until people get back to working for for what they have and, want in life, things will only get worse.”

But, they can’t see that, they can’t understand what the cause was for a car costing $3,000.00 in the 60’s and now it cost $30,000.00, something must have caused that!!  And, they don’t see that INTEREST on loans is killing them, just think, 6 years to pay off a car, would have been deemed outrageous in the 60’s.  And, a house, $11,000.00 in the 60’s is now $125,000.00, what will these things cost in the future if things keep on this same path?  Remember when a hamburger at McDonalds was 15 cents?

cj,

“Bill boob can’t get passed the hiring process. to stupid.”

At least I’m smart enough to know that you put a comma after “Bill” and spell “passed”, PAST and “to stupid”, should be TOO STUPID!!!  And, there should be a comma after “process”, not a period or if “to stupid” is a new sentence, the “T” should be a capital letter!!!

Have you ever heard the saying “people who live in glass houses, shouldn’t throw stones”?

I’ve looked through this site..  and more than 2/3rds of it is more propoganda than what they’re trying to say Wal-Mart is going to put off.

For retail, Wal-Mart pays the best.  That’s the end of it.  For a fact, K-Mart and Target can’t beat Wal-Mart’s benefits or pay.

One big, important economical factor we all have to remember, especially when talking about a super corp. such as Wal-Mart or Microsoft, is that where there is demand, there is supply.  Wal-Mart wants to supply it.  If they don’t pay their workers well, or don’t give them good benefits, well, that’s their business, not yours.  If you work there, tell me where else you’re going to get your paycheck?  I don’t see you working somewhere like K-Mart and making that.

All-in-all, this whole site is full of a bunch of bullshit.

Period.

vivi Kame in

“For retail, Wal-Mart pays the best.  That’s the end of it.”

As I posted to you before, COSTCO PAYS THE BEST and WM doesn’t even come close, PERIOD! Just for you, I’ll go through the numbers again.

COSTCO (a union company BTW) their average starting pay is over $17.00 per hr, while WALMARTS is around $10.00. The typical COSTCO employee with 3 years on the job earns around $42,000.00 per year while it’s around $20,000.00 per year year for the same WALMART employee. COSTCO pays 92% of the insurance for their employees while WALMART pays just over 70%.

So vivi again, you have the wrong information. COSTCO’s pay is MUCH better, with MUCH better benefits than WALMART.......PERIOD!....... End of story!!!!! WM looses hands down. Now vivi, Thats the end of it!

DAVE SMITH
PROUD UNION IRONWORKER

Vivi....you need to do some investigating before you make false statements about Wal-Mart paying the hightest wages and having better benefits. The post from “DAVE SMITH” is absolutely correct. I am a retail manager and read about what other companies are doing, and COSTCO is the leader in pay and benefits for all retailers. They are also very profitable and have the highest employee retention rate of all retailers.  The local Target in my town starts people out in some areas of the store at $8.50 per hour with no experience. The local Wal-Mart starts their people at $6.20 per hour. I know this for a fact because I was a manager at Wal-Mart. And for the better benefits...you are wrong. My doctors office told me that when someone comes in with Wal-Mart’s insurance, the office knows that the insurance does not pay as well as other insurance companies do. So, in turn, the Wal-Mart insured does not get ultimate care because the poor-quality insurance does not pay for much. Get your facts straight.

BOOB.......I noticed you made a statement that you made a better choice not to have to work at Wal-Mart , and Stated “No, I made better choices in life and worked where the money was!!” Until you have experienced the abuse that Wal-Mart associates undergo, I suggest you sit back and enjoy the nice retirement you receive from your company that Wal-Mart associates never will see. Furthermore, and what you are saying is that all Wal-Mart associates have made bad choices by going to work for Wal-Mart.

boob you can apply online ,until you work there you can’t
know the truth.

Frankenstien,

“Until you have experienced the abuse that Wal-Mart associates undergo, I suggest you sit back and enjoy the nice retirement you receive from your company that Wal-Mart associates never will see.”

First, I said I made better choices, if the associates made bad choices, how is that my fault?  As for the money I recieve from my company, the only money I get from my company was the 4% match in my 401K (about $6,000), all the rest, I put in MYSELF, I get no PENSION per se.  Wal-Mart employees could do the same if they choose to, but most don’t know how a 401K works and aren’t ‘bright’ enough to find out!!

cj,

“boob you can apply online ,until you work there you can’t
know the truth.”

Don’t you get it!!  I don’t need to ‘apply online’ and I don’t need to work there, I was smart enough to avoid all of that.  Just because you can’t find anything better in life, don’t put it back on me, I’ve done the right things, now it’s your turn.  Quit whining and do something to change your life, calling me names and whining on this site, aren’t going to change your life at all, you have to do it, Wal-Mart can’t do it for you and neither can the unions!!!

If Costco were smart, they would put a building next to each Walmart, hire all of Walmarts workers and put the company out of business.

I can see it know, all the poor people of the world going to Costco to buy Don Perignon champaigne and Gucci purses.  Sure Costco pays more, it’s customers are rich and wealthy. Go down south to a poor part of the country. See how many Costco’s are there. If you do find one, see how many poor people have memberships and purchase all their everyday essentials from Costco.

boob don.t get so upset .i don’t work for wm but did
you did not work for wm so you can’t say how things really are
you are the one that doesn’t get it, go work there until then shut up
ps gov stats say retires who don’t do something with their
lives die in 7 years. since you have nothing to do but spend
all your free time 24/7 on this site so long.
proff is you can’t stay away for 24 hrs. ps waste your time correcting spelling punct.

JR,

“If Costco were smart, they would put a building next to each Walmart, hire all of Walmarts workers and put the company out of business.”

Great idea, do you think it will ever happen?

cj,

“.i don’t work for wm but did you did not work for wm so you can’t say how things really are”

Give me a break, you seem to think that Wal-Mart is the only place that does these things to their workers?  I can tell you stories about places I’ve worked that would make working at Wal-Mart look like a walk in the park.  Nothing at Wal-Mart is ‘new’, others have been doing those things for years, even union companies.

“ps gov stats say retires who don’t do something with their
lives die in 7 years. since you have nothing to do but spend
all your free time 24/7 on this site so long. proff is you can’t stay away for 24 hrs. ps waste your time correcting spelling punct.”

See, I am doing something with my life, spending time here.  Besides, you give me a lot of work, correcting your spelling and punctuation.  Is it any wonder that some people can’t do any better than Wal-Mart?

boob get a job at a school your crap on this site serves no one but yourself
ps if i say something to someone else ,let them respond ,unless you are that person also. did i spell anything this time
BLOB

Tony it is true they will take comments off this site. I want to know is this anti wm or pro wm it seems every time i say something bad about a pro wm it gets erased right blob

blob can you stay off this site for 24 hrs or not.

Ironhead

You are lying about Costco’s starting rate. Costco is going to open a new store at the Waterfront in Homestead, PA. They had a large ad in the classifieds and it said “Starting pay rate is $10 per hour”. If any of you don’t believe me, look up the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for last Sunday and look through the Classifieds. You will see that I tell the truth.

As for Wal-Mart/Costco: don’t make a fool of yourself. I have personally asked Sam’s Club (which competes with Costco-Wal-Mart is a different market entirely) workers about their pay and benefits. A cashier told me he was there for less than a year and he had to have a $16,000 surgery on his hand. It only cost him $250. His insurance paid the rest. And he started off there making $8.65 per hour, was earning over $10 after just over a year. Plus he had stock purchase plan options, discount shopping, free membership, life insurance and a store bonus. These are facts that can be acquired from actually TALKING to someone who works at Sam’s Club.

wm and sams has a tier system starting pay for the lowest
paying job is not the same at all locs. 7 tiers
costco here starts at 10.00 min . some jobs pay more . I don’t know how their system works. I do know some jobs start much higher. The job your friend my be a 1 or 2 or so and depends on job code.

forgot to mention 90 day eval =40cnt or more ,then yearly eval =40-55cnts raise. There are jobs at wm -sams that start at $12 plus ,it just depends on the code.

Can I get back to the original topic for a minute?

WM putting out ads to improve their image?

Why not just do things to improve your image?

Why does WM need to advertise at all?

Is there really a person out there that does not know where the closest 3 or 4 WM’s are?

Does anybody not know what those big buildings are when they drive by them?

OK, I can understand putting out a mail or newspaper ad to show this weeks hot items and super duper amazing deals BUT, we don’t need to see any television ads of people walking around in a WM, having a great time, finding the perfect whatever. We don’t need to be told about Sam’s vision or WM’s good deads either. WM should use most of the advertising dollars for something else. The employees (associates)?...maybe. Cleaner stores? Healthcare?Better and nicer crap on the shelves?

Anybody with me on this?