Weekly Update for Elected Officials: Nov. 12, 2008
Check out this week’s issue of the Wal-Mart Watch Weekly Update for Elected Officials – a compilation of Wal-Mart news from across the country and beyond.
This week’s issue begins with a Bloomberg report of Wal-Mart being placed on a list of most controversial companies. Also named - the company responsible for producing melamine-tainted milk in China. The list includes companies criticized for producing negative impacts on communities, health, and the environment, and was based on a study by RepRisk, a consulting firm that analyzes companies’ exposure to controversial issues and news.
You’ll also find stories from BusinessWeek and the Financial Times on how corporate giants like Wal-Mart are gearing up to battle potential pro-labor legislation in 2009. With President-Elect Barack Obama and the Democrats taking over next year, retailers are bracing to fight the Employee Free Choice Act – or EFCA – which could make it easier to organize unions in the workplace.
In addition to EFCA, you’ll find stories on Wal-Mart and the economy. And from the legal front, read about a $19 million discrimination lawsuit filed against Wal-Mart and Pepsi in West Virginia. Plus, in the world of product safety, read more about questions raised by the controversial chemical BPA, as well how Wal-Mart has been selling lead-tainted face paint for kids…a no-no anytime, and especially around Halloween.
And finally, check out our “Stateside” and “Wal-Mart International” sections to find out what’s going on with Wal-Mart around the country and across the globe. Chicago city aldermen have a wish list for an Obama presidency; the fight continues over whether Wal-Mart can build near a Civil War battlefield in Virginia; and towns in California and Nevada deny Wal-Mart the ability to sell alcohol on its store shelves.
Wal-Mart Watch Weekly Update for Elected Officials [November 12, 2008]
Posted by Corey Himrod on Wednesday, November 12 | 27 comments | Permalink
Weekly Update for Elected Officials: Halloween Edition
Check out this week’s issue of the Wal-Mart Watch Weekly Update for Elected Officials – a compilation of Wal-Mart news from across the country and beyond.
This week’s issue begins on Wal-Mart and the economy, and whether Wal-Mart sales statistics can be used as a new barometer for the U.S. economy. You’ll also find stories on changes in shopper behavior, now that consumers are faced with less disposable income. And, you’ll find stories on Wal-Mart’s slowed growth, and the switch to smaller store formats by retailers across the country.
In addition to the economy, you’ll find stories related to next week’s election. Barack Obama highlighted the story of a 72-year-old man forced to go back to work for Wal-Mart in his half-hour special this past Wednesday night. Meanwhile, according to Reuters Wal-Mart vows to remain non-partisan in the 2008 election season, while the Financial Times reports on the candidates attempting to woo the so-called “Wal-Mart Moms.” Plus, there are suspicions that Wal-Mart is behind a new grassroots group recently set up to fight the Employee Free Choice Act, as reported in The National Journal.
Also: Find out whether a Wal-Mart case in Montana could lead to changes in that state’s campaign finance law.
And finally, check out our “Stateside” and “Wal-Mart International” sections to find out what’s going on with Wal-Mart around the country and across the globe. A California ballot measure could lead to increased demand for more humane animal products, while citizens in Virginia continue to fight Wal-Mart’s attempt to build near an historic Civil War battlefield.
Wal-Mart Watch Weekly Update for Elected Officials [October 31, 2008]
Posted by Corey Himrod on Friday, October 31 | 51 comments | Permalink
ILLINOIS SITE FIGHT: ROCHELLE COUNCIL OK’S WAL-MART
Council approves Wal-Mart plans [Rochelle News-Leader (Ill.)]
ROCHELLE — City Council members unanimously approved the final plan for the highly anticipated Super Wal-Mart Center during Monday night’s bi-monthly meeting.
The council members followed suite after the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously on Oct. 6 to recommend approval of the final planned unit development (PUD) and plat for the store, scheduled to open in early 2010.
The facility is planned to be built near the northeast intersection of Caron Road and IL Route 38 and will be approximately double the city’s current 65,000-square foot Wal-Mart building.
Wal-Mart representatives were on-hand to answer questions and receive comments from the council Monday night. Mayor Chet Olson relayed that residents are excited about the new Super Center and said the facility could bring further retail developers into the area.
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Posted by Luke West on Wednesday, October 29 | 0 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart Banks Charging Hard In North America
Wal-Mart doesn’t have a bank yet in the U.S., but that isn’t stopping ‘em from forging full-steam ahead in Canada and Mexico.
In classic shrewd fashion, Wal-Mart seems to be using the financial crisis and the credit crunch to its advantage. Today’s story in PR Week isn’t the first to imply that Wal-Mart’s application for a bank in Canada might be “received favourably” by officials in a weak economy.
The story also noted for the umpteenth time that:
Wal-Mart Canada did not return calls for comment. In its notice, the retailer did not disclose what kind of banking services it would provide, but it is expected to offer credit card, mortgage, and investment products.
Meanwhile, a Bloomberg News story today tells us that Wal-Mex’s bank is growing. Wal-Mart de Mexico SAB is charging ahead south of the border and planning to unload 100,000 credit cards on Mexicans, targeting primarily the 75 percent of the population who’ve never had a bank account.
Issuing more credit cards as Mexico’s economy slows would allow Walmex, as the company is known, to collect annual interest of as high as 75 percent and encourage purchases of more expensive appliances and furniture at its stores, the only place the cards can be used. Walmex is preparing more financial products aimed at customers who have never had a bank account, about 75 percent of Mexico’s 103 million people.
In case you missed that: Wal-Mart is encouraging Mexicans to go in debt at 75 percent interest.
Presumably, Wal-Mart is trying to set up working bank operations in Canada and Mexico before trying again to apply in the U.S. And now they seem to be using the financial crisis as another tool to get into the banking game.
They certainly can’t expect us to keep quiet about any it.
Posted by Eric Bull on Monday, October 20 | 2 comments | Permalink
NEW YORK SITE FIGHT: EXPERTS WEIGH IN IN TONAWANDA
NORTH TONAWANDA: NT First wants expert testimony [Tonawanda News (N.Y.)]
The sale of Bluebird Drive to Wal-Mart, a key step in getting the project underway, has been discussed by officials and Wal-Mart as they await a lawsuit from Frank Budwey and NT First.
Instead, Budwey late last month submitted a 180-signature petition to the North Tonawanda Common Council asking them to hear comments by their own traffic expert, Andrew Wolfe, Ph.D, also a professor at SUNY Utica, prior to any sale of the access road.
Wolfe addressed the Planning Commission March 11 with a 14-page report. Then, NT First requested more information as the plans had undergone several key changes.
“After the March 11th meeting they gave us information but they didn’t give us the whole package,” Budwey said.
A Freedom of Information request filed a couple of months after the presentation sought data used to establish traffic impact after planners added an entrance to the store’s proposed site on Wurlitzer Drive.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Luke West on Tuesday, October 07 | 0 comments | Permalink
The Bank of Wal-Mart Returns Again
No matter how many times Wal-Mart fails to create a “Bank of Wal-Mart,” the company always seems to find a way to bring it back to life.
Seven months ago, we helped keep Wal-Mart out of the banking business. But now, the Federal Reserve is looking into changing the rules completely - and may throw open the door to giant corporations like Wal-Mart to run their own banks.
At a time when our economy is already in crisis, we can’t turn the banking industry over to Wal-Mart. Please write a note to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and the Banking Committee leaders in Congress, and let them know what’s at stake:
http://action.walmartwatch.com/NoBankofWalmart
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Posted by David Nassar, Executive Director on Wednesday, September 17 | 46 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart Wants A Bank Now In. . .Canada
After getting shut down in U.S., Wal-Mart looks to lock up the other 2/3 of the continent by getting a bank permit in Canada.
Saturday, Wal-Mart posted its mandatory public notice of its official bank application to the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. The bank would theoretically be based in Mississauga, Ontario, but there’s no real timeline yet or any indication if the same opposition that rose quickly in the U.S. to block Wal-Mart’s bank will arise in Canada.
So what does it all really mean?
Several analysts have said so far that Wal-Mart’s entry in banking wouldn’t pose a huge threat to the Canadian banking establishment - in the near future, at least. Wal-Mart Stores already offer financial services like money transfers and cash withdrawals, but a banking license would allow the company to greatly expand what it offers. Spokesman Kevin Groh cited credit cards as an immediate first step for Wal-Mart, but also listed as possibilities “savings accounts, loans, mortgages, RSPs, GICs...”
The consensus, at least as of now, appears to be that Wal-Mart’s focus is still retail-based: rather than targeting the Canadian banking sector, it’s targeting other retailers by using the new offerings to pull in more customers and squeeze more dollars out existing store customers. (Wal-Mart Canada Andrew Pelletier said that the company doesn’t plan to open up traditional bank branches “for the foreseeable future”...)
As Wal-Mart tries to furiously expand and eat more market share in Canada, this is an edge it seems desperate for.
The Holy Grail for Wal-Mart, of course, is a bank in U.S. They’ll no doubt try again, but for now Wal-Mart will have to settle on our neighbors to the South and (they hope) North.
Wal-Mart Canadian Unit Seeks to Offer Bank Services [Bloomberg News]:
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s biggest retailer, applied to the Canadian government for official bank status that would allow it to expand financial services in the country.
Wal-Mart’s Canadian unit has applied to the minister of finance to establish a bank under the name Wal-Mart Canada Bank and, in French, La Banque Wal-Mart du Canada, according to a notice posted Sept. 13 on the Canadian government’s Web site.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Eric Bull on Tuesday, September 16 | 22 comments | Permalink
CALIFORNIA SITE FIGHT: ATASCADERO CITY COUNCIL COMMISSIONS SECOND SURVEY
Chamber commissions second Wal-Mart survey [Atascadero News (Calif.)]
The Atascadero Chamber of Commerce has commissioned its second survey to gain information in regards to the business community’s desire for a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter, an action which the locally-based Oppose Wal-Mart Group believes violates the organization’s nonprofit status.
The current survey, conducted by Los Angeles-based polling company Cardinal Communications, comes at a time when Atascadero voters are set to decide on a ballot measure designed to ban all supercenters and place a 150,000-square-foot cap on the size of big box development.
The survey follows an August 2007 phone poll commissioned by the chamber and funded by the companies with the highest investment in a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter, The Rottman Group and Wal-Mart, and involved calls to chamber members followed by calls to a random selection of the city’s business license list, chamber CEO and president Joanne Main said. But unlike the previous survey, Main said the current poll cost $1,500, which originated from the organization’s general fund.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Luke West on Friday, September 12 | 0 comments | Permalink
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