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 | 31 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart Selling Lead Paint…To Put On Your Kid’s Face!
Thanks to reader Jason for sending us along these pics.
A Wal-Mart in Southern California is selling $1.00 face paint - “No Smear Makeup Crayons” - for kids’ Halloween costumes. And they’re not even trying to hide it - the front of the package states that the product that is a “choking hazard”, and CONTAINS LEAD! which is “known to the state of California to cause birth defects.”
Let’s see how fast we can get these pulled from shelves.
Posted by Media Team on Thursday, October 30 | 19 comments | Permalink
Friday Blog Round-Up: Power to the People Edition
WAL-MART AND THE ‘POORING OF AMERICA’
I’m not sure where the phrase “Pooring of America” came from, but it’s perfect to explain Wal-Mart’s effect on working families. Seeking Alpha ponders why Wal-Mart and McDonald’s are doing so well right now.
What are McDonald’s and Wal-Mart Telling Us? [Seeking Alpha]
I am very intriqued by our top 2 choices for the “Pooring of America” trend - Walmart (WMT) and McDonalds (MCD) - what exactly are the charts above telling us? If we are to enter a long drawn-out recession, which I have believed, these seem to be screaming buys here. The only question is credit - how does a lack of credit potentially hurt both. They are not expanding a ton, in the U.S. at least - perhaps with Wal-mart it’s financing of inventory, but I cannot wrap my mind around this behavior.
Wal-Mart gets downgraded while stock up in 2008 amid the turmoil [BloggingStocks]
Will Wal-Mart weather the storm? To a point, it already is. Sure, all retailers are expected to have a dismal holiday season this winter, but Wal-Mart will do better than the competition. It has more stores, more pricing leverage and more wherewithal to hold customers hostage with lower prices and inventory turns at a time when it’s needed most. Perhaps we’ll see WMT return to the $60/share level by Thanksgiving—if not sooner.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, October 10 | 57 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart to Fellow Toy Retailers: “Bring It.”
Just in time Three months before the holidays, Wal-Mart is challenging fellow toy retailers to try to match its prices on Christmas gifts. The retailer has a history of relentlessly undercutting its competitors, but rival retailers like Target and KB Toys aren’t taking Wal-Mart’s price cuts lying down. After announcing its price cuts last week, several other retailers countered with price cuts of their own. With any luck, the cuts will convince parents to spend big and spend soon on toys for Christmas.
The race to the bottom on toy prices shows how influential retailers can be in setting prices for the products sold in their stores. Wal-Mart might be losing money on its $10 Barbie dolls, but it’s dragging the entire toy industry down with it. One interesting quote, from an executive at Toys ‘R’ Us, highlighted how narrow-minded shoppers’ focus can be: “value is not just about cheapness,” he said, and he’s right. Wal-Mart’s toys might be cheap, but problems persist with almost every aspect of the manufacturing process. Are workers rights, American wages and children’s safety worth a $10 toy?
Wal-Mart Sparks War Among Big Toy Sellers [Wall Street Journal]
Retail price wars are starting early this year, and the latest weapon is the $10 toy—a signal that retailers are bracing for a rough-and-tumble Christmas shopping season.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Thursday, October 09 | 4 comments | Permalink
Friday Blog Round-Up: Christmas in October Edition
SANTA TO WORK LONGER HOURS WITHOUT OVERTIME THIS YEAR
Wal-Mart announced this week that it will start cutting toy prices almost three months before Christmas. To which Santa Claus replied, “Seriously?”
Wal-Mart starts the discounting early this year [BloggingStocks]
According to The Wall Street Journal, “Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. said it will cut prices on some of the most popular toys and speed up the opening of Christmas shops in its stores nationwide as it tries to lure budget-conscious shoppers and jump start its biggest selling season.”
Wal-Mart: Coal In The Retail Industry’s Stocking [24/7 Wall St.]
Wal-Mart’s action is a typical method for burying the competition. It can afford almost endless inventory build-ups for the busy shopping season. It can pull in the very modest amount that the consumer has to spend and leave other retailers with scraps off the table.
In which Walmart explains why we’re all doomed. [Writing on the Wal]
Obviously, I’m a masochist. I actually read Walmart’s press release on its early rollback of toy prices. While the Play-Doh Ice Cream Shop would be tempting if it weren’t Walmart we’re talking about here, I was much more struck by the survey results at the bottom of the document. Most notably:
Sixty-one percent of Americans do not plan on making cut-backs on how much they spend this Christmas season.
*Those who do plan on making cut-backs, plan on cutting back $50 or less.
Don’t you think that result seems just a tad self-interested? Why is that stat there if not to convince people to spend more whether they can afford to or not? I suspect Walmart has declared Christmas early because they’re afraid nobody will have any money left in December.
After the jump, Wal-Mart shuts down DRM music downloads, managers make up their own rules and 210,000 toasters get recalled.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, October 03 | 11 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart Kicks Off Christmas 85 Days Early
Christmas decorations usually start showing up in stores starting in early November. By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, shallow panic sets in and consumers start acting like starving hyenas hungry for merchandise. Retailers only make the savage atmosphere worse by discounting for a-limited-time-only and pitting shopper against shopper for the hottest toy or lowest price. Now, a full three months before Christmas, Wal-Mart says: Let the games begin.
Wal-Mart Cuts Prices on Toys for Holidays [Dow Jones Newswire via Wall Street Journal]
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it will cut prices on some of the most popular toys and speed up the opening of Christmas shops in its stores nationwide as it tries to lure budget-conscious shoppers and jump start its biggest selling season.
Ten toys, from butterfly-winged Barbie Mariposa to Fur Real Newborn Animals, are priced at $10 apiece, the Bentonville, Ark.-based company said Wednesday.
Wal-Mart said its moves to get an early start on the holiday selling season are warranted for several reasons. Shoppers are facing higher energy prices and food costs as well as a sluggish economy and the credit crunch. They are expected to start their Christmas shopping earlier and make other changes to help stretch their holiday budgets.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Thursday, October 02 | 3 comments | Permalink
Friday Blog Round-Up: Labor Day Edition
We’ll be extremely busy this weekend relaxing and celebrating the valiant efforts of American workers, so in the meantime - a brief round up of the week’s Wal-Mart blogs.
DEADLY BASSINETS SOLD AT WAL-MART
Wal-Mart Still Selling Dangerous Cribs [WakeUpWal-Mart.com Blog]
Wal-Mart has long been plagued with recalls of dangerous products, and it has often been implicated in taking too little action about such products. Now it seems Wal-Mart is still selling a dangerous crib that is responsible for two deaths.
Here is the story yesterday at Consumeraffairs.com. I hope Wal-Mart (mentioned in this story) and other retailers have stopped selling these products, since being notified of the imminent hazard warning. And I assure readers, if SFCA’s defense somehow prevails in court, that the Congress will be quick with a technical correction to the new law.
After the jump, Wal-Mart’s local food, more on the company’s mandatory meetings and the new Marketside stores.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, August 29 | 48 comments | Permalink
Consumers Outraged Over Real Fur at Asda Stores
Wal-Mart-owned Asda has added its latest entry into the company’s history of bizarre stories. The grocer was recently forced by outraged consumers to recall pet toys made with real animal fur at 275 of its stores. One of the toys was confirmed to have been made with rabbit’s fur, which infuriated animal rights protests, arguing that fur is acquired barbaric conditions. The activists suspect that many of the toys could be made with dog or cat fur, since Asda asks few questions of its Chinese suppliers. (Read: your cat could be chewing on its cousin’s skin.) They have also called on the government to mandate labeling so that consumers can be aware which fur is real and which is synthetic. Asda’s manufacturer has called it a ‘slip-up,’ but this most recent business blunder surely leaves writers thinking “you can’t write stories this good.”
Read the full story below:
Outrage as supermarket giant sells real fur toy [Sunday Herald (U.K.)]
OUTRAGED CONSUMERS have forced supermarket giant Asda to remove pet toys made out of real fur from 275 of its stores. The consumer campaign has exposed how many items, which customers are buying on the high street in the belief that they are made from fake fur, are actually made from real fur.
Animal rights protesters noticed the Swipe’n’Sway toy, a cuddly mouse for cats to play with, in an Asda store in the Wirral near Liverpool and sent it for testing. It was found to be made from rabbit fur. Animal groups are warning that there is a chance that toys from other stores could be made from cat or dog fur because Chinese suppliers are not honest about what they are selling.
The toy found its way on to shelves after a slip-up by manufacturer, Hartz.
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Posted by Media Team on Monday, August 18 | 2 comments | Permalink
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