According to The Christian Science Monitor: “In Britain, carbon footprinting – used initially to broadly measure environmental impact across a company’s entire operations – is morphing into an eco-labeling tool.” This after a British group reported that 80% of a product’s carbon footprint is laid before the consumer actually drives out and buys or uses it.
Unfortunately, carbon-labeling appears to be a tool Wal-Mart believes the American consumer isn’t ready for.
As for carbon-labeling, Wal-Mart’s senior vice president of sustainability, Matt Kistler, says that he doubted existing methodologies and the Wal-Mart customer’s ability to relate carbon with consumer merchandise. “I’m not sure the consumer will ever make a purchase based on the carbon footprint,” he says, “especially the mass consumer.”
Possible. But I think Mr. Kistler underestimates the public’s knowledge on the issue. Sure, many consumers may not know what exactly a carbon-footprint is, but the majority have probably at least heard the term and know it relates in some way to the environment. Carbon-labeling may not affect the buying habits of the majority, yet even if a small percentage of Wal-Mart shoppers were to see the labels and be moved to research the issue further, that can’t be a bad thing, right?
Those making efforts to examine their carbon footprints often do so without transparency – essential to generating both customer support and supply-chain innovation.
At Wal-Mart, consumer transparency is largely tied in to its corporate press releases, a growing assortment of eco-labeled products, and in-store awareness campaigns. A more robust effort is the company’s “Love, Earth” jewelry, which enables customers to use the Internet to map where the jewelry’s gold and silver were mined and manufactured, including information on how the mines manage cyanide and waste dumps.
Are you ready to go on a carbon diet? [The Christian Science Monitor]
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Posted by Corey Himrod | Permalink
Apparently, the highly-publicized annual Wal-Mart analyst’s meeting served a purpose other than announcing that Wal-Mart plans to: scale-down domestic expansion, improve existing stores, and embark on foreign conquest. They also announced a new venture from Sam’s Club, slated to debut in Houston next year. It is a new club-format store, geared toward Hispanics, creatively titled: Más Club ("More Club” in Spanish. They could name every Sam’s this, no?).
The clubs will feature an expanded selection of Hispanic foods and products produced in Mexico and Latin America. The Houston Chronicle reports that the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia, has estimated that the Hispanic population will account for 1.2 trillion dollars of spending power by 2012 - and Sam’s Club wants a piece of the action.
The store looks to drape itself Hispanic culture, featuring a cafe that sells ‘fresh’ tortillas (sounds delicious) and branding itself in the red, green and white of Mexican flag. Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Sam’s Club is quoted in Reuters:
“Our objective is to create an additional shopping choice that provides currently unavailable value for families, restaurant owners, convenience stores and more...”
McMillon chose not to discuss Mas Club’s suppliers. Given that it will be carrying mostly Hispanic products, “Mas Club” might actually break a new Wal-Mart record for percentage of products not made in the U.S. But Latin American suppliers beware. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is notorious for bullying down their suppliers to sell products at a price they can barely afford (Vlasic, Levis).
While the first store is to serve as a prototype, The Northwest Arkansas Morning News said McMillon is ”pumped” about the new chain, which will also feature gas stations…
Posted by Luke West | Permalink
Curbing carbon emissions is a crucial part of environmentalism, but its an issue which Wal-Mart has been slow to address. In 2005, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott announced plans to reduce Wal-Mart’s massive carbon footprint, with the ultimate goal of carbon neutrality from the company. Carbon offset programs – methods of shifting the burden of carbon elimination to a third-party – were an imperative part of that plan.
To better implement these carbon offset programs – and to avoid misleading marketing claims about the process – the Federal Trade Commission began work standardizing offsets and regulating the process. Wal-Mart, however, had other ideas about the process.
Herein lays the scandal: Despite the company’s “green” initiatives, Wal-Mart is actively lobbying against the clarification of offset guidelines. The company’s hypocritical stance on the issue came to light last week in a hearing of the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC is attempting to modernize the “Green Guides,” guidelines issued for corporations defining acceptable marketing claims regarding environmental products and initiatives. In response to the FTC’s solicitation of retailer comment to guide the process, Wal-Mart’s Director of Energy Regulation, Angela Beehler, expressed Wal-Mart’s firm opposition towards the clarified scope and definition of carbon offsets:
Wal-Mart’s Comments to U.S. Federal Trade Commission (PDF)
Although some may urge otherwise, the Commission should resist the temptation to define what constitutes an eligible offset or REC. Doing so would require the Commission to resolve highly technical environmental debates that are beyond its expertise…
The Commission should recognize that in the absence of a governmental definition or a widespread consensus about the precise contours of what constitutes a carbon offset or a REC, there may be multiple ways to establish a reasonable basis for such claims.
Beehler’s words reveal Wal-Mart refuses to endorse even a proper definition of a “carbon offset,” and it follows that the corporation is uninterested in the transparency necessary to ensure the legitimacy of its environmental claims.
Wal-Mart’s attempt to keep offsets guidelines vague shows the company is more interested in marketing potential than actual environmental change. Unspecific standards would allow the retailer to ‘commit’ to carbon-neutrality, without providing much real documentation. A responsible, sustainable corporation would place the necessity of carbon-offset clarification and oversight in front of the bottom-line.
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Posted by Tony Calero | Permalink
Less than 12 hours after the story broke in the WSJ, news coverage of Wal-Mart’s politically coercive means has reached a fever pitch. We feature the media coverage in the wake of Wall Street Journal’s expose, “Wal-Mart Warns of Democratic Win.”
Wal-Mart denies that it told employees how to vote [Associated Press]
Wal-Mart Watch, a union-backed group that has criticized the company for what it calls skimpy pay and benefits and poor treatment of its workers, said in a statement that the article “demonstrates once again that Wal-Mart intimidates its workers.” The group, which supplied some of the sources to The Wall Street Journal, said the stories cited in the article are “consistent” with numerous reports it has received in the past week.
The development deals a blow to Wal-Mart’s reputation just as the company has started seeing its image improve and criticism diminish as it works to improve benefits and push through its “Save money, live better” campaign.
Wal-Mart warning managers of labor bill [Reuters]
Wal-Mart opposes proposed legislation called the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier for workers to unionize by signing a card rather than holding a vote.
“We believe EFCA is a bad bill and we have been on record as opposing it for some time,” Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar said. “We feel educating our associates about the bill is the right thing to do.”
Wal-Mart warning workers off Democrats [Salon.com]
The law in question is the Employee Free Choice Act, which is supported by Democrats and would replace secret balloting when workers choose a union with a “card check” system, something likely to result in increased union membership.
The meetings appear to be legal, though the company may be treading on thin ice by bringing in the department supervisors.
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Posted by Tony Calero | Permalink
Jul07
The End of Suburbia
A fascinating 52-minute documentary about the rise and fall of suburbia and the suburban way of life: car-bound, oil-dependent and ever-consuming. It’s a model that Wal-Mart depends on, but as this documentary explains, it’s a model that probably won’t last another 50 years. [Via]
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Feel like celebrating America this weekend? A trip to Wal-Mart isn’t the way to do it. The retailer has been damaging American jobs and American communities for decades, and this Fourth of July isn’t any different.
Exporting Manufacturing Jobs. Jobs that were once the backbone of the American economy have been exported to countries where labor is cheaper and standards are lower. Wal-Mart has played a critical role in this process, using its size and market share to force manufacturers overseas.
Damaging U.S. Communities Wal-Mart makes a lot of promises when it builds a new store. Town councils are often dazzled by the company’s promises of more jobs and increased revenue, but these promises rarely pan out. The retailer drains municipal resources by forcing its employees on state-sponsored health care, getting subsidies from local governments and frequently undercutting its property and income taxes. Read more about Wal-Mart’s impact on communities >>
Devaluing Retail Sector Jobs. Wal-Mart often woos communities with promises of more jobs, but what communities frequently don’t take in to account is the quality of these jobs. Wal-Mart pays bare minimum wages, and even lowers the overall employment rate of an area by shutting down competing businesses. Just last year, Chicago refused Wal-Mart’s request to build a store on the south side of the city, citing the company’s low wages as the reason. Read more about Wal-Mart’s wages and labor policies >>
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
You gotta hand it to Wal-Mart: when that company does something, it does it all the way. While most companies couldn’t break the law two million times if they tried, Wal-Mart has managed to do just that - and that’s in Minnesota alone. A recent case found that Wal-Mart has violated Minnesota state labor law two million times by forcing employees to work without breaks and without full pay.
The judge in the case called Wal-Mart’s labor policies “dehumanizing and reprehensible,” reinforcing what labor activists have long maintained about working conditions in the company’s stores. As details of the case come to light, Wal-Mart’s mechanized stinginess leaves little room for sympathy and instead reveal just how coldly calculating the retailer can be. Reporters, labor activists and bloggers weigh in.
Always Low Motives. Always. [Condé Nast Portfolio]
A million violations here, a million violations there: Pretty soon they being to add up. What they’ve added up to for Wal-Mart is at least $6.5 million in damages—and potentially much, much more…
Even worse for Wal-Mart: This is only one of 70 similar cases pending in courts across the country.
King, for one, sounded unsympathetic. “Wal-Mart’s failure to compensate plaintiffs was willful,” he wrote in a 150-page decision. “Wal-Mart was on notice from numerous sources of the wage and hour violations at issue and failed to correct the problem.”
More after the jump.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Rapper and multi-talented entertainer Percy Miller (better known as “Master P”) has announced that he and his son Romeo will rerelease their clothing line, P. Miller Designs, exclusively through Wal-Mart. The move comes years after the line had previously been released through the department stores Mervyn’s and Kohl’s, and serves as the latest example of a previously anti-establishment music act going completely corporate.
Given Master P’s impressive track-record of community involvement, not to mention his work with the NAACP, one would hope that he would be critical enough of Wal-Mart’s disproportionate effect on and discrimination against members of his own community that he would be unwilling to sign repeated exclusive deals with them. With the launch of his new record label “Take A Stand” well underway, we hope that Master P won’t continue to fall to the fantastical rhymes of the world’s largest retailer.
Reuters has the story: Wal-Mart finds rappers Master P, Romeo a fashion fit
Master P and his son, fellow hip-hop hit-maker Romeo, have agreed to relaunch their P. Miller Designs apparel line exclusively through Wal-Mart, Billboard has learned.
The father-son duo’s brand of men’s apparel will be available at about 350 Wal-Mart stores starting in July and will include graphic T-shirts, fleece hoodies and fashion denims. The P. Miller line was last available at such retailers as Kohl’s and Mervyns “a few years ago,” Master P (aka Percy Miller) said.
The veteran rapper said that Wal-Mart was a logical vendor for P. Miller Designs, which he described as “high fashion at an affordable cost.” Master P said he has shifted most responsibilities for the clothing line to 18-year-old Romeo.
“Wal-Mart stands for everything P. Miller does,” he said. “It’s America and diversity. Our whole thing is price point. I want to put out affordable clothes where the masses can buy them.”
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Posted by Joel Nezianya | Permalink
After roundly defeating insurance group Wellpoint in the sweet 16, Wal-Mart has made it to the semi-semi finals of Consumerist’s Worst Company in America contest, this time going head to head with American Airlines. Personally, charging $15 for checked bags just doesn’t seem as bad as systematically undercutting millions of workers and employees worldwide, but we’ll let democracy decide. Show your support - GO VOTE!
Wal-Mart:
“They undercut the bottom lines of companies so much that the company barely gets a profit - but if the company says “No, I can’t afford to switch all my manufacturing to 5 gallon jars of pickles”, Walmart says they won’t carry any of that brand’s products. Period.”“Wal-Mart: Squeeze your vendors, not your customers. “
“The truth was that Wal-Mart paid Logitech to use Logitech’s Chinese production centers so that they could make items which looked very similar to the normal product lines, but which had components in them which were solely the responsibility of Wal-Mart (ie, not purchased, inventoried, or in any way guaranteed or the responsibility of Logitech). Wal-Mart just paid a certain amount per unit to put their crap into a shiny Logitech box and have the Logitech logo shown on it.”
“I bought a GE Skillet from them a while back and it was a piece of shit. To find out why, I checked the box and it said something like “made for Wal-Mart” and ever since then, when I do venture into Wal-Mart I always check for that label.”
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Research group Harris Interactive published this week the findings of their most recent “Reputation Quotient,” a ranking of major U.S. companies based on reputation. In this year’s report Wal-Mart had one of the largest drops in reputation value, ranking third worst overall - just behind corporate-misbehavior poster child Haliburton. The study also notes that despite being extremely well-known among consumers, Wal-Mart ranked poorly on a “sincerity” scale.
This news comes after Wal-Mart has spent more than two years trying to improve its reputation, during which time the company has hired numerous P.R. firms to convince consumers it is not only more sustainable, but a more friendly employer, too. So why hasn’t it been more successful? Harris perhaps provides the answer, noting “The most essential item in evaluating a company’s social responsibility is treatment of employees, including labor practices and human rights. Personal health and safety is a close second.”
For all its environmental platitudes, Wal-Mart has done little to address concerns of human rights violations in its supply chain, raise wages for U.S. employees or improve the quality of health care available to store associates. The company’s ongoing reputation for wage-and-hour violations and lack of care for injured employees only damage its reputation further. It’s time the retailer took some responsibility for these actions and realized cutting corners on human rights just isn’t worth it.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
The Northwest Arkansas Morning News released over the weekend a Kim Morrison piece on some of the largest legal cases currently pending against Wal-Mart, and most of the findings really shouldn’t come as a surprise at this point. There is, of course, the Dukes gender discrimination suit, and the multitude of wage and hour cases pending - the full extent of which you can also see here, on Wal-Mart’s SEC filing. The two largest wage/hour cases to date - Savaglio and Braun/Hummel - have resulted in combined judgments of over $350 million against Wal-Mart, although the cases are currently in the appeals stages, so Wal-Mart has yet to pay a cent.
What you might find really interesting in the story is the way a company the size of Wal-Mart plans ahead for the day it will have to make a possible million billion-dollar payout:
“It’s not like they wouldn’t be able to pay the light bill if they had a billion dollar settlement,” said Patricia Edwards, fund manager with San Francisco-based Wentworth, Hauser and Violic. “It wouldn’t be good, don’t get me wrong. But the low point in cash last year at quarter end was just short of $5 billion.”
Edwards said Wal-Mart reserves cash for potential future lawsuit payouts so there would be a reduced impact on shareholders in the event of such a case. With Wal-Mart’s ability to absorb some of the impact, a billion dollar payout may show up in earnings as a loss of 5 cents per share, Edwards said.
Well that is certainly good to know, that Wal-Mart - instead of making sure its female employees are treated equally, and ALL of its employees are provided adequate breaks and paid for the overtime they work - has socked plenty of money away underneath its $150 bargain mattresses to pay for its legal shortcomings.
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Posted by Corey Himrod | Permalink
Wal-Mart has, unsurprisingly, been the target of more lawsuits than one can count over the years. The company’s treatment of it workers and “save money at all costs” mentality has resulted in a flood of legal challenges ranging from single plaintiff suits to multi-million dollar class actions. Dukes v. Wal-Mart is of course one large example (the largest class action in American history, actually), as are the myriad wage/hour/overtime class actions the company faces.
Just as important as those large class actions, however, are the countless suits filed by individual plaintiffs – the tiny David trying to win justice over Wal-Mart’s Goliath. We at Wal-Mart Watch will be focusing on one of these stories each week, highlighting those cases that warrant further attention because of the light each sheds in its own way on how Wal-Mart does business.
Anita Loya (And yes, that is her real name…)
Ms. Loya was an employee at the Wal-Mart store in Deming, a small city in the southwest corner of New Mexico about sixty miles west of Las Cruces. In January of 2006, Loya filed a complaint against her store manager, Les Williams, claiming she had been discriminated against and sexually harassed. Amazingly enough she was not fired, and in fact Wal-Mart did indeed investigate her allegations. Meanwhile, Loya transferred in May to a Wal-Mart store up in Silver City while the investigation was ongoing. The parties entered into mediation in June 2006, but that tactic failed, and soon after Les Williams was officially the ex Store Manager at the Deming Wal-Mart.
That, you would think, would be the end of our tale. The victim was at a new store. The guilty party, following investigation, had been terminated. Done? Finito? End of story?? Unfortunately, not so much.
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Posted by Corey Himrod | Permalink
The debate continues over whether Wal-Mart’s efforts to shape up are actually genuine, or merely the result of a well-crafted PR campaign. I think it’s fair to say: both. Perhaps the biggest problem this debate reveals is Wal-Mart’s lack of transparency. Despite the retailer’s dominant presence in communities across the country, no one really knows how it runs its business. What we do know, however, is that Wal-Mart will do anything to fight the negative publicity it’s received in recent years. As Wal-Mart Watch’s executive director David Nassar says in the article, “Wal-Mart heard the criticism and is trying to do something to address it. All the changes it’s made so far have passed costs onto someone else, whether it’s a health care plan that’s increasing costs for workers or environmental initiatives that pass costs on to suppliers.”
Creating a Better Rep: Wal-Mart Undergoes An Image Turnaround [Women’s Wear Daily]
Talk about a turnaround.
Wal-Mart not too long ago was making headlines almost weekly as critics lambasted the retailer for its pay practices, pollution and rapaciousness. Now it’s being held up as one of the retail world’s better corporate citizens. Along the way, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. executives — famously insular and focused principally on what founder Sam Walton would have done — have become more outspoken, open to outsiders’ views and adaptable.
Thanks to a multimillion-dollar public relations and marketing campaign, aggressive environmental initiatives and price rollbacks billed as the retailer’s very own “economic stimulus package,” the company is out to recast itself as a champion of the environment and a benevolent big business.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Wal-Mart has, unsurprisingly, been the target of more lawsuits that one can count over the years. The company’s treatment of it workers and “save money at all costs” mentality has resulted in a flood of legal challenges ranging from single plaintiff suits to multi-million dollar class actions. Dukes v. Wal-Mart is of course one large example (the largest class action in American history, actually), as are the myriad wage/hour/overtime class actions the company faces.
Just as important as those large class actions, however, are the countless suits filed by individual plaintiffs – the tiny David trying to win justice over Wal-Mart’s Goliath. We at Wal-Mart Watch will be focusing on one of these stories each week, highlighting those cases that warrant further attention because of the light each sheds in its own way on how Wal-Mart does business.
Tenna Hopkins was hired by Wal-Mart as an associate way back in 1984 – the year the Russians and others boycotted the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles;” the year the Space Shuttle Discovery made its inaugural flight; the year the first Apple Macintosh went on sale. On August 21, 2006, 22 years later, Tenna Hopkins was a store manager at a Wal-Mart Store in Daytona Beach, Florida. On August 22, 2006, Tenna Hopkins was out of a job.
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Posted by Corey Himrod | Permalink
Yesterday came news that hard rock band AC/DC had signed a distribution deal with Wal-Mart. Bloggers expressed outrage and disappointment over the deal, but AC/DC fans aren’t the first to be disappointed by their band’s decision to partner with Wal-Mart
Genesis signed a deal with Wal-Mart last year for the exclusive US distribution rights to the band’s “When In Rome” tour DVD. Sales of the DVD started just this week.
Genesis’ partnership with the retailer is especially shocking, given the band’s humanitarian reputation and Wal-Mart’s notoriously bad business practices. Phil Collins has spent many years working on issues ranging from animal rights to children’s charities to homelessness. In the same time, Wal-Mart has worked on lowering wages, avoiding local taxes, and increasing its use of sweatshop production.
Collins’ work on these issues is admirable, and he should follow through with it by renouncing this partnership with Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has a shameful track record on many of the issues Phil Collins cares about, including raising people out of poverty and building strong communities.
Record deals with Wal-Mart are inevitably profitable, but bands should also be thinking about the practices they endorse by signing a deal with the retailer. Fans have long admired Genesis for its socially-progressive message - how will its deal with Wal-Mart influence those supporters?
Posted by Media Team | Permalink
Two days ago, we asked our readers what Wal-Mart should discuss at its annual shareholders meeting. We’ve already gotten hundreds of responses, with issues ranging from health care to expansion practices to the company’s green campaign. Go to our speakout page to add your own thoughts. Here’s a sampling of what we’ve already received:
- The high cost of Wal-Mart’s health insurance for employee & child and/or family coverage. I currently work at Wal-Mart in Mt. Airy MD and will no be able to get insurance for myself or my son because if I do I will not be able afford to take him to daycare and pay for gas to come to work.
- Better health care and wages for your employees. Shame on you for paying all these celebrities money to be at your board meeting when that money could be spent on your employees.
- Expand the “Green” program by building all new Wal-Mart buildings to be LEEDs energy efficient certified!
- I am a shareholder and concerned with two issues. I’m unimpressed with the scheming that management devises to evade treating its employees fairly, equitably and humanely. I am also unimpressed with the inordinate dependence on Chinese-made goods, some of which have been shown to be very harmful. What is management doing to address these two issues?
- Is is possible for Wal-Mart to return to it’s previous vote of confidence in America by stocking, selling and promoting products made in America (I mean the 50 states), They have the power to re-ignite the American economy by selling US products. A move like this would provide jobs for US workers and would make Wal-Mart look like a hero. Can Wal-Mart stop supporting China and their poorly made and often times dangerous products? Be a hero Wal-Mart. -buy and sell American made products!
- An honest discussion of Wal-marts goals for growth and whether these are sustainable. For instance, does Wal-Mart really need to get into New York City? Do they really need a market in Japan? I personally liken Wal-Mart to a cancer because cancer is a system which has broken off from the whole and is only interested in its own growth. This describes Wal-Mart perfectly.
- Have a Heart, leave Schnecksville , PA alone. You took our factories and our small stores, and are ruining our small towns. Get lost in PA.
- Walmart is planning on opening a store in Blacksburg, Virginia right next to a school in a residential neighborhood. Town council was tricked by Fairmont developers and is bringing the case to Virginia Supreme Court. Why start off on the wrong foot? There is pleanty of room in rural Southwest Virginia to find another site. Sincerely, Karin Gregory.
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Posted by Media Team | Permalink
Wal-Mart Watch executive director David Nassar spoke to host Pete Dominik on Sirius Satellite Radio this afternoon, discussing Wal-Mart’s business practices, the company’s health care plan and its impact on American jobs. Click here to hear the full interview.
Posted by Media Team | Permalink
May22
What Would Jesus Buy?
On their trip across America, Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping stop at the Wal-Mart home office, hoping to exorcise the retailer’s headquarters of its consumerist demons. It’s only one stop on the group’s trip, which includes shopping malls decked out for Christmas and Main Street USA in Disney World.
“What Would Jesus Buy,” the documentary film following Reverend Billy on his crusade against consumerism, premiered in 2007. Newsweek reviewed the film, saying “The new film is Reverend Billy’s tour de farce—a ferociously satirical and cynical take on consumer culture, pegged to America’s most sacred spending season.” “What Would Jesus Buy?” comes out on DVD next week. Order a copy now and use the code “WALWATCH” to get five dollars off the retail price.
The irony of buying a DVD about anti-consumerism has not escaped us, but Reverend Billy’s message is worth spreading. Share this DVD with friends or organize a screening. The movie’s website has material for home screenings, including posters and resource guides. Repent now before the Shopocalypse is upon us!
Posted by Media Team | Permalink
Wal-Mart enters the second round of elimination in Consumerist’s Worst Company in America competition, this time going up against Citibank. Though both companies have a laundry list of complaints stacked against them, Citibank’s tend to revolve around customer service issues. Wal-Mart, on the other hand, gets taken to task for broad, systemic problems with the company like low wages, habit of bullying suppliers and running small businesses into the ground. From the evidence against the retailer:
“walmart knowingly uses its size against its manuafacterers. When walmart says they will sell a manufacturer’s product the manufacturer first gets a decent deal from walmart, but has to retool & buy more manufacturing facilities in order to meet walmart’s demand. THEN once the manufacturer is in debt & dependant upon walmart.... walmart puts the squeeze on.... demanding lower costs. And this happens every time the contract is negotiated and eventually the manufacturer goes under.”
More testimonials after the jump.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
A report released today by market research firm Clark, Martire and Bartolomeo revealed some rather unsurprising news: consumers do not perceive Wal-Mart to be a gay friendly business. While this may be great news to some supposedly ”pro-family” associations, it’s bad news for Wal-Mart. According to the same report, gay and lesbian consumers are nearly 70% more likely to patronize a business they perceive to be gay friendly. For example, Apple, who recently surpassed Wal-Mart as the top music retailer, was perceived to be the most gay friendly of any retailer.
Unfortunately, these consumer perceptions are backed by Wal-Mart policy. The Human Rights Campaign’s 2008 Buying for Equality Guide gave Wal-Mart a ‘red rating’ which reflects that it offers no domestic partner benefits and its discrimination policy does not include gender identity and/or expression. Wal-Mart refuses to address the concerns of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community citing its policy to avoid “highly controversial issues”. The real controversy, however, is Wal-Mart’s stagnant social policies and an inability to adapt to the growing needs and demands of an increasingly diverse population.
Posted by Michael Mignano | Permalink
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