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Despite its best efforts, Wal-Mart could not hold off Barack Obama and the incoming Democratic wave hitting our nation’s capital. When asked about the election results, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott, in a letter to associates, said Wal-Mart was committed to working with either party.

“A number of associates asked me how our company viewed the election and what our post-election plans were. I told those associates that this is clearly a time of great opportunity for our country, and also a time of great challenge. I reminded them that last June I said that Wal-Mart looked forward to working with the new President and Congress, regardless of party, to find solutions to our challenges. We are even more committed to that objective today.”

Talk about revisionist history. Wal-Mart, since the beginning of the campaign, made it clear to everyone that the company would rather deal with John McCain. While disappointment is in the air in Bentonville, regular associates around the country should rejoice. Now workers have an advocate in the White House!

So where does Wal-Mart go from here? It looks like Wal-Mart has decided to hire a new set of “reputation warriors” and other government relations personnel to mislead inform Congress about two key issues – health care and sustainability. These new directors will beg for mercy advocate for Wal-Mart’s interests on Capitol Hill.

I think we are all familiar with Wal-Mart’s benefits package and green campaign. Good luck to the brave souls who fill these positions, you will need all the help you can get.

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Wal-Mart is the Madonna of retailers - constantly re-inventing itself. 

At this week’s Analysts’ meeting, Wal-Mart announced that it was going to focus its investments on improving current stores and expanding internationally in 2009.  Apparently they got the party started early.  In a story from the Northwest Arkansas Daily News, Fayetteville, Arkansas residents got a taste of Wal-Mart’s new look.  Having already updated their logo, they are taking it several steps forward by using “light and color” to tie the different departments of the store together, in an attempt to create a more efficient, cohesive, and pleasant shopping experience.

Wal-Mart has historically focused less on store appearance, and more on driving-down prices.  In years past, Wal-Mart stores were characterized by large, industrial steel shelving with products stacked into the stratosphere, lighting like a coroner’s office, narrow yet crowded isles, and an all-around depressing and stressful shopping experience.  Wal-Mart’s Vice President for Store Appearance (must be a new position), Joe Tapper, addresses some of these problems in a story from BusinessWeek:

“We’re trying to make it more experiential, rather than just stuff we’re selling...We’ve placed emphasis on making it more enjoyable. Having shelves filled with cardboard boxes worked for a time, but has seen its day, Tapper said.”

This move could, in part, be due to the fact that Target stores tend to have a reputation of being cleaner, more stylish and more organized than Wal-Mart.  Some people recognize this and it can have an effect on where they shop.  Wal-Mart has studied the shopping habits of it’s customers and it’s customers, themselves.  This store platform will eventually see the debut of Wal-Mart’s ”Smart Network” which monitors customer activity and displays advertisements based on time of day or who is in the store.  They have certainly have come up with some interesting information.  This quote from BusinessWeek made my all-time top 15 favorite quotes from Wal-Mart Execs:

“Our signs are more female-friendly,” Tapper said. “The signs are all curved. Those things have been looked at and we’re trying to make those more friendly.”

As a man, I have always preferred the signs at my grocery store to be straight, not curved.  Everyone knows curved signs are for women - even Wal-Mart.  What a zinger.

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Wal-Mart’s official company position on politics is bipartisan, but glimpses into Wal-Mart’s corporate culture reveal this is far from true. Daily Kos diarist Arkydem wrote a post today about a party his adult daughter attended in northwest Arkansas hosted by two Wal-Mart executives. From the sound of it, Wal-Mart’s executive corps is made up entirely of the insensitive meatheads you hated in high school, but instead of teasing you about your lame off-brand sneakers, now they tease you about not being a Republican. Says Arkydem:

I live in the Republican stronghold of Arkansas, the northwest corner. The home of over 7,000 Wal-Mart employees and since early 2002 when Wal-Mart made the announcement that if you’re a vendor, you set up shop here, adding another 30-40K folks and a sea of vendor offices all over the county, all carrying the misinformation and hate that corporate Wal-Mart spreads through its ranks and its vendor slaves about Democrats and about a million other things.

Wal-Mart strives to be seen as a politically neutral company for several reasons. The politics of Wal-Mart have never been positive for the company: low wages, poor benefits and other stingy practices have dogged the retailer for years, and have damaged its reputation. The farther the company can distance itself from these issues, the better. But Wal-Mart is also desperate to break in to several predominantly Democrat markets, and aligning with Republican values never helps this cause. Stories like Arkydem’s present a real problem for Wal-Mart, and seriously hamper its attempts to woo Democrats. Stories like this one don’t help much either, but no one said the company was interested in actually changing its practices to achieve change.

They Attacked our Daughter [Daily Kos]
Wal-Mart on the attack [Arkansas Times]

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WAL-MART TO BUILD NEAR PROTECTED CIVIL WAR BATTLEFIELDS?

Wal-Mart and the Wilderness. [Hardtac and Hard Times]

Before I say another word, let me remind you that the Civil War Preservation Trust is NOT a knee-jerk, anti-development group; we do not assume that all developers are bad people, and we do not oppose responsible economic growth. In fact, there are several developers who have worked very closely with us to save battlefield land. We welcome and seek out such partnerships!

Stop Wal-Mart [Rantings Of A Civil War Historian]

There are three major corporations that I absolutely despise. I absolutely and categorically refuse to do business with two of them...The third is the Walton empire. Wal-Mart is notorious for forcing its way into communities and killing off local businesses, whether it’s wanted or not. In many instances, it’s not wanted, but it matters not to Wal-Mart. The latest atrocity by Wal-Mart is probably the most unforgivable of all: it wants to build one of its superstores ON the Wilderness battlefield, regardless of the historical significance of the ground, and regardless of what the community might have to say about it. It MUST be stopped.

CWPT Leads Effort To Stop Wal-Mart At The Wilderness [National Trust For Historic Preservation]

Leading the charge against the Wal-Mart plan are CWPT and the Warrenton-based Piedmont Environmental Council. Their “Wilderness Battlefield Coalition” also includes the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Parks Conservation Association, Friends of the Wilderness, and Friends of the Fredericksburg Area Battlefields. Representatives of all six organizations signed the letter.

Wal-Mart is Wiping Out American History - Literally [La Vida Locavore]

Now Wal-Mart wants to do more than just censoring books and music, putting entire towns’ worth of Moms ‘n Pops out of business, and basically selling America to China to wipe out American culture and history. What could be worse and more un-American than that? Oh, funny you should ask. They want to build a Supercenter on the site of the Civil War Battle of Wilderness.

THE UNIONIZATION OF WAL-MART CANADA

Wal-Mart is not above the law. [Writing On The Wal]

So what did I miss while I was in lovely Southern California? “Gatineau Wal-Mart workers awarded contract: Arbitrator imposes only labour pact for retailing giant in North America” [Yes, I see that Robert has already covered this story, but do you really expect me to leave news like this alone?] My source, The Ottawa Citizen offers the full context:

Wal-Mart: 8 Unionized Employees [Mindful Mission]

“Incompatible?" Really? Paying decent wages and giving decent benefits are “incompatible” with the way you do business? Thanks for reminding me why I have not shopped at Wal-Mart in years.

TOM COUGHLIN RAKES IN THE CASH

Wal-Mart, Coughlin settle [Arkansas Blog]

The Morning News account indicates Judge Jay Finch ordered reporters out of the courtroom on the ground that it was a meeting room where parties were discussing settlement. But the minute the judge and a court reporter sat down to have an agreement entered into the record, I’d think court was in session. Absent a compelling reason not apparent here, the session should have been open.

I’ve been doing this Wal-Mart blogging thing for far too long [Writing On The Wal]

This is my first greatest hits post, devoted to the guy who’s now $6.75 million richer, Tom Coughln. Here’s me from July 19, 2005…

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Just one day after this release chronicling Wal-Mart’s continuing reputation problems and the impact they have on the company’s business, a new study from the UK shows Wal-Mart’s branding is struggling overseas as well.

The Superbrands Council conducts an annual poll surveying the top UK brands. According to the group’s website, “Every year we commission an independent research process that asks a panel of experts and thousands of consumers their opinion on literally every major UK brand.” The survey included a wide range of consumer brands and ranked them according to respondents’ impressions of the company.

Wal-Mart’s wholly-owned UK subsidiary, Asda, dropped a whopping 253 places since last year’s survey, and came in a lowly #439 out of 500 companies, directly behind Kentucky Fried Chicken.

As we mentioned yesterday, the company’s continuing reputation for low wages, employee mistreatment, unethical sourcing and environmental damage undoubtedly contribute to its low scores in surveys such as this. It’s in Wal-Mart’s best interest to improve its brand quality from the bottom up, raising wages for its lowest earning employees and taking responsibility for its social impact all along its production chain.

Google ‘UK’s top consumer brand’ [BBC News]
Official Top 500 Superbrands 2008/09 (PDF) [Superbrands]
Wal-Mart’s Reputation Problems Continue [Wal-Mart Watch Press Release]

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Wal-Mart has spent the last year desperately trying to improve its reputation. The company has bombarded consumers with new marketing, including a new logo, a new company tag line, and a new, friendly name - “Walmart.” The retailer also hired a new ad agency and launched a massive environmental marketing initiative, all aimed at eradicating criticisms of the company’s business practices.

Two new polls show these efforts are failing. The two surveys - from Harris Interactive (PDF) and the Reputation Institute (PDF) - indicate shoppers still don’t trust Wal-Mart, in spite of the retailer’s massive marketing overhaul.  The poll results support Wal-Mart Watch’s fall 2007 public opinion poll findings, which showed shoppers increasingly cite Wal-Mart’s poor business practices as a reason not to shop at the retailer’s stores.

Wal-Mart’s reputation remains the biggest obstacle to the company’s long-term growth potential, as its reputation affects both its ability to reach new shoppers and to build new stores. Both of these strategies are crucial to the company’s long term success, but are hampered by Wal-Mart’s recurring reputation problems.

Wal-Mart Watch Executive Director David Nassar said in a release, “There’s no doubt that Wal-Mart is profiting from the economic downturn and cash-strapped consumers. But, recent public opinion surveys indicate that although people are shopping there, they aren’t happy about it because they are still concerned about Wal-Mart’s poor business practices.”

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