Fast Company: CEO Says NO to Wal-Mart

[nofoil]

The Man Who Said No to Wal-Mart

Every year, thousands of executives venture to Bentonville, Arkansas, hoping to get their products onto the shelves of the world's biggest retailer. But Jim Wier wanted Wal-Mart to stop selling his Snapper mowers.

From: Issue 102 | January 2006 | Page 66 By: Charles Fishman

What struck Jim Wier first, as he entered the Wal-Mart vice president's office, was the seating area for visitors. "It was just some lawn chairs that some other peddler had left behind as samples." The vice president's office was furnished with a folding lawn chair and a chaise lounge.

And so Wier, the CEO of lawn-equipment maker Simplicity, dressed in a suit, took a seat on the chaise lounge. "I sat forward, of course, with my legs off to the side. If you've ever sat in a lawn chair, well, they are lower than regular chairs. And I was on the chaise. It was a bit intimidating. It was uncomfortable, and it was going to be an uncomfortable meeting."

It was a Wal-Mart moment that couldn't be scripted, or perhaps even imagined. A vice president responsible for billions of dollars' worth of business in the largest company in history has his visitors sit in mismatched, cast-off lawn chairs that Wal-Mart quite likely never had to pay for.

The vice president had a bigger surprise for Wier, though. Wal-Mart not only wanted to keep selling his lawn mowers, it wanted to sell lots more of them. Wal-Mart wanted to sell mowers nose-to-nose against Home Depot and Lowe's.

"Usually," says Wier, "I don't perspire easily." But perched on the edge of his chaise, "I felt my arms getting drippy."

Wier took a breath and said, "Let me tell you why it doesn't work."

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/102/open_snapper.html?partner=aol

[pinniped]

1. Their board room is probably furnished with those cheap plastic...

white chairs that buckle when you lean back on them ( disclaimer: don't lean back on them! ).

China has probably made millions of those white chairs.

[Crazy Dave]

2. Great story.

Thanks for sharing that and the link.
:thumbsup: :hi:

[nofoil]

13. Glad you liked it!

[wicket]

15. amen to that!

:kick:

[Mind_your_head]

3. Wow - makes me want to buy a Snapper lawn mower now!

Seriously.

Good job, Jim Wier....suppliers have to start saying "No" to Wal-mart's unreasonable demands on them. This should have started long ago though....

[Born Free]

20. I wished I read it sooner

Last summer I bought a Troy-Built, which at one time was American made but I learned later it is no longer made in USA. I would have also consider the Simplicity snow thrower had I known about it being made in USA. I ended up getting the Ariens which is also made in USA. I was a little concerned that Jim Wier is no longer with Simplicity so I am not sure if the newer CEO feels the same way as Jim Wier and want to keep the Simplicity/Snapper quality and "Made in USA" more than just turn a quick profit. These days the CEO is under a lot of pressure to make more profit for todays investors rather than worry about 10 years from today. It's not only their faults, many people have their pensions in funds that expect high returns, very few think about the future consequences of this "get the most return today" attitude has on American workforce.

[Chimichurri]

4. Well done.

[nautibits]

7. ditto that well done

[AX10]

5. GOOD!

[MrPrax]

6. Related Fishman article from the vault

If you liked this article, you'll love Fishman's previous Wal-Mart story from a couple of years ago...


The Wal-Mart You Don't Know

"Therein lies the basic conundrum of doing business with the world's largest retailer. By selling a gallon of kosher dills for less than most grocers sell a quart, Wal-Mart may have provided a ser-vice for its customers. But what did it do for Vlasic? The pickle maker had spent decades convincing customers that they should pay a premium for its brand. Now Wal-Mart was practically giving them away. And the fevered buying spree that resulted distorted every aspect of Vlasic's operations, from farm field to factory to financial statement.

Indeed, as Vlasic discovered, the real story of Wal-Mart, the story that never gets told, is the story of the pressure the biggest retailer relentlessly applies to its suppliers in the name of bringing us "every day low prices." It's the story of what that pressure does to the companies Wal-Mart does business with, to U.S. manufacturing, and to the economy as a whole. That story can be found floating in a gallon jar of pickles at Wal-Mart."

Great article on aspects of Wal-Mart's supply 'model' that is far more harmful than even it's community busting.


http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html

[catabryna]

12. This is a fantastic article...

it was this one article that made me choose to no longer shop at Walmart. Mr. Wier is another hero. It's unfortunate that robots, etc. have taken jobs away from the Snapper workers, but it sounds as if the company has tried to make their business as workable as possible in a nearly unworkable manufacturing industry. At least they can still say "Made in America".

[wordpix2]

8. I, too, will buy Snapper next time I need a mower, I value longevity and

craftsmanship

[JohnyCanuck]

9. Check it out "Is Wal-Mart Good for America?"

It's a video documentary from the Frontline program on PBS. The PBS web site has links to view the documentary via streaming video on both dial up and high speed access.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/

They give both the positive (from the Wal Mart perspective) and negative aspects of Wal Marts role in the US economy. On the whole the Wal Mart spokespeople don't come off looking very good (IMHO).

[nofoil]

16. Another Video

This one has HORRIBLE production values, but tells an exceptional tale of Wal-Mart and the evil it's doing world wide: "Wal-Mart: the Hight Cost of Low Prices." It came out a few months ago. If you haven't seen it already, it's worth it. http://www.walmartmovie.com.

http://www.alternet.org/images/managed/Story+Image_thumb_walmartmovie.gif

[holboz]

10. Lawn chairs do not surprise me!

I know loads of people who have worked for the home office. When you're hired by WM you have to go to their warehouse of cast-off furniture and find yourself a desk, chair, telephone, etc. Of course this furniture is substandard, old, and often falling to bits. If you want anything better you have to pay for it yourself. How can you have pride in where you work when this is how you're treated?

Ladies and gentelmen, welcome to the world's largest retailer!

[dsc]

19. I thought only teachers had to do crap like that

though even we don't have to resort to lawn chairs.

[holboz]

11. BTW, if those chairs were left by a vendor...

then that WM Buyer is in clear violation of WM's "no gifts" policy. and that vendor will be in the shit as well.

[SuperWonk]

14. Wow

Not many people can stand up to Wal-Mart and turn down all the potential money they could give your company. You gotta respect that.

[Scout1071]

17. I once worked for a small company that made it into Wal-Mart.

This company partnered with a larger well known company and got in the door with Wal-Mart. The pitch went well and they loved the product. They indicated they were interested and wanted to see all the cost info. They returned to us and said "we love the product, here is the price we will buy it at."

We said, "but that is the lowest we can get it produced in the US."

They said, "we don't give a shit about that - do you want us to sell the product or not?"

And so began the relationship between this small business and the manufacturing plants in China.........

And so went the business for several regional companies we had previously relied on to make the product.....

[nofoil]

18. Incredible!

And you wonder why our economy is about to tank.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

21. I've been e-mailing this around to lots of people.

A great story, and a good lesson for a lot of small companies.