LAT: Wal-Mart Ad Aims to Counter Criticism

[DeepModem Mom]

Wal-Mart Ad Aims to Counter Criticism
An open letter in 15 newspapers begins the retailer's effort to boost its image in California.

By Debora Vrana, Times Staff Writer


In the first step of a statewide effort to polish its reputation, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. published a newspaper advertisement Thursday promoting its employment practices and promising to continue its expansion in California....

***

In its letter, Wal-Mart said, "We've become a target for negative comments from certain elected officials, competitors and powerful special interest groups." The missive said the company pays competitive wages averaging $10.37 an hour in California.

It also reaffirmed the company's plans to build as many as 40 Supercenter stores in the state "over the next few years."

Wal-Mart also said it offered medical coverage to full- and part-time employees and that the stores generate "significant tax revenue for local communities."

Wal-Mart Supercenters — which combine a full supermarket with its traditional discount store — will save Southern California consumers at least $3.7 billion, or $589 per household, annually once Wal-Mart reaches 20% market share in the region, the letter said....


http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-wmt24sep24,1,1990161.story?coll=la-home-business

[Jon8503]

1. But are they going to do the right thing?-------- and

just start being fair to their employees or just to a promo ad for themselves.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. and will destroy the mom and pop stores

that are the heart and soul of a community. Don't expect friendliness or even good service from Wal-Mart. Selection and quality of products will go down, too. Here in Arkansas, home of the corporate giant, I think wages are around seven bucks an hour. Don't know about benefits, but I do know that if you quit your Wal-Mart job, you won't be hired back. When Sam Walton was alive, things were different (he promoted products made in the US, for example), but since his death, Wal-Mart has become the store to avoid.

[gavodotcom]

3. Hurry up Wal-Mart and gimme my cheap Chinese plastic crap! (EOM)

.

[pinniped]

4. These pricks are hardly victims.

n/t

[nolabels]

23. Your words are much too kind.....................

I would plaster them up as the scourge of the earth


http://mysite.verizon.net/res7oi6w/

[ima_sinnic]

5. oh blah blah blah blah--what about the SUPPLIERS you ruin?

greedhead Walton family (UGH!! that name fits them to a T!)--talk about crass "nouveau riche" vampires--rake in more dough than several small countries, more than anyone could spend in a thousand lifetimes, yet not only can't pay the Chinese sweatshop child laborers even the Chinese minimum wage, have to have all factories retooled to MallWart's unique high-volume, low-expense specs--perhaps for just one specialty item. At some point, though, those factories are ultimately screwed, as the greedy pigs will dump 'em without looking back if they can get it cheaper elsewhere, or something is not exactly to their liking.

[trogdor]

11. That'll take awhile.

China has more people willing to work 14 hours a day for a bowl of rice than Saudi Arabia has oil. People are expendable there.

[SheilaT]

6. Here's another question to ask:

Just how do they arrive at the $10.37 average per hour wages? I bet they're averaging what the store managers make with what entry-level door greeters make. I'm sure a very large majority of those hired make no more than $6.00 per hour. Just a guess, of course, but I'd like to see a real break down that would give number of employees at each wage level.

[DeepModem Mom]

7. Very good question -- (nt)

[HawkerHurricane]

8. You are too kind

I bet they average what the CEO makes with the average workers to get that figure.

If me, Bill Gates, and 40 homeless are in a soup kitchen, the average income is over a billion a year.

[w4rma]

10. If me, Bill Gates, and 400,000 homeless are in a soup kitchen, the average

income is over $100,000 a year.

[DBoon]

14. I bet they include executive pay

in the average - even then it only comes out to $10.37!!

(just a guess on my part - it's really easy to skew an average with a few very high outliers. Now let them try to give the median compensation - that would tell us something)

[hatrack]

19. OK, $10.37 an hour (for the sake of argument) X 52 weeks at 40 per

That would give you a whopping annual wage of $21,569 - before taxes, of course, and assuming you could actually get the full 40 hours per week, which is unlikely.

OK, and the expansions are scheduled for . . . oh, yeah, California. And we all know how low the cost of living out there is.

[DBoon]

20. That's the average, the median I bet is much lower

eom

[eridani]

9. Fuck the 'average'--

--what about the median and the mode?

[tabasco]

12. It really should tell people something ...

that a company has to run propaganda ads telling how wonderful the company is to workers. How come Costco doesn't run these ads?

[natrat]

13. the costco ceo makes 350 k a year

2 times the store manager rate. I read an article yesterday that said his office is just a small partition in a room w/ other employees----screw walmart forever, let it go the way of kmart into bankrupcy---friends dont let friends shop walmart

[DBoon]

15. I love Costco

we buy as much as possible there.

[jayfish]

16. Has Anyone Else Seen The Wal-Mart...

commercial that touts its' health insurance. It's a "testimonial" from a Wal-Mart "employee" who basically says that if it weren't for Wal-Marts excellent insurance, he would be dead. It's disgusting. He never mentions that the is the only one who has such insurance though.

Jay

[napi21]

17. BEWARE of anyone who quotes an AVERAGE!!!

Remember one of Clintons short finance guys say "If Bill gates waskes into a McDonals, the average net worth of the patrons is millions!" or "if Wilt Chamberlain visits me at home, our average height is 6'6"."

Walmart has been trying to repair it's image for MONTHS, in TV ads, magazine ads, and the newspapers. The problem is there are just too many people who have worked for them, or know people who did, and know the real truth!

[Blue_Tires]

21. Woody Hayes had a great quote

"When I think of statistics, I'm reminded of the man that drowned in a lake that only had an average depth of 2 feet."

[AlCzervik]

18. In my local paper the sacramento Bee they took out

a full page ad about how fair they are and about how they add to the communities they enter but they "understand" peoples need to express their feeling about wally world. There was supposed to be a new wal-mart buit in my town, that would the second one but the city council said no.

[realFedUp]

22. They took out ads in all major CA papers

Coz they want their 40 supercenter Walmarts
built in SoCal alone! What's absurd are
the papers covering the ad like it's news.

We the people are the special interests
opposing this behemoths.

[Wapsie B]

24. Counter Criticism?

$10.37 would be just ok if you were in a low cost of living area which we know Ca. is not. Why don't they put some of their better employees on a commission like grocery stores do? Reward those that work hard and strive to help the company get better.

[MichiganVote]

25. Walmart=hostile take-overs of communities, towns, workers, families

Walmart sucks.