Walmart

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
	File:WalMartStores.png
Company type	Public (NYSE: WMT)
Industry	Retail (Department & Discount)
Founded	Rogers, Arkansas, 1962
Headquarters	Bentonville, Arkansas, USA
Key people	Sam Walton (1918-1992), Founder; H. Lee Scott, CEO; S. Robson Walton, Chairman
Products	Wal-Mart Discount Stores; Wal-Mart Supercenter; Sam's Club; Neighborhood Markets; ASDA
Revenue	$316 billion USD ($11B FY 2006)
Operating income	20,428,000,000 United States dollar (2022)
Net income	11,680,000,000 United States dollar (2022)
Total assets	252,496,000,000 United States dollar (2021)
Number of employees	1.7 million
Website	www.walmartstores.com

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) was founded by Sam Walton in 1962. It is the largest retailer in the world and one of the largest companies in the world based on revenue; in 2004 it was the largest, but the recent rise in oil prices has taken at least one oil company past it. For the fiscal year ending January 31, 2006, Wal-Mart reported net income of US $11.2 billion on US $316 billion of sales revenue (3.5% profit margin). It is the largest private employer in the United States, Mexico and Canada. It holds an 8.9 percent retail store market share, with $8.90 out of every $100 spent in U.S. retail stores being spent at Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart's impact is hotly debated. Some praise the corporation for cutting prices on consumer goods, while others criticize it for harmful impacts in many other realms. [1] Specific areas of controversy include the company's product origins; treatment of suppliers, environmental policies, and employees; extraction of public subsidies; impacts on independent businesses and local communities, and effects on global trade.

Timeline

1962: First Wal-Mart store opens in Rogers, Arkansas
1967: Wal-Mart's 24 stores total $12.6 million in sales.
1968: Wal-Mart moves outside Arkansas with stores in Sikeston, Mo., and Claremore, Okla.
1969: The company incorporates as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. on October 31, 1969.
1972: Wal-Mart listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
1983: First Sam's Club opens in Midwest City, Oklahoma.
1987: Wal-Mart completes largest private satellite communication system in the U.S.
1988: First Supercenter opens in Washington, Missouri.
1990: Wal-Mart becomes nation's largest retailer.
1991: The first store outside of the U.S. opens, in Mexico City.
1994: Wal-Mart acquires 122 Woolco stores in Canada.
1996: Wal-Mart enters China through a joint-venture agreement.
1997: Wal-Mart replaces Woolworth on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Woolworth's Square One Shopping Centre location in Canada becomes the largest Wal-Mart store in the world, at 220,000 square feet (20,000 m²).
1997: Wal-Mart becomes largest private employer in the United States, with 680,000 employees worldwide.
1997: Wal-Mart has its first $100 billion sales year.
1998: First Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market opens
1999: Wal-Mart has 1,140,000 employees, making it the largest private employer in the world. It acquires the ASDA Group with 229 stores in the United Kingdom.
2004: Wal-Mart buys the Amigo supermarket chain in Puerto Rico for $17 million.
2004: Wal-Mart employees in Jonquière, Quebec, Canada vote in favour of becoming the first unionized Wal-Mart in North America. Five months later, Wal-Mart announces that it would close the store, citing poor sales.
2006: Wal-Mart ends their fiscal year with $315.6 billion in sales. 138 million people shop at Wal-Mart worldwide each week.
2006: Wal-Mart required to sell the morning after pill in Massachusetts stores. It later changes its corporate policy and begins carrying it nationwide.
2006: Wal-Mart acquires Central American Retail Holding Company (CARHCO), its 375 stores and 23,000 associates, renaming it Wal-Mart Central America. Wal-Mart International expands its business into 5 more countries: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

Business

File:Walmart nm centerpointal.JPG

The exterior of a typical Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market, located in Center Point, Alabama.

Wal-Mart operates discount retail department stores selling a broad range of non-grocery products, though emphasis is now focused on the "Supercenters" which offer a full line of grocery items. Wal-Mart also operates Sam's Club, a "warehouse club" (similar to Costco and BJ's) that sells discounted bulk merchandise to dues-paying members.

In addition to its wholly-owned international operations, Wal-Mart owns a 42% stake in The Seiyu Co., Ltd. in Japan, with a proposed $597 million to increase its stake to 50%. This purchase has been approved by Seiyu Group shareholders and The Seiyu will be consolidated into Wal-Mart International in FYE 2006.

In September 2005, Wal-Mart acquired 33.3% of the Central American Retail Holding Company (CARHCO), and in March 2006, increased its holdings to 51%. Wal-Mart Central America was formed from the 375 supermarkets and other store formats, operating in 5 Central American countries: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

In the past, Wal-Mart operated dot Discount Drugs, Bud's Discount City, Hypermart*USA, OneSource Nutrition Centers, and Save-Co Home Improvement stores. In 1990 Wal-Mart acquired The McLane Company, a foodservice distributor. In 2003 McLane Company was sold to Berkshire Hathaway.

Wal-Mart stock is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WMT.

Competition in the United States

Wal-Mart's chief competitors in the discount retail space nationally include Sears Holdings Corporation's Kmart chain and Target. Many smaller regional chains such as Meijer are also competitors in the midwest. Wal-Mart's move into the grocery business has also positioned it against major grocery chains such as HEB, Kroger, Albertsons, Publix, Giant Eagle, Safeway and dozens of local grocery chains. Chief competitors of Sam's Club are Costco, which is slightly larger than Sam's in terms of sales, as well as the smaller BJ's Wholesale Club chain operating mainly on the East Coast.

Due to Wal-Mart's success in selling consumer goods and its necessary focus on more expensive items (and larger population areas) to increase revenue, a niche has been carved out of Wal-Mart's dominance by several shrewd retail corporations ^[2]. By focusing on a small number of low-cost products, retailers such as Family Dollar and Dollar General have successfully competed head-to-head with Wal-Mart for home consumer sales.

Wal-Mart Television Network

The Wal-Mart Television Network is an in-store network showing commercials for products sold in the stores, concert clips and music videos for a recording artist's media sold in the stores, trailers for upcoming movie releases, and news. According to a New York Times story, it is seen by 130 million people a month, making it the fifth largest network in America, behind NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox.

Contributions

In 2004, cash donations to non-profit organizations by Wal-Mart, its employees, and its customers totaled more than 170 million US dollars. Unlike most corporations, Wal-Mart does not provide a figure for its corporate contributions; instead Wal-Mart's reported contributions include those made by its customers and employees in a larger aggregate figure. The typical Supercenter channels $30,000 to $50,000 a year to local causes and events. More than 90 percent of cash donations from Wal-Mart Stores and the Wal-Mart & SAM'S CLUB Foundation target local communities.

After the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster on the United States Gulf Coast, Wal-Mart donated $2 million to the Salvation Army and the American Red Cross and $15 million to the Bush-Clinton Hurricane Katrina Fund for a total of $17 million. In addition, an estimated $3 million in merchandise was donated to victims in several states, and in some cases the corporation was able to provide supplies before the federal government. An emergency contact website was set up by Wal-Mart to help locate displaced persons, accessible by Internet and at every store in the country. About $1.5 million in emergency aid was given to displaced employees, and employees displaced by the storm were offered work at Wal-Mart locations elsewhere in the country.

According to the November 21, 2005 issue of The Nation, recently both the Arkansas-based company and the Walton family have elevated their investments in charities and political causes. The Walton Family Foundation (WFF) gave away $106.9 million in 2003, twice as much as in 2000. Walmart's company political action committee, the second largest corporate investor in the GOP, gave away $2.1 million in 2004, compared to $100,000 in 1994. Also in 2004, Alice Walton donated $2.6 million to the Progress for America PAC, which supported the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. From 1998 through 2003, the WFF contributed $25,000 to the Heritage Foundation, $15,000 to the Cato Institute, $125,000 to the Hudson Institute, $155,000 to the Goldwater Institute, $70,000 to the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, $300,000 to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, $185,000 to the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, and $350,000 to the Evergreen Freedom Foundation. The WFF has also donated to advocacy groups promoting school privatization, such as a $3 million donation in 2003 to the Knowledge Is Power Program.

Experiments

Wal-Mart has experimented publicly with changes to certain of its business practices.

Renewable Energy

File:McKinneyTXStore.jpg

An architect's rendering of the exterior of the "McKinney Experiment" Wal-Mart Supercenter in McKinney, TX.

Recently, Wal-Mart has designed two experimental stores [3], one in McKinney, Texas and the other in Aurora, Colorado, which feature wind turbines, photovoltaic solar panels, and biofuel-capable boilers. The buildings also include many other energy and cost-saving technologies. Critics, such as the Institute for Local Self-Reliance [4], while acknowledging these features are an improvement, contend that Wal-Mart's negative environmental impact extremely outweighs gestures at two stores among several thousand. Driving sprawl, consuming unnecessarily large amounts of land and locating on environmentally sensitive sites are among the complaints.

Attracting Upscale Consumers

File:IMG 0939.JPG

The upscale Wal-Mart in Plano, Texas.

In March 2006 Wal-Mart opened a new store in Plano, Texas, a suburb of Dallas that is decidedly fancier than any of its other stores. It is part of their effort to target a more affluent demographic who view Wal-Mart products to be inferior to those of such stores as Costco and Target. Differences from traditional Wal-Mart Supercenters include wooden floors, wider aisles, a sushi bar, a coffee/sandwich shop with free Wi-Fi internet access instead of a traditional fast food venue, more higher priced items including expensive wines and high-end electronics, and no automotive section. This Wal-Mart is also the first and only store to implement employee baggers at the checkout lines. The exterior also sports the less-common hunter green background behind the Wal-Mart letters instead of the usual trademark blue. Wal-Mart states that this style of stores is not planned to be duplicated anywhere else. ^[5].

Advertising in local newspapers

After complaints by newspaper publishers in early 2005 that Wal-Mart did not advertise in smaller newspapers, the company placed ads in 336 Missouri and Oklahoma newspapers preceding the 2005 holiday shopping season. In April 2006 Wal-Mart claimed, "our test showed that it did increase product sales, but our margins are so thin that we didn't even come close to offsetting the cost of the ads."

Employees

Wal-Mart refers to its employees as "associates," and encourages managers to think of themselves as "servant leaders." Each shift at every store, club, and distribution center (theoretically) is supposed to start with a store-wide meeting where managers discuss with hourly employees daily sales figures, company news, and goals for the day. Of course, this does not happen every single day at every single location.

All Wal-Mart stores in the United States have employees referred to as "People Greeters." They welcome people to the store and help prevent shoplifting. At some stores, these employees inspect the contents of the shopping carts of exiting customers.

Wal-Mart Benefits

According to an October 2005 article in BusinessWeek, Wal-Mart's health insurance covers 44% or approximately 572,000 of its 1.3 million U.S. workers. [6]. Wal-Mart provides insurance to more than 1 million people.[7]

Financial Results

Wal-Mart is now the largest grocery chain in the U.S., with 14 percent of all grocery sales -- nearly twice the sales of Kroger ($95 billion vs. $51 billion). Wal-Mart also does 20 percent of the retail toy business.

Wal-Mart went public in 1975. Since then its stock has climbed from 5 cents (split adjusted) to a high of $63 in March 2002. Its stock has dropped more than 20% since then, reaching a low price of $42.49 on Sep. 21, 2005.

Different explanations have been offered for this success:

The company has always paid a great deal of attention to site selection; in the company's early years, Sam Walton would fly over small towns in a private plane to identify prospective locations. The company claims it analyzes potential locations to find those that would support "one and a half" stores. Although the intended location was a seemingly small rural town, being up in a plane would reveal a lucrative market if the surrounding communities were taken into account, defying the conventional wisdom that a discount store requires a sizable city. Wal-Mart then promptly moved quickly to pre-empt these discovered locations, since allowing a competitor to locate would likely cause a price war that would make both discount stores unprofitable. Lastly, rural towns were less likely to have organized unions and community activists unlike large urban centres. "This strategy gave Wal-Mart a near monopoly in its local markets and enabled the company to ride out the recessions of the 1970s and 1980s more successfully than its then larger competitors such as K-Mart." [8]
Wal-Mart benefits from economies of scale in manufacturing and logistics; the purchase of massive quantities of items from its suppliers combined with a very efficient stock control system help make Wal-Mart's operating costs lower than those of its competitors. They are leaders in the field of vendor managed inventory—asking large suppliers to oversee stock control for a category and make recommendations to Wal-Mart buyers. This reduces the overhead of having a large inventory control and buying department. Wal-Mart's vast purchasing power also gives it the leverage to force manufacturers to change their production (usually by creating cheaper products) to suit its wishes: a single Wal-Mart order can easily comprise a double-digit percentage of a supplier's annual output.
One particular aspect of the economy of scale is the aggregation effect, used in other business such as The Home Depot and Wells Fargo, whereby Wal-Mart sells as many different items as possible. This allows the company to grow revenue over its fixed cost base (more sales out of the same store). This is why Wal-Mart began to sell low margin groceries.
Information Systems: Wal-Mart helped push the retail industry to adopt UPC codes and bar-code scanning equipment. Also, Wal-Mart's focus on cost reduction has led to its involvement in a standards effort [9] to use RFID-based Electronic Product Codes to lower the costs of supply chain management. As of June 2004, it has announced plans [10] to require the use of the technology among its top 300 suppliers by January 2006.
Suppliers: A spokesperson for the company told the Wall Street Journal on Nov. 18, 2004 that it imported $15 billion worth of goods from China in the year that ended Jan. 31, 2004. About $7.5 billion were directly imported by Wal-Mart; the other $7.5 came indirectly through suppliers. In the same period net sales reached $256 billion, with $209 billion coming from U.S. operations. U.S. current account imports from China was reported as $152.4 billion during 2003 [11]. Mainland Chinese media place Wal-Mart as their 8th largest trading partner in front of Russia and the UK on the top-10 list.
Cost Control: Wal-Mart watches controllable expenses very closely. Hourly employees can be reprimanded or terminated for having unauthorized overtime. Wal-Mart also squeezes out any inefficiencies in the business, such as reducing paper consumption by using a computerized process.

Public Relations

In 2005, Wal-Mart officials embarked on a public relations campaign to counter some of the criticism it receives, through its public relations website as well as through television commercials which show employees who have had a medical emergency and have been sent by Wal-Mart to the Mayo Clinic.

It was reported in the New York Times on November 1, 2005 that in response to increased criticism the public relations firm Edelman had been retained. Edelman has set up an internal "war room", a rapid-response public relations team, staffed with high-profile political operatives to respond to negative media attention. Operatives hired include Michael K. Deaver who formerly worked on behalf of Ronald Reagan, Leslie Dach who worked on behalf of Bill Clinton, and Robert McAdam who worked on behalf of the Tobacco Institute. [12]

Wal-Mart's public relations effort has also included emailing favorable material to bloggers, some of whom have disseminated it without disclosing that it was written by the company. (New York Times, March 7, 2006)

Economic Impact studies in the United States

As Wal-Mart is an enormously large business, it has a significant impact on economies, especially in the United States. Several studies have been conducted to determined the nature and extent of this effect.

Kenneth E. Stone of Iowa State University has published several studies on Wal-Mart. In 1997, Stone found that small towns "lose up to 47 percent of their retail trade after 10 years of Wal-Mart stores nearby."[13] A study by Russell S. Sobel and Andrea M. Dean, says that the Stone study is flawed, and found that though Wal-Mart openings cause some small businesses to close by offering lower prices, it also creates opportunities for other small businesses and that as a result, "the process of creative destruction unleashed by Wal-Mart has no statistically significant impact on the overall size of the small business sector in the United States." [14] In 2003, Stone collaborated with Georgeanne Artz, also of Iowa State University and Albert Myles of Mississippi State University to show that there "are both positive and negative impacts on existing stores in the area where the new supercenter locates." [15]

In 2002, the state of Georgia's survey of children in the state's subsidized health care system, PeachCare, found that Wal-Mart employed more of the parents of these children than any other employer. More than 10,000 children who qualified for the program had parents working at Wal-Mart. The next largest employer employed the parents of less than 800 children in the program. [16]

A 2002 study [17] by Emek Basker of the University of Missouri examined the impact of Wal-Mart on local employment. Basker found that Wal-Mart's entry into a county increased net retail employment in that county by 100 jobs in the short term. Half of this increase disappeared as other retail establishments close or reduce employment over a five-year period "leaving a long-run statistically significant net gain of 50 jobs."

In 2004, the University of California, Berkeley published a study which asserted that Wal-Mart's low wages and benefits resulted in an increased burden on the social safety net, costing California taxpayers $86 million. [18]

A 2005 study by Global Insight and commissioned by Wal-mart found the company has had a positive net economic impact on the U.S. economy (Several notable economists oversaw the study [19]). From 1985-2004, Wal-Mart "can be associated with a cumulative decline of 9.1% in food-at-home prices, a 4.2% decline in commodities (goods) prices, and a 3.1% decline in overall consumer prices," and that this has saved consumers $263 billion in that time frame ($2329 per household). Also in that time period, it is responsible for the creation of 210,000 net jobs for the economy. The study indicates that "nominal wages are 2.2% lower, but given that consumer prices are 3.1% lower, real disposable income is 0.9% higher than it would have been in a world without Wal-Mart." Other papers presented at the conference (indexed here) contradict some of Global Insight's claims. See also(Global Insight Study)

Wal-Mart in Popular Culture

Billie Letts' 1995 novel Where the Heart Is depicts 17-year-old Novalee Nation moving in to, and giving birth in, an Oklahoma Wal-Mart.
"Sprawl-Mart" is a big-box retailer in Springfield on Fox's The Simpsons.
"Mega-Lo Mart" (with a pronunciation similar to "megalomania") is a large discount retailer on Fox's King of the Hill. [20]
Country music star Chris Cagle's 2005 album "Anywhere But Here" is released, which includes the hit song, "Wal-Mart Parking Lot", which tells the tale of coming-of-age in a small U.S. town.
A "Wall-Mart" built in Comedy Central's South Park episode "Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes" runs all local stores out of business. The retailer is depicted as a self-aware and independent entity, building itself across the nation to take over everything, and forcing employees and managers to work there against their will. The episode also pokes fun at consumers: South Park residents are forced to shop at Wall-Mart because they are unable to resist its everyday low prices. The town, unable to resist shopping there, tries to burn Wall-Mart, but a crew rebuilds it the following day. Stan and Kyle eventually destroy the Wall-Mart by breaking its heart, a mirror in the electronics department that reflects the image of Stan and Kyle, which shows them that the heart of Wall-Mart is the consumers. South Park residents return to a mom and pop store until it too becomes a big box retailer, which residents promptly burn to the ground.
A JibJab cartoon called "Big Box Mart" premiered on the October 13, 2005 Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Another cartoon, "This Land", also parodies Wal-Mart.
Former Miami Herald humor columnist Dave Barry penned a column detailing the early millennium fascination with spending the night in an RV parked outside Wal-Mart.

Statistics

Retail Operations

Wal-Mart operates 5 major retail formats under 3 retail divisions:

Wal-Mart Stores, USA
- Wal-Mart Discount Stores — Average 100,000 square feet (9,290 m²) and include a selection of general merchandise, including apparel, electronics, health and beauty aids, toys, sporting goods, and household products. The stores also have an in-house-branded food court. There were 1,209 Wal-Mart Discount Stores in the U.S. as of January 31, 2006.
- Wal-Mart Supercenter — Average 187,000 square feet (17,400 m²) and combine a standard Wal-Mart Discount Store with a full-line supermarket. (commonly known as big box stores) The stores also typically feature a tire and oil change shop (Wal-Mart Tire & Lube Express), Wal-Mart Vision Center, and numerous alcove shops - such as a Wal-Mart Money Center, hair and nail salons, a Movie Gallery video store, an arcade, and a branch from a local bank in the area. The food courts are normally limited-menu McDonald's, though Subway, Dunkin Donuts, and Baskin-Robbins have also been located. Some locations also sell gasoline through Murphy USA. There were 1,980 Wal-Mart Supercenters in the U.S. as of January 31, 2006.
- Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market — Average 43,000 square feet (4,000 m²) and include grocery, pharmacy, and limited general merchandise products. There were 101 Neighborhood Markets in the U.S. as of January 31, 2006. The concept will be introduced into Canada in 2006 with 3 stores (one in London, Ontario and 2 in the Greater Toronto Area).
- Walmart.com — Online shopping site that offers merchandise different from that in stores. The walmart.com site also offers digital music downloads with digital rights management (DRM) and online photo processing.
Sam's Club — a membership-only wholesale warehouse club focused mainly on serving small business owners. Clubs average 128,000 square feet (11,891 m²). Like some Wal-Mart Supercenters, some Sam's Club locations sell gasoline through Murphy USA. There were 567 Sam's Clubs in the U.S. as of January 31, 2006. Sam's Club also operates in Canada.
Wal-Mart International — operates various formats internationally, including (but not limited to) SAM'S CLUB, Discount Stores, Supercenters, Supermarkets, and restaurants.

In the United Kingdom the Wal*Mart name is only used as part of the main retail name (in conjunction with the ASDA brand) for the ultra large hypermarket format. In addition to the standard ASDA stores, the company also runs the high street George clothes store brand.

Store Counts and Revenue

Current store counts and revenue for Fiscal Year Ending January 31, 2006 (revenue amounts in U.S. Dollars):

Company Total: 5,509 stores (excludes Seiyu operations) (US$285.2 billion)
- Wal-Mart Stores USA (3,857 stores, excluding Puerto Rico) (US$$209.4 billion)
  - Discount Stores: 1,209
  - Supercenters: 1,980
  - Neighborhood Markets: 101
- SAM'S CLUB (United States): 567 Clubs (US$63.8 billion total)
- International: 2,135 (with the acquisition of CARHCO in March 2006) (US$56.3 billion total)
  - Argentina: 11
  - Brazil: 156
  - Canada: 278
  - China: 56
  - Costa Rica: 125 (with the acquisition of CARHCO in March 2006)
  - El Salvador: 58 (with the acquisition of CARHCO in March 2006)
  - Germany: 88
  - Guatemala: 124 (with the acquisition of CARHCO in March 2006)
  - Honduras: 35 (with the acquisition of CARHCO in March 2006)
  - Mexico: 786
  - Nicaragua: 33 (with the acquisition of CARHCO in March 2006)
  - Puerto Rico (United States insular area): 54
  - South Korea: 16
  - United Kingdom (ASDA): 315

ASDA in the United Kingdom is the largest of the international businesses by sales. In Germany, however, after eight years in the market, Wal-Mart's yearly revenue is still less than one-tenth of the leading retailer, EDEKA. The presence of unions, the difficulty of obtaining building permits and high competition are some possible reasons for this lack of success. With Aldi and Lidl there are also two established discounters in the market that drive the same price policy as Wal-Mart.

Corporate Governance

Former members of the board of directors of Wal-Mart include Hillary Clinton (1985-1992), who also worked for Wal-Mart as a lawyer, [21] and Tom Coughlin, who went on to be vice chairman [22]. He has since plead guilty to five counts of wire fraud and one count of filing a false tax return related to embezzlement and theft from Wal-Mart while serving as a member of its board. [23]

Miscellaneous

Ol' Roy, the Wal-Mart brand of dog food sold at the stores, was named after Sam Walton's dog, which lived from 1970 to 1981.
With the success of the much smaller "dollar" stores like Dollar General, Family Dollar, and Dollar Tree, Wal-Mart is seriously considering entering the dollar store business.[24]
While Wal-Mart does not encourage RV parking in their parking lots, they do not discourage it either. The same RV's are sometimes seen for long periods of time in certain locations.

References and External links

External links

Wal-Mart Corporate Web Sites

Further Information Sources

Reclaim Democracy huge collection of articles, studies and websites on Wal-Mart. The articles largely are critical of Wal-Mart, but supporters also are represented. Much of the best reporting and studies from multiple perspectives is collected here.
Against the Wal has a larger, but much less selective collection of articles on Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart's Corporate political contributions at BuyBlue.org
Business Week, October 26, 2005, "Some Uncomfortable Findings for Wal-Mart" overview of some academic research findings on Wal-Mart

Articles Supporting or Explaining Wal-Mart

Understanding the Wal-Mart Effect, Max Borders, Tech Central Station, April 11, 2005.
Wal-Mart and RFID: Case Study Wal-Mart's future plans to further reduce costs.
Wal-Mart's China inventory to hit US$18b this year China Daily, November 29, 2004.
"A distorted lens on Wal-Mart", Bruce Bartlett, Washington Times, November 22, 2004.
"Job Creation or Destruction? Labor-Market Effects of Wal-Mart Expansion" (pdf), Emek Basker, Dept. of Economics, University of Missouri, 2002.
Measuring the Economic Impact of Wal-Mart on the U.S. Economy a study funded by Wal-Mart, determining the net economic impact of Wal-Mart at the national, city, and county level
Should We Admire Wal-Mart? Fortune Magazine, March 8, 2004
The Freedom to Hate Wal-Mart by Paul Jacob, The Free Liberal, December 5, 2005

Articles Critical of Wal-Mart

Media Coverage of Wal-Mart Fails the Public "World Internet News," April 12, 2005 Scott O. Shaffer's fiery article analyzes how the media has dealt with Wal-Mart.
Company for the People Seattle Weekly, December 15 - 21, 2004, Article which contrasts Wal-Mart with employee-friendly Costco.
Costco's Dilemma: Is Treating Employees Well Unacceptable for a Public Corporation? The Wall Street Journal, March 26, 2004 Costco's compensation for its employees with comparison to Wal-Mart
How Costco Became the Anti-Wal-Mart, The New York Times, July 17, 2005
Reclaim Democracy, Internal Documents of Wal-Mart Including "A Manager's Toolbox to Remaining Union-Free" and the company's "Report on Standards for Suppliers."
UC Berkeley report on the community impact of Wal-Mart's lower wages(pdf)
"Inside the Leviathan" by Simon Head for The New York Review of Books, December 16, 2004
"The Wal-Mart You Don't Know", Fast Company, Issue 77, December 2003, Page 68 Wal-Mart's relentless pressure can crush the companies it does business with and force them to send jobs overseas.
California Legislators Call for Oversight of Wal-Mart's Health Benefits (Study of Peachcare)
"Wal-Mart: High Prices for American Workers" file, (PDF February 16, 2004) from the Democratic Staff of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Up against the Wal-Mart, Business Week, March 13, 2000, Explains union's attempt to unionize Wal-Marts
In Wal-Mart's America, Washington Post, August 27, 2003. Article argues that the decline of Union Industry jobs and the rise of Wal-Mart is destroying America's middle class.
Everyday Low Wages: The Hidden Price We All Pay For Wal-Mart(pdf), A Report by the Democratic Staff of the Committee on Education and the Workforce U.S. House of Representatives Representative George Miller, Senior Democrat, February 16, 2004
Wal-Marts Cost State, Study Says, San Francisco Chronicle, August 3, 2004
Retaliating first, Wal-Mart in Canada, The Economist, Feb 24th 2005
Wal-Mart caught using child labor, CBC News, November 30, 2005.
Video report of Wal-Mart using child labor, CBC News, November 30, 2005.
Could the "Walmart Effect" impact Real Estate? PikeNet, January 31, 2006.

Websites critical of Wal-Mart

Data

Blogs

stopwalmartonline.org a blog run by Stop WAL*MART which explores its impact on communities, individuals, and the global economy.
Wal-Mart Space a blog run by Bobby Gerry which explores Wal-Mart's financial statements

Documentaries

Store Wars, a PBS special taking a close look at one community's battle over Wal-Mart.
Frontline: Is Wal-Mart Good for America?, a PBS Frontline documentary on the impact of Wal-Mart in the U.S. and China.
Why Wal-Mart Works & Why That Makes Some People Crazy, a

pro-Wal-Mart documentary (not affiliated with Wal-Mart).

The Age of Wal-Mart, a 2004 documentary produced by CNBC. Featuring interviews with both Wal-Mart top brass and critics, it won a Pulitzer Prize and a Peabody Award for television excellence.
Outrageous Fortunes, BBC Three, aired on 26 April 2004, about the workings of Wal-Mart.
Independent America, a 2005 documentary on the larger issue of independent businesses fighting for survival against corpprate chains.
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, a 2005 documentary by Robert Greenwald, the creator of Outfoxed.

Books about Wal-Mart

Books Supporting or Explaining Wal-Mart

Fishman, Charles (2005). The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works--and How It's Transforming the American Economy . Penguin Press. ISBN 1594200769. {{cite book}}: External link in |title= (help)
Bergdahl, Michael (2004). What I Learned from Sam Walton: How to Compete and Thrive in a Wal-Mart World. ISBN 0471679984.
Lichtenstein, Nelson (2006). Wal-Mart: A Field Guide to America's Largest Company and the World's Largest Employer. New Press. ISBN 1595580352.
Ortega, Bob (1998). In Sam We Trust: The Untold Story of Sam Walton and Wal-Mart, the World's Most Powerful Retailer. ISBN 0812963776.
Slater, Robert (2003). The Wal-Mart Decade: How a New Generation of Leaders Turned Sam Walton's Legacy into the World's #1 Company. ISBN 1591840066.
Slater, Robert (2004). The Wal-Mart Triumph: Inside the World's #1 Company. ISBN 1591840430.
Soderquist, Don (2005). The Wal-Mart Way: The Inside Story of the Success of the World's Largest Company. ISBN 0785261192.
Westerman, Paul (2000). Data Warehousing: Using the Wal-Mart Model. ISBN 155860684X.

Books Opposing or Strategizing against Wal-Mart

Bianco, Anthony (2006). The Bully of Bentonville: How the High Cost of Wal-Mart's Everyday Low Prices Is Hurting America. ISBN 0385513569.
Quinn, Bill (2005). How Wal-Mart Is Destroying America and the World: And What You Can Do about It (3rd edition). Ten Speed Press. ISBN 1580086683.
Joseph, Marc & Fischer, Rusty (2005). The Secrets of Retailing, or: How to Beat Wal-Mart!. Silverback Books. ISBN 1596370378.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Featherstone, Liza (2004). Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Workers' Rights at Wal-Mart. Basic Books. ISBN 0465023169.
Dicker, John (2005). The United States of Wal-Mart. Jeremy P. Tarcher. ISBN 1585424226.
Spotts, Greg (2005). Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. Disinformation Company. ISBN 1932857249.
Peacock, Joe (2005). Mentally Incontinent: A Joe The Peacock Book, The Wal-Mart Story. ISBN 0977418405.

Other Books and References

Books, Films and Music Relating to Wal-Mart. This page indexes most major titles and offers capsule reviews of most.
Ehrenreich, Barbara (2002). Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. Owl Books. ISBN 0745318460.
Porter, David (2003). Megamall on the Hudson: Planning, Wal-Mart, and Grassroots Resistance. Trafford. ISBN 155369855X.

Footnotes

^ Palast, Greg (2002). The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: An Investigative Reporter Exposes the Truth About Globalization, Corporate Cons, and High-Finance Fraudsters. Pluto Press. ISBN 0745318460., p. 119-120; Chinese Workers Pay for Wal-Mart's Low Prices, Washington Post, February 8, 2004; [Wal-Mart faces sweat-shop lawsuit Wal-Mart faces sweat-shop lawsuit], Financial Times (London), September 14, 2005; Suit Says Wal-Mart Is Lax on Labor Abuses Overseas, New York Times, September 14, 2005; Workers Sue Wal-Mart Over Sweatshop Conditions, Reuters, September 13, 2005, Sweatshop Workers on Four Continents Sue Wal-Mart in California Court, Press Release, September 13, 2005; Human cost behind bargain shopping Dateline hidden camera investigation in Bangladesh, Dateline NBC, June 17, 2005
^ Petty Cash A Wal-Mart Legend's Trail of Deceit Mr. Coughlin Told Others Bogus Expenses Hid Plot Against Unions Retailer Disputes His Claim, Wall Street Journal, April 8, 2005
^ Retaliating first, Wal-Mart in Canada, The Economist, Feb 24th 2005; Ex-Wal-Mart Workers Win Battle Globe and Mail, Rhéal Séguin, September 17, 2005
^ Wal-Mart targeting upscale shoppers Associated Press, March 22, 2006. Accessed March 22, 2006.
^ Wal-Mart public relations web page, section regarding Benefits (retreived May 25, 2005)
^ Everyday Low Wages: The Hidden Price We All Pay For Wal-Mart (pdf), A Report by the Democratic Staff of the Committee on Education and the Workforce U.S. House of Representatives Representative George Miller, Senior Democrat, February 16, 2004; Wal-Marts Cost State, Study Says, San Francisco Chronicle, August 3, 2004
^ Down and Out in Discount America, The Nation, January 3, 2005; Wal-Mart's Welfare Dependency, San Francisco Chronicle by Sally Lieber, November 7, 2003
^ See Palast, p. 121; Can't Wal-Mart, a Retail Behemoth, Pay More? The New York Times, May 4, 2005
^ Wal-Mart giant can be tamed The Boston Globe, November 23, 2003. Accessed January 11, 2006.