Chapter Two
From the Ozarks to the Planet
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Context: The Modern
Department Store
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
Turn of the century: cities had large and
elegant department stores

Department stores were most often utilized
by “well-to-do shoppers”

Before the arrival of “discount” stores rural
shoppers had access to a less refined set of
manufactured goods from giant mail order
warehouses
The Rise of Wal-Mart

Sam Walton began with a variety
store franchise and was
compelled to buy products from
a distributor

He created cost-saving
innovations (self-serve model),
but his biggest obstacle was
“inefficient middle-men”

His retail revolution took hold
when he built his own
distribution centers. This
provided him with increased
power over other retailers
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Rise of Wal-Mart (Cont’d)

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A specific set of factors contributed to WalMart’s early expansion:
1.
Southern and female workforce who
were unaccustomed to unions
2.
3.
Stores were built in county seats
4.
Followed government contracts
Walton beat competitors who still
had to deal with “middle-men”
The Wal-Mart Squeeze
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
“Squeeze” associates:
 Low wages
 “Just-in-time” scheduling
 Wage theft and off-the-clock work

“Squeeze” vendors:
 Investments in technology
 Supply chain control/domination
 “Just-in-time” ordering
 Retail Link

Consolidation and monopsony

We are all caught in the squeeze – can we get
out of it?
Anti-Wal-Mart Activism

Wal-Mart’s reputation damaged by
the early 1990s

Anti-Wal-Mart movements are born
 Local “anti-sprawl” groups
 Historical preservationists
 Activists fighting for local “mom
and pops”
 Unions

Increasing size led to increased legal
problems arose:
 Gender discrimination (class-action
suit)
 Workers’ rights lawsuits
 Environmental contamination
lawsuits
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“Next Generation Wal-Mart”

Permanent public relations team to combat
souring reputation:

Leslie Dach: former Democratic
presidential campaign advisor to John
Kerry


Hurricane Katrina: “PR Gold”
Jib Ellison, “green” Wal-Mart, and the
Sustainability Index
Criticisms of these moves
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De-naturalizing Wal-Mart
“…nothing is inevitable: not Wal-Mart, not the
regulatory framework that facilitates its
existence, and not the sociopolitical
problems that the company purports to
solve.
Wal-Mart, like most human phenomena, is
socially constructed … By disassembling …
Wal-Mart, we aim to demonstrate that the
company can not only be de-constructed,
but that it can be transformed into something
fundamentally different.”
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