Walmart and the Media

Almost daily, there is mention of Walmart somewhere in the media.
Walmart finds itself up against more lawsuits then ever before and activists are at top of the list of problems that continue to plague Walmart.

From attempts to block the opening of new Super Centers to the individual and group lawsuits that are filed against the corporation, it will be the people, customers and the company's very own associates who will determine the fate of the aging retailer.

Attempts at redeeming itself publicly and attempts at improving its image are a new way of handling the perception people have of the company. In the past public relations and the media were areas that the company avoided unless there was an extremely negative situation had to answered through the media in some way. Now the corporate offices have decided to defend the company to the extent of taking out full page ads in different areas of the country and designing a web site called Walmartfacts to allow the public access to its' own view of the wonderful world of Walmart.

A corporation, a company, the as big as life retail behemoth whose founder Sam Walton, is looked at and remembered by many in different ways. Sam was a man who is quoted almost continuously by an assortment of different people and associates. Opinions vary and views on the man and his legacy continue.

The book" The Walmart Decade" by Robert Slater looks at not only the Walmart of today but also has many references to Sam Walton and the way it was. The book "Made in America" by Sam Walton and John Huey is a look at a man that seemed to genuinely care about the people that he more than once said "should be treated as partners;" his associates; his company's employees who are no longer protected by the founder and his way of "respecting the individual."

A new book titled The Walmart Way by Don Soderqist. It is supposed to be about the Walmart executives. It talks of the Judeo-Christian culture and although it is from the inside of the corporate and executive offices it is not from inside the stores and I am sure will not deal with the same things I am addressing in this book.

The corporate officers, the directors and the executive officers of the company are business people running a corporation, not Sam Walton.
Anyone attempting to find a company, or a corporation to work for that would appreciate hard work could at one time find it here. A person could take a look at "The Walmart Culture" and that person would be easy to convince that Walmart has it all and will give it all to you if you work hard and treat the customer as number one, according to Sam Walton. It seems, from the inside to be getting further away from that kind of respect and inclusiveness each day.

Today we have "The Walmart Decade "By Robert Slater "How a New Generation of Leaders Turned Sam Walton's Legacy into the World's #1 company"
You really need to read between the lines.
You would need to understand that Mr. Slater received his information as it is listed at the end of the book.

He did not work in the stores and did not really have access to or the ability to really touch the average associate. I did.
The largest retailer in the country and the world is more than just a retailer, employer and a stock on Wall Street. America's most admired company is a large part of day-to-day living for the typical American family. It is a very large part of the day-to-day life of Walmart Associates.

From the outside of the stores, there is more than one opinion of the company, its' suppliers and its' worth.
From inside there is also more than one opinion, and depending on many factors that determine your position in the Walmart order of things an opinion can be valid as far as Walmart is concerned or an opinion can be an expression of possible hostile aggressive behavior the way Walmart is today.

Among the many files, policies and trade secrets of the number one retailer in our nation and in the world are the people. These people work in the stores. The people that greet the customers and the people that keep the shelves stocked. In many cases, this book reflects the very lives of the people that this company will forever be connected to, like it or not.
This is the warehouse, the truck driver and the system that keeps count on all of it. This is the story that includes a factory in a foreign country that produces the clothing that hangs on the racks in the softlines departments.

This book is a written view from the inside of the stores. It takes an in depth look at the associates, individual stores, salaried management and the executive offices of this company that is listed on tickers of the New York Stock Exchange as wmt.

Julie Pierce has worked in the retail sector for more than thirty years. She has been a union member of the UCFW Union and the afl-cio more than once and has worked for more than one large retailer during the course of her career.

She attended Gulf Coast Community College, Panama City Beach, Florida, in the nineties in the pursuit of a degree in Journalism and Mass Communications.

Some of her work has been published during the eighties and nineties in various editorial pages of newspapers in the state of New Jersey and Florida. She also did some work as a community reporter for a weekly newspaper in Panama City Florida.

Other work includes an article in the Gulls Cry, the Gulf Coast Community College newspaper. She is the wife of TSgt William F. Pierce Jr. (retired) USAF and the mother of three children and one grandchild. Her experience with Walmart has taken her into three different regions and six districts within the company.



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