History
Over the past 10 years, a staple in every neighborhood is usually the local Wal-Mart stores and supercenters. I can’t remember a time when Wal-Mart wasn’t a part of every neighborhood in this nation and the globe. The retailer has become the world’s largest retailer with over 10 Billion dollars in profit and 1.4 million workers. A vast history has come into the creation of this retail giant and a vast future is developing because of it. With the preaching of “Always Low Prices…Always,” Wal-Mart appeals to the middle-class to low income population with cheap prices and a vast array of products ranging from electronics, groceries, and clothes. Wal-Mart strives that its ”responsibility to all Americans to set the standard for customers, workers and communities, and to help build a better America” http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/change/. Unfortunately the new future for this company deals with social and environmental injustices around the globe. All for the pursuit of cheap products and profit comes a trade-off which I will plan on discussing throughout this blog, however; we must look at the history behind this company, their goals and how this affects their push as a multi-national corporation and global retail power. I have encorporated a long video from YouTube from the Charlie Rose program. It is an hour long video that looks into Wal-Mart’s history and speaks of the company through the CEO’s eyes, Lee Scott. It is important to notice in the interviews the one-sided opinion of workers and the CEO of the company, all positive. It is important to show the two views of the story, positive and negative.
