(Redirected from Walmart)
'Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.' () is an
American public corporation, currently one of the world's largest corporations (by revenues) according to the 2007
Fortune 500.
[1] It was founded by
Sam Walton in
1962,
incorporated on
October 31,
1969, and listed on the
New York Stock Exchange in
1972. It is the largest private employer in the world and world's fourth largest utility or commercial
employer, only trailing the
People's Liberation Army of
China, the
National Health Service of the
United Kingdom and the
Indian Railways. Wal-Mart is the largest
grocery retailer in the
United States, with an estimated 20% of the retail grocery and consumables business, and the largest toy seller in the U.S., with an estimated 45% of the retail toy business, having surpassed
Toys "R" Us in the late
1990s.
Wal-Mart operates in
Mexico as
Walmex, in the
United Kingdom as
ASDA, and in
Japan as
The Seiyu Co., Ltd. Wholly owned operations are located in
Argentina,
Brazil,
Canada,
Puerto Rico, and the UK. Wal-Mart's investments outside North America have produced mixed results. In
2006, Wal-Mart sold its retail operations in
South Korea and
Germany due to sustained losses and a highly competitive market.
Wal-Mart has been the target of
criticism from
labor unions and various groups and individuals. Specific criticisms include disapproval of the company's foreign product sourcing, quality of employee health insurance, lack of union representation, claims of
sexism, as well as accusations that Wal-Mart "destroys small business," among other things.
History
Sam Walton's original Walton's Five and Dime, now the Wal-Mart Visitor's Center, Bentonville, Arkansas.
's retailing career began when he accepted a job offer at a
JCPenney store in
Des Moines, Iowa on
June 3,
1940 where he remained for 18 months. In
1945, he met with
Butler Brothers, a regional
retailer that owned a chain of
variety stores called
Ben Franklin. Butler Brothers offered him a Ben Franklin store in
Newport, Arkansas.
Walton could not come to agreement on his lease renewal and could not find a new location in Newport; so he located a new variety store in
Bentonville, Arkansas which he would open as another Ben Franklin franchise, but called "Walton's Five and Dime." Walton achieved higher sales volume by selling products with slightly smaller markups than most competitors.
[2]
In 1962, Walton opened the first Wal-Mart store, Wal-Mart Discount City and within five years the company expanded to 24 stores across the state of
Arkansas and reached $12.6 million in sales. In 1968, it opened its first stores outside Arkansas, in
Sikeston, Missouri and
Claremore, Oklahoma.
[3]
The company was
incorporated as ''Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.'' on
October 31,
1969, and in
1970 opened its home office in
Bentonville, Arkansas, and its first
distribution center. There were now 38 stores operating with 1,500 employees and sales of $44.2 million. The company began trading stock at this time as a
publicly held company on
October 1,
1972, and was listed on the
New York Stock Exchange shortly thereafter. The first
stock split occurred in May 1971 at a market price of $47. By this time, Wal-Mart was operating in five
states:
Arkansas,
Kansas,
Louisiana,
Missouri and
Oklahoma, and entered
Tennessee in 1973, and
Kentucky and
Mississippi in
1974. As it moved into
Texas in
1975, there were 125 stores with 7,500 employees, and total sales of $340.3 million.
Wal-Mart continued to grow rapidly during the 1980s, and by its
twenty-fifth anniversary in 1987, there were 1,198 stores with sales of $15.9 billion and 200,000 associates.
This year also marked the completion of the company's
satellite network, a $24 million investment, linking all operating units of the company with their Bentonville Office via two-way voice, data, and one-way video communication. At the time, this was the largest private satellite network, and allowed the corporate office to track inventory, sales, and send instant communication to their stores.
[4] Company founder Sam Walton stepped down as CEO the following year, and was replaced by
David Glass.
[5] Walton remained on as Chairman of the Corporate
Board of Directors, and the company also restructured their senior management positions, elevating a cadre of executives to positions of greater responsibility.
Also in 1988, the first ''Wal-Mart Supercenter'' opened in
Washington, Missouri.
[6] Wal-Mart expanded their superstore concept during the 1990s, and shortly thereafter surpassed
Toys "R" Us in toy sales.
[7] The company also opened overseas stores during this period, entering the
South American market in 1995 with stores in
Argentina and
Brazil, and purchasing
ASDA in the
United Kingdom for $10 billion in 1999.
[8] In 1998, Wal-Mart entered the
grocery business, introducing their
Neighborhood Market concept with three stores in
Arkansas.
[9] By 2005, estimates indicate that the company controlled approximately 20% of the retail grocery and consumables business.
[10]
By 2000, as
H. Lee Scott was named President and CEO of the company, Wal-Mart's sales increased to $165 billion.
[11] In 2002, Wal-Mart was listed for the first time on the
Fortune 500 list of the world's largest corporations, with revenues of $219.8 billion and profits of $6.7 billion. The company was subsequently listed at #1 for every year after 2002 except for 2006.
1[12]
In 2005, Wal-Mart had $312.4 billion in sales, more than 6,200 facilities around the world, including 3,800 stores in the
United States and 2,800 international units, and employing more than 1.6 million associates worldwide. In fact, their U.S. presence had grown so rapidly that there were only small pockets of the country that remained further than 60 miles away from the nearest Wal-Mart.
[13] Also in 2005, focusing on becoming more ecologically-friendly, the company designed two new experimental stores, one in
McKinney, Texas and the other in
Aurora, Colorado, featuring wind turbines, photovoltaic solar panels, biofuel-capable boilers, water-cooled refrigerators, and xeriscape gardens.
[14]
In
March 2006, Wal-Mart sought to attempt to appeal to a more affluent demographic, with the opening of a new supercenter in
Plano, Texas, and is intended to compete against stores that some view as more upscale and appealing, such as
Target.
[15] The new store features wooden floors, wider aisles, a
sushi bar, a coffee/sandwich shop (with free
Wi-Fi Internet access), and higher-end items such as
microbrew beer, expensive
wines, and high-end electronics. The exterior sports the less-common hunter green background behind the Wal-Mart letters instead of the trademark blue.
Subsidiaries
Wal-Mart's operations are comprised primarily in three retailing subsidiaries. Wal-Mart Stores Division U.S.,
Sam's Club (second biggest to Costco), and Wal-Mart International.
Wal-Mart does business under nine different retail formats:
supercenters,
food and drugs,
general merchandise stores, bodegas (small markets), cash and carry stores,
membership warehouse clubs,
apparel stores, soft
discount stores and
restaurants.
Wal-Mart Stores Division U.S.
An exterior of a typical Wal-Mart discount department store.
An exterior of a typical Wal-Mart Supercenter in
Madison Heights, Virginia,
USA. Unlike smaller Wal-Mart stores, most Wal-Mart Supercenters feature double entrances and a few triple entrances (Main, Food, and Garden Center).
The 'Wal-Mart Stores Division U.S.' is Wal-Mart's largest business subsidiary, accounting for 67.2% of fiscal 2006 net sales.
This segment consists of three traditional retail formats:
discount stores,
supercenters, and
neighborhood markets, all of which are located in the
United States, as well as Wal-Mart's
online retailer, ''walmart.com''. Walmart.com was listed in the Top 500 largest e-retailers Guide by Internet Retailer in 2007. This list also incorporated other retailers such as
Target,
Apple, and
PartStore.com.
[16] Additionally, in
February 6,
2007, the company launched a "beta" version of their new movie download service, ''mediadownloads.walmart.com,'' which sells 3,000 films and television episodes from all major studios and television networks.
[17]
Wal-Mart Stores operates retail department stores selling a range of non-grocery products, though emphasis is now focused on the supercenters, which include more grocery items.
Wal-Mart Discount Stores
'Wal-Mart Discount Stores' are a chain of
discount department stores that range in size from 100,000 square feet (5,000 m²) to 224,000 square feet (21,000 m²) with an average size of approximately 102,000 square feet (9,500 m²).
They carry some
general merchandise products and a selection of
food items. Many of these stores also feature a garden center, a
pharmacy,
Tire &
Lube Express, optical center,
one-hour photo processing lab,
portrait studio, and a
fast food outlet. Some also have Gasoline Stations.
The first Wal-Mart store in
Rogers, Arkansas, has been remodeled and expanded, becoming a 24-hour Wal-Mart Supercenter. A similar Wal-Mart concept, ''Discount City'', opened in Rogers a year earlier, but all of these stores were later closed or converted into Discount Stores.
As of
May 31,
2007, there were 1,040 Wal-Mart Discount Stores in the
United States. The busiest Wal-Mart in the world is in
Rapid City, South Dakota.
[18]
Wal-Mart Supercenter
'Wal-Mart Supercenters' are a chain of
hypermarkets that range in size from 98,000 square feet (9,000 m²) to 261,000 square feet (24,000 m²) with an average size of approximately 197,000 square feet (17,000 m²).
They carry everything a Wal-Mart Discount Store does, as well as a full-line
supermarket (including
meat and
poultry,
baked goods,
delicatessen,
frozen foods,
dairy products,
garden produce and fresh
seafood). Many Wal-Mart Supercenters also feature a garden center, a
pet shop, a
pharmacy, a Tire & Lube Express, optical center, one-hour photo processing lab, portrait studio, and numerous alcove shops such as a cellular phone store, hair and nail salons, a video rental store, a family fun center, a branch of a local bank, and possibly a
fast food outlet. Some locations also sell
gasoline, either through
Murphy Oil Corporation, whose Wal-Mart stations are branded as "Murphy USA",
Sunoco, Inc. as "Optima", or
Tesoro Corporation, who uses the "Mirastar" banner on theirs.
The first Supercenter opened in 1988 in
Washington, Missouri; a similar Wal-Mart concept, ''
Hypermart USA'', opened in
Garland, Texas a year earlier, but all of those stores were later closed or converted into Supercenters. As of
May 31,
2007, there were 2,326 Wal-Mart Supercenters in the
United States.
Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market
Main articles: Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market
'Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets' are a chain of
grocery stores that average about 42,000 square feet (3,900 m²).
They offer a variety of products (including a full-line of
groceries, pharmaceuticals, health and beauty aids, photo developing services, and a limited selection of
general merchandise).
The first Neighborhood Market opened in 1998 in
Bentonville, Arkansas. As of
May 31,
2007, there were 118 Neighborhood Markets in the
United States.
Sam's Club
Main articles: Sam's Club
Wal-Mart operates 'Sam's Club', a chain of
warehouse clubs that sells
groceries and
general merchandise, often in large quantities or volume. Sam's Club stores are only open to customers who subscribe to a paid, annual membership. Some locations also sell
gasoline. The first Sam's Club opened in 1983 in
Midwest City, Oklahoma.
According to Wal-Mart's 2006 Annual Report, Sam's Club accounted for approximately 12.7% of fiscal 2006 sales. Competitors of Wal-Mart's Sam's Club division are
Costco, and the smaller
BJ's Wholesale Club chain operating mainly in the eastern US.
As of
May 31,
2007, there were 584 Sam's Clubs in the
United States.
Wal-Mart International
Wal-Mart's international operations comprise 2,701 stores in 14 countries outside the United States.
[19] According to Wal-Mart's 2006 Annual Report, International accounted for approximately 20.1% of fiscal 2006 sales.
Wholly owned operations are located in
Argentina,
Brazil,
Canada,
Puerto Rico and the
United Kingdom (UK). With 1.8 million employees worldwide, the company is the largest private employer in the US and
Mexico, and one of the largest private employers in Canada.
[20]
Wal-Mart has operated in Canada since their acquisition of the Woolco division of
Woolworth Canada, Inc.
[21] Today, they operate 278 locations employing 70,000 Canadians, with a local home office in
Mississauga, Ontario. On
November 8,
2006,
Wal-Mart Canada's first three Supercentres opened in
Ancaster,
London, and
Aurora, Ontario. As of
January 31,
2007, there were six Wal-Mart Supercenters in Canada.
As of
November 30,
2006, there were six Sam's Clubs
Canada (all in
Ontario:
London,
Richmond Hill,
Vaughan,
Cambridge,
Pickering, and
Toronto).
In December 2006, conversion of a Wal-Mart Discount Store into a Wal-Mart Supercentre has begun in Lethbridge, Alberta, making it the 7th in Canada and the first in Western Canada.
Sales in the fiscal year 2006 for Wal-Mart's UK subsidiary, ASDA (an abbreviation of 'AS'quith and 'DA'iries), were 42.7% of the International segment sales. In contrast to Wal-Mart's US operations, ASDA was originally and remains primarily a grocery chain, but it has a stronger focus on non-foods than most UK supermarket chains (a notable exception is
Tesco, UK's largest grocery & Non-food retailer). At the end of fiscal year 2006, there were 236 ASDA stores, 10 George stores, 5 ASDA Living and 43 ASDA small stores.
Wal-Mart's UK subsidiary, "ASDA"
In addition to its wholly owned international operations, Wal-Mart has joint ventures in
China and several majority owned subsidiaries. Wal-Mart's majority owned subsidiary in
Mexico is
Walmex. In
Japan, Wal-Mart owns approximately 53% of
The Seiyu Co., Ltd.[22] Additionally, Wal-Mart owns 51% of the Central American Retail Holding Company (CARHCO) formed from more than 360 supermarkets and other store formats, operating in 5 Central American countries:
Guatemala,
El Salvador,
Honduras,
Nicaragua and
Costa Rica.
[23]
In 2004, Wal-Mart bought the Bompreço supermarket chain, composed of 116 stores. Bompreço is the major supermarket chain in Northeastern
Brazil. In late 2005, Wal-Mart took control of the Brazilian operations of Sonae Distribution Group through its new subsidiary, WMS Supermercados do Brasil, thus acquiring control of the Nacional and Mercadorama supermarket chains, the leaders in
Rio Grande do Sul and
Paraná states. None of those operations were rebranded. As of August 2006, Wal-Mart operates 71 Bompreço stores, 27 Hiper-Bompreço stores, 15 Balaio stores and 3 Hiper-Magazines (all originally part of Bompreço). It also runs 19 Wal-Mart Supercenters, 13 Sam's Club stores and 2 Todo Dia stores. With the acquisition of Bompreço and Sonae, Wal-Mart is currently the third largest supermarket chain in Brazil, behind
Carrefour and
Pão de Açúcar.
In July 2006, Wal-Mart announced its withdrawal of operations from
Germany because of sustained losses in the highly-competitive German market. The stores were sold to the German company
METRO AG.
[24] The sale was completed in Wal-Mart's fiscal third quarter.
In November 2006, Wal-Mart announced a joint venture with
Bharti Enterprises to open "hundreds" of retail stores in
India. Since foreign corporations are not allowed to enter the retail sector in India directly, Wal-Mart is expected to operate through franchises and handle the wholesale end of the venture.
[25] The partnership will involve two joint ventures. While Bharti would be managing the front-end that involves opening retail outlets, Wal-Mart would take care of the back-end such as
cold chains and logistics. However, on
August 6,
2007, the two companies announced they will be starting about 10 to 15 wholesale cash-and-carry stores, each sized 50,000-100,000 square feet and employ about 5,000 people.
[26]
Private label brands
Main articles: List of Wal-Mart brands
Today, approximately 40% of products sold in Wal-Mart are
private label store brands, or products offered by Wal-Mart and produced through
subsidized contracts awarded to the lowest bidder.
[27] Wal-Mart began offering private label brands in 1991 with the launch of
Sam's Choice, a brand of drinks produced by
Cott Beverages exclusively for Wal-Mart. Sam's Choice quickly became popular, and by 1993, was cited as #3 on the list of top beverage brands in the United States.
[28] Other Wal-Mart brands include Great Value and Equate in the US and
Smart Price in the United Kingdom. A 2006 study recently found that, "While clearly other results in this study point to the success of other retailers, we are struck by the magnitude of mind-share Wal-Mart appears to hold in shoppers' minds when it comes to awareness of private label brands and retailers."
[29]
Corporate affairs
Wal-Mart's business model is based on selling a wide variety of general merchandise and marketing, at "always low prices."
The company refers to its employees as "associates." All Wal-Mart stores in the US and Canada also have designated "greeters", whose general role is to welcome shoppers at the store entrance, and play a role in loss prevention.
[30]
Unlike many other retailers, Wal-Mart does not charge a
slotting fee to suppliers for their products to appear in the store.
[31] Alternatively, they focus on selling more popular products and often pressure store managers to drop unpopular products in favor of more popular ones, as well as manufacturers to supply more popular products.
More than 70% of the goods sold in Wal-Mart are manufactured in
China.
[1][2]
On
September 14,
2006, the company announced that it would be phasing out its
layaway program, citing declining use and increased costs.
[32] Layaway was offered until
November 19,
2006, with merchandise pickup by
December 8,
2006. They plan to focus on alternative payment options, such as increased use of 6 and 12 month zero interest financing.
Financial
In 2006, Wal-Mart ranked at number 67 of the 100 largest corporations in terms of profitability (profits divided by total revenue), behind retailers
Home Depot,
Dell and
Target, and ahead of
Costco and
Kroger.
[33] For the
fiscal year ending
January 31,
2006, Wal-Mart reported
net income of $12.178 billion on $344.992 billion of sales revenue (3.5%
profit margin).
[34] For the fiscal year ending
January 31,
2006, Wal-Mart's international operations accounted for approximately 20.1% of total sales.
[35] As of
Sep 6,
2007, net sales for the 30-week period ending Aug 31, 2007 was $207.487 billion, up 8.5% from the previous year's results.
[36]
Governance
Wal-Mart is governed by a thirteen-member
Board of Directors, which is elected annually by
shareholders.
S. Robson Walton, the eldest son of founder
Sam Walton, serves as
Chairman of the Board, and
H. Lee Scott, the
Chief Executive Officer, serves on the board as well. Other members of the board include
Aída Álvarez,
James Breyer,
M. Michele Burns,
James I. Cash, Jr.,
Douglas N. Daft,
David D. Glass, Roland A. Hernandez, Jack C. Shewmaker,
Jim C. Walton, Christopher J. Williams, and Linda S. Wolf.
Notable former members of the board include
Hillary Clinton (1985-1992)
[37] and
Tom Coughlin (2003-2004), who also served as Vice Chairman. Clinton left the board prior to the
1992 U.S. Presidential Election, and Coughlin left the board in
December, 2005 after pleading guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from Wal-Mart.
[38] On
August 11,
2006, he was sentenced to 27 months of home confinement, five years of probation, and ordered to pay
$411,000 in restitution.
[39]
Competition
In
North America, Wal-Mart's primary competition includes
department stores like
Kmart,
Target,
ShopKo,
Meijer, or Canada's
Zellers,
Winners, or
Giant Tiger. Wal-Mart's move into the
grocery business in the late 1990s has also positioned it against major
supermarket chains in both the
United States and Canada. Several smaller retailers, primarily
dollar stores, such as
Family Dollar and
Dollar General, have been able to find a small niche market and compete successfully against Wal-Mart for home consumer sales.
[40] In 2004, Wal-Mart responded by testing their own dollar store concept, a subsection of some stores known as "Pennies-n-Cents."
[41]
Wal-Mart has struggled in other foreign markets. For example, in
Germany, it had captured just 2% of German food sales following its entry into the market in 1997 and had remained "a secondary player" compared to competitor
Aldi which boasts 19% share of the German market.
[42]
In July 2006, Wal-Mart announced its withdrawal of operations from Germany because of sustained losses. Its stores are to be sold to German company
METRO AG In China, Wal-Mart is "a small fish" as its strategy of "everyday low prices" has not been successful against "Chinese mom-and-pop shops that are used to cutthroat pricing."
[43] In May 2006, Wal-Mart withdrew from the South Korean market when it agreed to sell all 16 of its South Korean outlets to
Shinsegae, a local retailer, for $882 million who are as of late 2006 re-branding the country's Wal-Marts as
E-mart. Wal-Mart had originally entered the South Korea market in 1998.
[44] In the UK, Wal-Mart's ASDA subsidiary is the second largest chain after
Tesco.
[45] Specifically, ASDA is a distant second to Tesco in the UK grocery market, and as of 2006 the gap is widening, based on market share figures published by
TNS Worldpanel.
Customer base
Each week, approximately 100 million customers, or one-third of the US population, visits Wal-Mart's US stores.
[46] Wal-Mart customers place low prices as the most important reason for shopping at Wal-Mart, reflecting the "Low prices, always" message that Wal-Mart had from
1962 until
2006.
[47] Wal-Mart's average US customer's income is below the national average, and analysts have recently estimated that more than one-fifth do not have a bank account, twice the national rate.
[48] A Wal-Mart financial report in 2006 also indicated that Wal-Mart customers are sensitive to higher utility costs and gas prices.
[49] A poll prior to the
2004 US Presidential Election indicated that 76% of voters who shopped at Wal-Mart once per week planned to vote for
George W. Bush, while only 23% planned to vote for
John Kerry.
[50] When measured against other similar retailers in the US, frequent Wal-Mart shoppers were rated the most politically conservative.
[51]
In 2006, Wal-Mart made steps to expand its US customer base, announcing a modification in its US stores from a, "one-size-fits-all," merchandising strategy to a custom-fitting merchandise assortment designed to, "reflect each of six demographic groups – African-Americans, the affluent, empty-nesters, Hispanics, suburbanites and rural residents."
[52] About six months later, the company went public with a variation on their customer profile: "Saving people money so they can live better lives."
This reflects what Wal-Mart identifies as the three main groups that its 200 million customers are organized into: "brand aspirationals" (people with low incomes who are obsessed with names like
KitchenAid), "price-sensitive affluents" (wealthier shoppers who love deals), and "value-price shoppers" (who like low prices and cannot afford much more).
Wal-Mart has also made steps to appeal to more
liberal customers, for example, by rejecting the
American Family Association's recommendations and carrying the
DVD ''
Brokeback Mountain,'' a love story about two gay cowboys in Wyoming.
[53]
Employee and labor relations
Labor unions Religious organizations,
[54][55] and environmental groups.
[56] have criticised Wal-Mart with regard to its policies and/or business practices. In particular, several labor unions blame Wal-Mart workers' unwillingness to join their union on the company's anti-union stance. Others disapprove of corporation's extensive foreign product sourcing, treatment of employees and product suppliers, environmental practices,
the use of public subsidies, and the impact of stores on the local economies of towns in which they operate.
[57][58][59]
In 2005, labor unions created several web pages and front organizations to damage Wal-Mart's public image. These include
Wake Up Wal-Mart (
United Food and Commercial Workers) and
Wal-Mart Watch (
Service Employees International Union). By the end of 2005, Wal-Mart launched
Working Families for Wal-Mart, a
grassroots operation managed by Wal-Mart, to counter the criticisms. Additional efforts to counter criticism include launching a public relations campaign in 2005 through their public relations website,
[60] as well as several television commercials. The company retained the
public relations firm
Edelman to respond to negative media attention,
[61] and has started interacting directly with s by sending them news, suggesting topics for postings, and sometimes inviting them to visit their corporate headquarters.
[62]
Critics also decry Wal-Mart's employee and workforce relations,
low wages,
poor working conditions, inadequate
health care. Critics also denounce what they call the company's
anti-union policies. Critics claim that Wal-Mart's high
turnover rate – approximately 70% of its employees leave within the first year, indicates that the workers are dissatisfied with the lack of recognition and inadequate pay.
[63]
A jury in Massachusetts Superior Court awarded nearly 2 million dollars to a woman who worked at Wal-Mart as a
pharmacist for 9 years. She demanded she be paid a wage differential and bonuses for managers and that she was reprimanded for reporting missing drugs to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The jury rejected Wal-Mart's claim that she had left the pharmacy unsecured and was fired for numerous violations of company policy.
[64]
Diversity
According to a consultant hired by plantiffs in a sex discrimination lawsuit,
[65][66] in 2001, Wal-Mart's EEOC filings showed that female employees made up 72% of Wal-Mart's workforce, but only 30% of its management (a 15% difference from the population ratio, 4% higher than the rest of the industry). The consultant claims this ratio was typical in 1975.
On
April 3,
2007, Wal-Mart reported that female employees were now 61% of its workforce and 40% of its management.
[67]
Wal-Mart has received improving scores on the
Corporate Equality Index, a measure of how companies treat homosexual employees and consumers, published by the
Human Rights Campaign. The rating was 65% in the 2006 edition,
[68] 57% in 2005, 43% in 2003 and 2004, and 14% in 2002.
[69][70] Wal-Mart's 2003 score accompanied an expanded antidiscrimination policy to protect gay and lesbian employees,
[71] The 2005 score accompanied a new definition of family that included same-sex partners.
[72]
In January 2006, Wal-Mart announced that, "diversity efforts include new groups of minority, female and gay employees that have started meeting at Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville to advise the company on marketing and internal promotion. There are seven so-called Business Resource Groups: women, African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, Gays and Lesbians, and a disabled group."
[73]
Wal-Mart is currently facing a
gender discrimination lawsuit, ''
Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.'', alleging female employees were discriminated against in pay and promotions. In February 2007, the
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a 2-1 ruling that affirmed a lower court ruling to certify the case as a
class-action lawsuit that plaintiffs estimate could include approximately 1.6 million women.
[74][75] A similar lawsuit, ''
EEOC (Janice Smith) v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.'', was filed on
August 24,
2001, accuses the retailer of discriminating hiring practices at their
London, Kentucky Distribution Center dating back to 1995.
[76] ''
Mauldin v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.'', charges that the company's denial of health insurance coverage for
birth control is unfair to female employees. In 2002, the lawsuit was granted
class action status, allowing all female employees after March, 2001, to file claims if they were using contraceptives.
[77]
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