Saturday, February 05, 2011

Bad Public Relations is Part of Walmart's Decline

First- read this Associated Press story about how smaller retailers are slowly but surely chopping into MegaCorporation Walmart's bottom line.

Yet- nothing in the AP story addresses Walmart's biggest negative: bad public relations.


You have the story of Heather Ravenstein- a Wichita KS Walmart employee who was fired for attempting to stop a shoplifter.


Then you get the amazing story of an elderly man from Raymore MO-Glenn Stevens- who was accused of a series of thefts from Walmarts that Mr. Stevens had never visited.


Both stories drew outrage both regionally and nationally- and cost Walmart customers like moi who didn't like the way that MegaCorporation runs slipshod over America's citizens.

It's stuff like that- the bad public relations of firing employees trying to do right by their employer and accusing plus having jailed innocent people like Glenn Stevens- that's going to bring on Walmart's slow but sure demise.
______________

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The first item you mention is policy and is stressed over and over so while sad it is that emplohyees fault.

The second was a misidentification involving the police and wal-mart.

I'm not a big fan of wal-mart as my wife has worked there for 20+ years and I have numerous complaints as to how she is treated. Much of it is the typical big corporation forgetting what got them there and they pay a price considering how many lawsuits they face (some honest some not so honest).

That said, they are hardly in decline but this is a private blog so you can say what you want and many will believe it without question.

Well I question your motives and caution anyone reading to always remember the personal slant of any news or private blog or just everything you read and hear. Sure they are typically about their profit margins and use their employees to get ahead just like most businesses of any size. I wish they cared more for their employees but with the removal of profit-sharing (replaced with matching contributions) and the recent debacle over the blizzard I don't like defending them.

But then I also don't like slanted opinions broadcast like it's gospel. Thanks.

Groucho K. Marx said...

You're welcome- and thank YOU for differing in my humble opinion without resulting to insults or profanity.

Did you ever consider running for political office?


Take care-
"Groucho"

Anonymous said...

Well smaller retailers can eat into or still make a stand against Wal-Mart. I have said this for years and maybe some are starting to see it my way. They way to beat Wal-Mart is sell what they don’t sell. I use to live in a smaller town south of Olathe that had a Wal-Mart in it. One wet rainy day I decided I wanted a good quality heavy duty yellow rain coat. Now Wal-Mart mind you does not sell this. After going to 4 smaller stores in town I was still without a rain coat. The reason I was given that they didn’t carry raincoats anymore was they couldn’t compete against Wal-Mart. I told them to wake up and get smart it’s not competing when you sell products they don’t.

Wal-Mart sales this past year had to be off in areas. Some I could see in the amount of stock they brought in as compared to the year before and as well I know a few who work there and they said that was the case as well. So that isn’t a slanted fact.

A friend had her purse stolen while at a Wal-Mart checkout stand about a year ago. When she reported it to the police and Wal-Mart she said it had to have been one of the checkers who did it. She claims she set purse up on little stand by credit card reader. You have to load your own cart at Wal-Marts now with those checkout stands they use so she was busy trying to deal with that and time to pay no purse. Wal-Mart refused to release security tapes to be viewed in an attempt to figure out what happened. After what happened to Mr. Glenn Stevens I am beginning to think they don’t have as many cameras as they want you to think they do. If they did and would let people see them then my friend’s purse might be found or who did it caught. Mr. Stevens who was never in those stores the tapes would have shown he for sure wasn’t.

No Wal-Mart is the biggest in town and they know it and like to not only get the taxpayer to help pay for their big new stores but walk all over us in other ways because they know nobody likes to take on the bully. Or do they now? I think the tide is starting to change some.

Oh and these so called price roll backs and so forth wake up people not the deal you think it is. Look real close at the package in your hand, you might be saving twenty cents but you are also getting one to maybe five ounces less product now. So no bargains are to be had that way, optical illusion maybe if you want.

Call my opinion slanted if you may. I really doubt people such as my friend or Mr. Stevens would find them slanted at all.

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