RepChatter #30

Steve and Ted respond to a recent article in the L.A. Times about Wal-mart's new green initiatives. Is this a smart move that will improve Wal-mart's image and reputation, or should they fix the multitude of existing problems before venturing into this new green space?

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TOTAL LENGTH: 13:43 Download repchatter_show_31.mp3

Comments

[Andrea]

Growing up in Wal-Mart-Ville and my family owning and operating a mom-and-pop hardware store for more than 75 years less than 20 miles from Bentonville, you could say I have a lot of perspective on Wal-Mart. Mostly I have conflict with the company. By no means will I defend Wal-Mart’s business practices, but I have seen what good it can do for a community, mostly in the form of education. I remember in 1993 when Wal-Mart opened it’s first "Eco Store” in Lawrence, Kansas and how big of a deal it was back then. I’ve seen this environmentally conscience Wal-Mart and in less than 10 years, it was less than an ideal locale. I agree that Wal-Mart can do no harm in being more environmentally friendly. I just hope that they stick with this initiative and don’t let it fall through the cracks like the Eco Store did by letting its “getting their house in order” overshadow. This doesn’t cancel out anything Wal-Mart has done or is doing wrong with business practices but it does address a very big trend we are seeing these days… The move to greener practices. And as far as being superficial in why it is undertaking the initiative, I have a hard time believing most other companies aren’t doing it for the same reasons.