Wal-Mart working on image Retailer's leader says perception of aloofness limiting growth By EMILY KAISER Reuters News Service
CHICAGO - Wal-Mart Stores can no longer remain sheltered in its Bentonville, Ark., headquarters while potentially costly lawsuits pile up, Chief Executive Officer Lee Scott said Wednesday.
Scott told an analyst conference that Wal-Mart management had failed in its efforts to repair the retailer's reputation, which has been tarnished by dozens of discrimination cases and charges of worker mistreatment in recent years.
Many Wall Street analysts consider the lawsuits and bad publicity to be among the biggest obstacles to Wal-Mart's store expansion plans and even profit growth.
The world's biggest retailer faces increasing opposition as it stretches beyond its rural roots and into urban areas.
Voters in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood recently rejected a Wal-Mart Supercenter, and other communities have passed ordinances blocking so-called big-box stores.
"We have got to eliminate this constant barrage of negatives that cause people ... to wonder if Wal-Mart will be allowed to grow," Scott said.
"Our message has not gotten out to the extent that it should. I think that's management's failure. We thought we could sit in Bentonville, take care of customers, take care of associates, and the world would leave us alone."
He said the company needed to be "more sophisticated" than it was in the days of charismatic founder Sam Walton, who shunned politics and public speaking.
Scott and other executives have been writing editorials and speaking at conferences in hopes of improving Wal-Mart's reputation.
Despite the bad news, Wal-Mart remains on track to easily exceed the $256.3 billion in sales it generated in its last fiscal year.
Sales stood at $134.5 billion through the second quarter, which ended July 31, and Scott said the company remained optimistic about the coming holiday season.
He told analysts not to get "overly depressed" about disappointing summer sales and joked that "Christmas will come."
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" How come people always flip and think they're Jesus? Why not Buddha? Particularly in America, where more people resemble Buddha than Jesus. 'Ah'm BUDDHA!' 'You're Bubba!' 'Ah'm Buddha now..All I gotta do is change 3 letters on ma belt...' " - Bill Hicks