Retail rocks at annual Wal-Mart rally
David Teather in Fayetteville, Arkansas Saturday June 4, 2005 The Guardian
It was 6.30am and already the packed 20,000-seat Bud Walton Arena was rocking. The annual shareholders' meeting of Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, is unlike any other. It is part rock concert, part massive pep rally for the thousands of workers invited from around the world and part revivalist meeting, reaffirming faith in the company and in God - a gospel singer provided some of the entertainment.
This is Arkansas after all, the birthplace of Wal-Mart and heartland of conservative America. <...>
Jessica Simpson sang the national anthem and admitted this was probably the earliest she had ever performed. Will Smith and Jimmy Buffett had given concerts for the workers earlier in the week. It is not difficult to get top acts to perform when Wal-Mart can account for up to a third of an artist's sales in the US.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1499081,00.html?gusrc=rss
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