Walmart

Alabama city destroying ancient Indian mound for Sam’s Club

City leaders in Oxford, Ala. have approved the destruction of a 1,500-year-old Native American ceremonial mound and are using the dirt as fill for a new Sam’s Club, a retail warehouse store operated by Wal-Mart. A University of Alabama archaeology report commissioned by the city found that the site was historically significant as the largest […]

Pamela Anderson grows her eco-assets, and more

Build me up, double-D cupPamela Anderson sure has grown her assets over the years. She’s transformed from Baywatch babe to eco-entrepreneur — erecting projects in Canada, Abu Dhabi, and now Montenegro. Just one question: will these green buildings have “twin towers”?  

Eat fried food, save the planet

“You’ll be able to eat fried chicken and save the environment. We’ll be working on our marketing for that …” — former Walmart CEO Lee Scott, discussing the company’s plan to retrofit part of their truck fleet to run on grease from their frying operations

Until real middle-class wages start rising, we can't end agricultural subsidies

Watching this gripping animation (h/t Ezra Klein) that charts the spread of Wal-Marts across the country got me thinking. I felt like I was really watching the spread of wage stagnation across the country. I'm not suggesting there's any clarity as to which came first -- Wal-Mart or the grinding halt in middle-class wage growth. But Wal-Mart's accelerated growth in the 1980s matches this chart on wage inequality nicely (note the bottom two lines).

It's a pointless chicken-and-egg debate at a certain level. You can't blame Sam Walton (much less Sebastian Kresge or James Sinegal) for the fact that discounters that thrive on downward price pressure represent the only means most Americans have of maintaining the illusion of a rising standard of living.

Wal-Mart CEO will resign

Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott, who has presided over the company in its era of greening efforts, announced Friday that he is stepping down. Mike Duke, currently head of Wal-Mart’s international operations, takes over Feb. 1. To read up on what was, check out Grist’s interview with Scott and our coverage of Wal-Mart.

Green initiatives unveiled at Clinton Global Initiative gathering

The purpose of the Clinton Global Initiative is to bring together some of the folks working on specific global challenges, people who can support their good ideas, and those who would benefit from the solutions. These people get together, discuss, collaborate, and in some cases announce major initiatives that have come out of these partnerships. […]

New HP laptop packaged in messenger bag instead of box

Don’t take Grandma to Wal-Mart: the big-box store’s new Hewlett-Packard laptop “will be displayed on shelves wearing only the HP Protect Messenger Bag.” Scandalous! But actually, there’s no need to avert your eyes: the HP Pavilion dv6929 is served up in a recycled, reusable messenger bag instead of a box, cutting cardboard and plastic packaging […]

As the ground shifts under their feet, food giants experiment with new strategies

When you smile, the food world smiles with you … maybe. Photo: Original by heatkernel For more than a generation, the major corporations that process and sell the vast bulk of our food have had it pretty easy. They’ve had access to cheap energy to ship food over globe-spanning distances and run giant food-processing plants; […]

CEO charged with seeking profit

In the course of an off-the-shelf rant about Wal-Mart, Z.P. Heller says this: While Wal-Mart may be working to reduce their carbon footprint, it became clear that to Scott, reducing waste means making money, not fulfilling an environmental promise. The mind boggles.