There are two ways that workers in the United States can relate to their brothers and sisters in Bangladesh and the rest of the Third World: they can accept a third world income and lifestyle or they can work to raise all workers to a higher standard of living. That is the core of the […]

Citing low demand, Walmart is pulling seafood from a number of its superstores in Florida. Given Walmart’s track record with meat, perhaps customers are taking charge by avoiding what they percieve to be a less than trustworthy source. It has nothing to do with British Petroleum’s massive dump in the Gulf. No. Nothing at all. […]

Last week I blogged the happy-happy-joy-joy spin of Vikas Bajaja on how garment factories in Bangladesh were helping young women find independence. This morning I open my browser to this headline: Bangladesh garment workers riot over wages. Thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers who stitch clothes for top Western brands blocked highways, attacked factories and looted […]

Think of the British Petroleum gusher at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, that’s what Chicagoans can expect now that Walmart and Chicago Walmart politicians have busted the cap. Like the oil in the gulf, we won’t know the full extent of damage for years. From The Chicago Tribune: Another Wal-Mart is on its […]

[Update @ 1534 — I forwarded this story to a friend who is very involved in the chemical end of environmental concern and she just emailed me back to say that: I called Whole Foods HQ in Austin. Most of their stores are bpa-free (re: the receipts) and the rest will be converted within the […]

How do you really feel about Walmart? Here’s your chance to express your true feelings — pro and con — about the world’s largest retailer. Write whatever you like in the comments section and engage your fellow readers in the conversation. Jeff Hess: Have Coffee Will Write.

While I was away in the mountains of North Carolina, the Walmart news never stopped just because I wasn’t reading it. One interesting note, locals refer to the Walmart in Spruce Pine (No. 2749) as the Macy’s of the Blue Ridge Parkway; it is that nice. Placed just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, the store […]

So we know Walmart wants to tag individual items of clothing, even if it means they could track you with it after you leave the store. The RFID Journal Blog asks, “Why isn’t Walmart killing the tags:” A member of my staff told me it didn’t makes sense for Wal-Mart Stores to tag clothing and […]

Rightly or wrongly, Illinois and Louisiana are always serious contenders for the top slot in the Best Bought Politicians race, but Illinois GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Brady has given his state an edge thanks to the good citizens of Walmart. From Crain’s Chicago Business: In an under-noticed development last week, GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Brady […]

Have you ever wondered what’s in a chicken nugget? Even if you’re not eating a chicken nugget from Walmart — now new and improved with blue plastic — you might find this cooking demonstration from Jamie Oliver instructive. If I don’t see the bone, I’m not eating it. Jeff Hess: Have Coffee Will Write.

Haven’t done one of these posts in a while, but thanks to the American Prospect I have the impetus: Most organic consumers know premiums for cleaner food are 10, 20, 50 percent — and can reach 500 percent or more — but this produce is also demanding for farmers to grow. It’s so expensive because […]

Now that the Wall Street engineered recession has workers panicked, Walmart is pushing harder to storm the barricades of urban workers. Washington, D.C. and Baltimore are likely targets, but residents are learning some of the tricks. From The Motown Shank: A few years ago, we were dealing with the prospect of a large development coming […]

Our co-blogger Robert Feinman passed in July 2009. Jonathan has already posted a best of series taken from Robert’s more than 600 posts to The Writing On The Wal. But Robert wrote elsewhere as well and, for some time, I’ve enjoyed a Sunday morning tradition of reading the essays he posted to his personal blog. […]

We have one Walmart in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and it’s the eastern anchor of a strip mall at Severance Center. But that is not where Walmart really wanted to build. It wanted a main thoroughfare location where the Oakwood golf course now sits. Why didn’t Walmart get its way? Because the residents who now have […]

Yes, as a matter of fact, that is the scariest headline ever. It’s discussing Walmart’s new plans to put RFID tags on individual items of clothing rather than just pallets of items. Here’s the potential privacy problem: “This is a first piece of a very large and very frightening tracking system,” said Katherine Albrecht, director […]