Blow out the candles on the cake. Better yet, blow away the whole cake! According to an article in the July 2, 2002 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, exactly 40 years ago Sam Walton opened up his first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Arkansas. The newspaper article quotes former Wal-Mart CEO David Glass as saying: “The numbers are large enough now that they’re hard to relate to.” There are indeed many Americans who find Wal-Mart hard to relate to. The Democrat-Gazette story goes on to quote me as saying: “Size matters, and after 40 years they still don’t have a clue of what local communities are screaming about. They’re as arrogant as ever, they’re as uncompromising as ever, and so they’re as hated as ever.” The article quotes the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis as saying “whatever the business or organization, there is a point where it would become too large for efficiency and economic management.” What do you suppose Justice Brandeis would have said about Wal-Mart’s 400 “dark stores.” now on the marketplace. How inefficient does large have to get? Wal-Martians and dark stores — this sounds like something George Lucas should look into. Happy 4th. decade Wal-Mart. You know the price of everything, and the value of nothing.
For the complete 40th. birthday story article, go to www.ardemgaz.com.
