Conference To Examine Wal-Mart's Impact On Communities

An independent academic conference, sponsored by Wal-Mart, will feature both the pros and cons of the retailer's impact on the U.S.

1 minute read

November 4, 2005, 1:00 PM PST

By Brenda Meyer

"As part of an increasingly aggressive campaign to burnish its image, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. decided in August to sponsor an academic conference to explore the retailer's effects on the U.S. economy and local communities.

...Some of their findings, which a few of the researchers released before the conference, tend to confirm what Wal-Mart critics have been saying for years.

At least two concluded that Wal-Mart stores' pay practices depressed wages beyond the retail sector... One study concluded that Wal-Mart's giant grocery and general merchandise Supercenters brought little net gain for local communities in property taxes, sales taxes and employment; instead, the stores merely siphoned sales from existing businesses in the area."

FULL STORY: Wal-Mart Seeks Unbiased Research -- and Gets It

Friday, November 4, 2005 in The Los Angeles Times

Community / Economic Development United States

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