Wal-Mart Wooing Seventh Generation?
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO on 05.19.06
We've dedicated an awful lot of space to Wal-Mart recently, but with the steady supply of curve balls the mega-corporation has thrown in the last year, it's hard not to keep coming back to the company that so many Treehuggers love to hate. Is the world's largest retailer serious about changing its ways? Could it actually use its tremendous influence to push us over that tipping point towards more sustainable ways of living our lives and doing business? Or, is it all just greenwashing of the highest order? The jury's still out, of course, but it looks like Wal-Mart will keep us scratching our heads for the near term.
Of course, we're not the only one's trying to wrap our heads around Wal-Mart's declarations of more responsible business practices: the business community itself is keeping a close eye on the boys in Bentonville. So, when I received today's Non-Toxic Times from Seventh Generation, and saw that CEO Jeffrey Hollender had met with his Wal-Mart counterpart Lee Scott, I couldn't click through quickly enough to get to the story. Hollender admits that he's been doing a lot of head-scratching, too, and was both intrigued and surprised by the invitation to meet with Scott and other company executives. Many of us know that Hollender's been an outspoken critic of Wal-Mart, so the idea of "an audience with the King," as he puts it, brought with it many questions:
Why does the president of the world’s largest company want to spend time with me—the president of a tiny Vermont business, author of a book about corporate responsibility, and a frequent, harsh, and vocal critic? How can I engage with the essence of a giant like Wal-Mart to meaningfully alter its trajectory and harness its potential to be a power for equity, justice and environmental sustainability? It’s a tall order.A tall order, no doubt, but after reading Hollender's full account of the meeting, and his own thoughts that sprang from it, I got the feeling that Wal-Mart's top brass are also trying to wrap their brains around the enormity of what the Walton family has created, and the fierce, organized criticism that's arisen, particularly in the last few years. According to Hollender, Scott himself not only fully acknowledged the breadth of criticism aimed at the company, but also admitted that they'd played a role in the force it had gathered:
Lee, who has been president for only five years, says that they’ve spent most of their time bringing in the sandbags to reinforce their bunker. They’ve effectively helped organize the whole activist community by refusing to engage in any meaningful dialogue. The labor community (WalmartWatch, WakeupWalMart) has seized this opening that Wal-Mart has inadvertently created.Without giving too much else away, it's safe to say that Hollender sees tremendous opportunity with Wal-Mart, and believes they'd like to take advantage of it. Will they? He's not sure, but he's still talking with them. You still won't find Seventh Generation products at Wal-Mart, but given the soul-searching that's clearly going on in Bentonville, that may not always be the case. ::The Non-Toxic TimesA big mistake, says Lee. We helped organize our enemies better than they could have done themselves. (In fact, Wal-Mart has unintentionally succeeded in uniting a diverse collection of activists, from labor and environmental advocates to health care and women’s rights campaigners, that otherwise rarely even speak to each other.)
I love it. The blind haters and hoople heads are gonna have a melt down. What to do? They're only purpose in life (hating Walmart and ignoring everything else) might suddenly disappear! Heaven forbid! Now they might have to wrap their heads around the much greater problems that exist in our system, which allow Walmarts, Targets, box stores, to exist and prosper. Uh oh, now you'll need more than those two neurons to rub together. :D
While we all know Walmart might not be the most ethical of companies, I think it shows promise that they are even speaking to Hollender. The only way we are going to sway the masses into thinking more about their footprint is by bringing it to them, and bringing it to them on their terms. If that means through the Big Box, then so be it.
Most Big-Box-aholics ignore words from "Treehuggers" like us, so let's try something new, something that smells of Treehugging through the back door?
Don't worrie Chingy, they always find something!
they will prolly have something tosay about Hollender.
Prolly about him suddenly being in bed with them and some such.
I just think its good that companys like that are doing something besides just sitting on there hands.
BTW Walmart isn't the largest company in the world.
Depending on the stockmarket at the time its between GE and Microsoft.
Chingy, the only blind hate I'm seeing here is coming from you.
I dislike Walmart and other ruthless companies for innumerable reasons. If you had more than two braincells, you'd be able to read and learn of the many nasty things these companies have been caught doing.
No happy shiny forgiveness until they submit to 3rd-party tranparency and acknowledge the criminal actions they have, and still engage in.
Do we just instantly forgive other criminals just because they tell us they are going to be good now? If you get caught speeding, can you just issue a public statement that you will no longer speed, and then get off scott-free? No, you pay the fine, and take the points on your record.
No one deserves props more than the 'Pushers' and 'Pullers'.
The Pushers - the activists - pushed Wal-Mart into considering making a change.
The Pullers - the people with new products and processes for Wal-Mart to adopt, led them them to practical options for change.
If there were no Pushers or Pullers, we would not be having this discussion.
Seeing as most of us fit into one of these categories, we should pat ourselves on the back.
Don't pop your arm outta socket.
If Wal-Mart is seeking out Seventh Generation, then that **MAY** give 7th Gen the upper hand in bargaining. That is a very unlikely "may" but it is a little.
HOWEVER, I hope Hollender does research with what happens to companies that deal with Wal-mart before even considering to deal. Why did Levis go overseas? What happened to Vlassic pickles?
It would be nice for 7th Generation to stick around for a while, but a deal with Wal-Mart may put them out of business, if not at least make them drastically change their practices in a negative way.
Here's my theory. Wal-mart has been expanding from its base
of operations in Arkansas, from the Bible-Belt South to Lotus land. And in doing so they're adapting to changing consumer expectations.The more entrenched Wal-mart gets on the Left Coast the more "progressive" they'll become.
Hey Carl, blind hate??? I can't fathom any rational human being reading any hate in my post. Maybe you're just a bit confused? I think I started my post with the words "I love it". Yep, just looked back and I sure did.
Anyway, let me be a little more clear for you, as you seem a bit, well, "special". Its time the hoi polloi I refer to stop playing right into the system's hands by fixating on Walmart. Walmart broke a law? If so, they should be prosecuted. Thing is, they work the system masterfully so as not to break the law, that's what makes the hoi polloi so crazy. Imagine if those people put their efforts into voting the legislature out of office that enact the laws which allow the Walmarts to do what they do? I know, that would mean taking on something that requires real effort and is a truly moving target. Much harder than bitching about Walmart being the root of all our ills. Change the system and Walmart will change by default, along with the rest of them. I think this is the part where I say "DUH".
Chingy,
Umm....I was referring to the hate that you've been lobbing at people who disagree with you - like me - or did you not catch that?
"hoople heads"
"They're only purpose in life (hating Walmart and ignoring everything else"
"now you'll need more than those two neurons to rub together"
"I can't fathom any rational human being"
"Maybe you're just a bit confused?"
"you seem a bit, well, "special""
"this is the part where I say "DUH""
Me Too.
Carl, Carl, Carl. You're proving my point beautifully. You're fixating on me rather than the reality of which I speak. You've shown yourself to indeed be one of the hoople heads. Shame on you. Put your effort into changing the system and not being so easily distracted.
Chingy is "very special" :-)
I agree, Taylor.
What the hell is a hoople head?
Seriously, I see nothing wrong with talking to someone, regardless of what each one's motives are. Perhaps a few ethical people have risen to power here and there. I think if it wanted to, Wal-Mart could do a world of good for this nation and this planet. Even a little greenwashing is better than nothing at all. There is a growing niche market of ethical shoppers out here hungry for organic food and recycled paper products. You know, us 2 brain cell types. Heck we might even start seeing those "Made in America" signs in Wal-Mart that they used to be so proud of back in the 80's.
Then again, I won't hold my breath.
A hoople head might translate (in both meaning and tone) to goofball. So maybe you'd say the group of guys with paint on their faces at a football game are hoople heads. Term is used in the HBO series "Deadwood".
Carl, you're funny, I like you.
This isnt a good idea on the face of it for 7th Generation. Walmart start by enticing companies with the enormous scale of putting their product on Walmart shelves. But then Walmart continues to ask the CO. to bring the price down. Until the company is forced to reduce cost, send labor overseas and cut coners to keep lowering the price. Walmart is its own economy.
In my opinion, 7th Generation should sell their products through Walmart. If 7ths products are 'green', and I think they basically are, then the best thing is to make those products easier to acquire for the average person. I live in Spain and don't buy 7th products. But if they were widely available here, I definitely would. If the mass of people are going to start purchasing 'green' products, they have to be affordable and easy to acquire. Otherwise, they will remain niche products for a niche market (ardent Treehuggers) and all the crap products will continue to rule the world.