ROGERS, Ark. - Wal-Mart is "good for America" and the barrage of criticism against the company is an effort to protect the status quo in retailing, President and CEO Lee Scott said Tuesday in a sharp attack on organized labor and retail rivals.
Addressing about 50 journalists gathered at the company's media conference — it first ever media event — Scott defended its wages and health care plans, criticized by labor groups as inadequate, and said that the company is able to save customers big money as it drives costs out of its system. "Innovation and competition tends to change the status quo," said Scott, speaking at a hotel in Rogers, a few miles from Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Bentonville headquarters.
With slow sales and a stock price that has languished, company officials used the two-day event to offer their perspective on Wal-Mart's financial picture and said they will expand sales by making the company "an even better place to work," as it improves its efforts in such areas as diversity.
Wal-Mart officials also plan to improve the shopping experience by offering more fashionable apparel and trendier storage containers. It also vowed to be more offensive in its public relations tactics and to be more aggressive in price cuts.
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