Welcome

August 14, 2006

Welcome Wal-Mart Students,

We are looking forward to the coming semester.  Before our course gets underway, we ask a few things of you.

First, please log into the TWEN site we have created for the Wal-Mart class.  (Those of you enrolled in the research and writing seminar will also need to log into that TWEN site.)  Once the semester begins, we will use the TWEN email system to send you notices.

Second, we ask you to visit a Wal-Mart near you before our first class.  (You can enter your zip code in ‘Store Finder’ at www.walmart.com to find the 20 stores nearest you.) While in Wal-Mart, we ask you to:

·        Take note of the location, size, and layout of the store.

·        Observe shoppers, the checkout lanes, and what shoppers tend to purchase.

·        Choose a few items and make price comparisons with other stores.

·        Check the labels and tags see where merchandise was made.

·        Talk with Wal-Mart associates if you feel comfortable.  Note how many associates you see, as well as their demographics (gender, age, race/ethnicity).

We also encourage you to pay attention to Wal-Mart advertising and media coverage.  You might also visit other discount stores or wholesale clubs to note the differences between Wal-Mart and its competitors.  Please be prepared to discuss your observations and reactions in class.

Third, please buy the required textbooks when you have the opportunity.  The bookstore has already stocked Charles Fishman, The Wal-Mart Effect (2006).  Another required book is Bob Ortega, In Sam We Trust (2000).  Ortega’s book is out of print. The author, however, has agreed to sell his forty remaining personal copies to the law school bookstore and has given permission for us to make and sell photocopies to make up for the shortfall.  We will spend our first meeting introducing some of the key themes of the course and discussing Wal-Mart’s development and business model.  The reading assignment for our first class on August 30th follows:

·        Fishman, Chapters 1-2 (pp. 1-49)

·        Ortega, pp. 16-78, 108-111, 128-133, 140-150, 221-222, 278-280, 361-367.

·        Anthony Bianco & Wendy Zellner, Is Wal-Mart Too Powerful? Bus. Wk., Oct. 6, 2003, at 100, available at  http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_40/b3852001_mz001.htm.

·        Steven Malanga, What Does the War on Wal-Mart Mean? City J., Spring 2004, available at http://www.city-journal.org/printable.php?id=1333.