Walmart 1999 Annual Report Download - page 13

like no other. For starters, it is the first
Wal-Mart within the city limits of
Los Angeles and the only multi-story
Wal-Mart in the United States.
To enable customers to get from floor to
floor with their shopping carts, the store
features “vermaports” – German-made
devices that keep carts level in their
own special escalators, running side-by-
side with the customer escalators.
And in keeping with the demographics
of the community, signs in the store
bear such familiar messages as “Always
low prices. Always” – except that in
Panorama City, the signs read
“Siempre precios bajos. Siempre.”
Even before the new store opened,
associates found a way to plant
Wal-Mart firmly in the heart of the
community. They teamed up with the
Los Angeles Police Department for a
pre-grand opening celebration that
raised money for LAPD Jeopardy,
a gang prevention program. Between
the fund-raiser and a matching grant,
Wal-Mart ended up contributing about
$34,000 to the LAPD program, along
with more than $15,000 to other com-
munity organizations and causes.
And how did Panorama City respond to
the new Wal-Mart? By making it one of
the most successful Wal-Marts ever!
For example:
•Grand-opening day sales exceeded the
store’s sales plan by 20 percent;
•More than 43,000 customers passed
through the registers in the first week;
•An average of 9,500 customers have
made purchases every day since the
store opened; and,
•From all accounts, other merchants in
the mall and surrounding neighborhood
have seen increased business, thanks to
the shoppers attracted by Wal-Mart.
“It was definitely something new and
unique for Wal-Mart,” said Assistant
Manager Javier Rincon. “In recycling
the building and coming into the city
limits, we had to get really involved in
the community.”
Also, Rincon added with a grin, “Other
Wal-Marts have McDonald’s. We have
Mis Amigos.”
And therein lies another story of how
Wal-Mart became part of the Panorama
City community. Mis Amigos (“my
friends”), a Mexican restaurant and
snack bar within the Wal-Mart, had
been located in the mall before
Wal-Mart arrived.
“Without the anchor, we were strug-
gling,” recalled Norma Armstrong, who
operates Mis Amigos. “So many times
we were selling maybe $70 a day. I’d
put all my savings into this business
and I couldn’t close it. I could only wait
and hope for something good to hap-
pen. It was awful.
“Then one morning, Tom Coughlin
came in and ordered chorizo and eggs,”
said Armstrong. She didn’t know that
Coughlin, now president and CEO of
the Wal-Mart stores division, was then
the division’s executive vice president
and chief operating officer, visiting to
look over the opportunities in
Panorama City.
Coughlin and Armstrong fell into con-
versation, Armstrong said, “and I told
him I would like to expand my busi-
ness, but business was just so lousy.
“He said, ‘How would you like to move
into Wal-Mart?’
“I said, ‘Are you for real?’ He gave me
his card, and the rest is history.
“I’ve been in this community for 35
years,” Armstrong said. “I’ve seen it up,
I’ve seen it in the hole, and I’m here to
tell you, Wal-Mart saved this community.
“I’ve gotten involved so much with
Wal-Mart since they came here. It’s not
just making money for them, they
share the wealth. They make dreams
come true.”
Marquez, the Panorama Mall manager,
seconded that motion.
“This community, Los Angeles, they’re
not used to people trying to help
them,” Marquez said. “This is an eye-
opener for the city of Los Angeles, get-
ting a big business that cares so much
about the quality of life. Wal-Mart
brings quality, low prices and selection –
and they open up a lot of areas for
people to succeed.”
When Cynthia Lin first arrives in a community
where Wal-Mart is planning to place a store,
she arrives as a stranger.
But when Lin’s work is done, she – and
Wal-Mart – are no longer strangers in town.
After all, Wal-Mart is not a faceless outsider;
we’re your neighbors. When Cynthia Lin comes
to town, that’s the message she brings to our
new neighbors, customers and associates.
“As large a company as Wal-Mart is, we are
truly a very local presence in every community
we serve,” said Lin, who is Director of
Community Affairs for the West Region of
Wal-Mart. “That’s reflected in our associates, vir-
tually all of whom are hired locally, and we work
closely with community groups, government
agencies and the local business community.
“It’s wonderful to be able to develop a working
relationship with the other merchants in town,”
Lin said. “There’s a very definite niche that we
fill, and very definite niches for other businesses
in the community. It’s a very complementary
relationship, although we compete at times.
“Our commitment has always been to our cus-
tomers and our communities,” she said. “The
Panorama City store is a perfect example of
that commitment in action, with the creation
of hundreds of jobs, new sales-tax revenues for
the city and extensive community involvement
programs. And, as always, Wal-Mart is fulfilling
an important need in the community for good
products at great prices.”
13
IT’S NOT A MARKET,
IT’S OUR HOME
“OUR COMMITMENT HAS ALWAYS BEEN TO
OUR CUSTOMERS AND OUR COMMUNITIES,”
SAYS CYNTHIA LIN, AND SHE SHOULD
KNOW. AS A WAL-MART COMMUNITY
AFFAIRS DIRECTOR, SHE WORKS TO MAKE
THAT COMMITMENT A REALITY.