by Timothy Rutt
Walmart representatives defended the company last night, saying that it was far more transparent about employee wages and benefits than other area grocery stores. They also said that studies that blame the retail giant for the loss of small businesses were contradicted by other studies.
“For every study that is out there, there is a counterstudy,” said Walmart spokesman Javier Angulo. “The results of the studies are really influenced by who’s making the study, who’s delivering the study, what their intentions are.
“Some of the studies that are pro-Walmart are issued by Walmart, no surprise there. Some of the studies that Walmart basically causes ills and causes economic destruction, well, look at the fine print look to see who is financing the study -- it’s our opponents.”
Angulo spoke at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Altadena Coalition of Neighborhood Associations (ACONA). The meeting, held at the Altadena Senior Center, offered an opportunity for Walmart representatives to address questions asked in an Altadenablog online survey last month.
Angulo introduced Jennifer Gonzales, who will be the manager of the Walmart Neighborhood Market that is moving into a location on Lincoln Avenue. The Neighborhood Market is Walmart’s new grocery store format, which usually goes into buildings already zoned as grocery stores. The first Neighborhood Market in the Los Angeles area opened last month in Panorama City.
Gonzales said that the Altadena market would open with a ratio of 60 percent part-time employees vs. 40 percent fulltime. Gonzales, who said she started with Walmert as a nighttime seasonal stocker, said that they were starting with more part-time employees to create a performance incentive so some could graduate to full time employment.
