Retail

Walmart Faces Black Friday Protests

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: November 24, 2015 6:47 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 4:50 pm

Despite raising  hourly wages, Walmart (NYSE: WMT) still faces a series of aggressive protests about pay on Black Friday, one of the most important days for its recovery. Even if Black Friday has expanded into Thanksgiving and the rest of the holiday weekend, no retailer can do well without the individual day being strong. With shaky same-store sales, Walmart needs to pick up market share this holiday season.

According to protest group OUR Walmart, it will join with 22 other organizations:

On Black Friday, November 27, protests will take place from coast to coast outside of Walmart stores as workers and allies demand that the company increase wages and hours. The actions, at a dozen stores across the nation, comes on the heels of a more than two-week fast by 1,400 people, and numerous events by workers and allies demanding $15 an hour and full-time work so they have enough hours to provide for their families at a wage they can live on.

Unlike other protests against large retailers, Walmart is not a target simply because it is forcing workers to come to its stores on Thanksgiving. The Walmart protesters are taking a longer view.

Also the protest will take place in large cities, which are not Walmart’s stronghold:

The Black Friday actions will be taking place in cities including: New York City, Tampa, Washington, DC, Miami, Chicago, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, Seattle, Portland and Detroit.

Walmart’s strength, at least in terms of store locations, is in the middle of the country, and much less in the states along the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

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Another question about the protest actions is whether they are large enough to affect Walmart’s Black Friday business at all. It has over 5,100 stores in the U.S.

The Walmart protests may have a symbolic effect, but probably not much more than that.