No, Walmart Is Not Suddenly Woke
Is the nation’s biggest retailer racing to outdo Washington on e-cigarettes and guns? Or is Washington just unbelievably slow?
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- It has been a busy month at Walmart Inc. First, America’s largest retailer said it would stop sales of some kinds of ammunition in the wake of a shooting at one of its stores in El Paso, Texas. Then, on Friday, the company said it would cease selling e-cigarettes as a mysterious lung illness has raised new concerns about the safety of vaping.
This has led to chatter that some sort of new, “Woke Walmart” is emerging, with CEO Doug McMillon taking up the mantle of outspoken crusader. Let’s not get carried away: Walmart is moving in the right direction on these issues. But to say that the company is taking on a new, bolder political posture is an overstatement.
Start with Walmart’s decision to phase out sales of e-cigarettes. This shouldn’t have been a difficult choice. At least 530 people have been sickened from a vaping-related illness and several have died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s a rational business decision, not necessarily a political statement, to decide not to sell a product that may not be safe. (Although it should be noted that there is far more evidence that cigarettes, which Walmart still sells, are also deadly.)
Think of it this way: Exactly what critically important constituency will be upset with Walmart about this change? President Donald Trump spoke this month about moving to restrict sales of certain e-cigarettes, and there has been bipartisan movement among federal lawmakers toward more restrictions. Walmart is not inserting itself into any real controversy here.
Yet it’s perceived as Walmart stepping into politics because it comes on the heels of Walmart’s actions on guns — an issue that actually is politically inflammatory. Even in that case, however, what Walmart did was hardly audacious.
In addition to ending sales of certain types of ammunition, Walmart is “respectfully requesting” that customers avoid openly carrying weapons in its stores. McMillon also said the question of whether to restore the federal assault weapons ban “should be debated,” which is far short of calling for its reauthorization. This is incremental stuff.
Careful, cautious steps like these have been Walmart’s modus operandi on guns for a long time. After the shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, it raised the minimum age to buy a firearm at its stores. In 2015, it stopped selling assault-style rifles.
It’s a similar story with vaping: Walmart had already moved earlier this year to discontinue sales of fruit- and dessert-flavored e-cigarettes, varieties that are thought to have particular appeal to teenagers.
None of this is to say that Walmart’s modest moves don’t matter. They do. As the largest company in the U.S. by revenue, it can set the tone for corporate America and give other companies cover to make tough decisions. Kroger Co. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., probably not coincidentally, asked customers not to openly carry firearms in its stores immediately after Walmart did. And with McMillon set to start a two-year term in January as chairman of the Business Roundtable trade group, Walmart’s influence will only grow.
McMillon is a leader who is trying to make prudent business decisions in reaction to a changing political and cultural environment. That his latest acts are being perceived as noteworthy says more about inertia in Washington than it says about activism at Walmart.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Newman at mnewman43@bloomberg.net
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Sarah Halzack is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the consumer and retail industries. She was previously a national retail reporter for the Washington Post.
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