If Preppies Took Over Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart had been known for the blue vests with the words “How may I help you?” on the back, which was to convey the working-class image. However, now Wal-Mart is testing a new look to attract more upscale shoppers by having employees where a polo shirt and khakis. Also, they plan to sell items that are more expensive, like flat screen TV’s and 300-thread-count sheets. Wal-Mart now advertises in more upscale magazine like Vogue. They have also opened an office in Manhattan to watch for the new trends and created an urban line to improve the individual store sales.

The new idea for the uniform was said to be “very classy” by Stan Herman, who designs dozens of corporate uniforms. With the new uniforms it will raise the status of all the Americans who work for the chain. The working-class image will be now more like a business casual image for the store. Taraynn Lloyd, the director of marketing at Edwards Garment, says Wal-Mart’s uniform improvement is happening too late, now businesses are moving away from the polo shirts and going for button-down shirts.

The employees are also complaining about having to buy khakis themselves because the company is struggling enough to supply each of the 1 million plus employees with two polo shirts. Some employees don’t want to spend fifteen dollars on pants they will only wear for work

I think the change would be good for the image of the store, but I have always thought of Wal-Mart as a place where I could go when I don't want to spend that much money. Places like Target were always more expensive, so if I wanted something cheap I would go to Wal-Mart. With this change, I don't know if that will still be true. Do you think the upscale change of Wal-Mart will hurt the company or will it make the store more appealing and higher class so that more people shop there?


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/business/03uniform.html?ref=business