What the Sam Walton — Ahem, Sam HILL — Is Going On?

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Like many people, I’m a reluctant Wal-Mart customer. If you’re old enough to remember them from 30-someodd years ago you know exactly what I mean. The Wal-Mart of its founder, Sam Walton, was so different from today’s Wally World that it’s very difficult to believe they’re the same company. Well, they are in name only: the Sam Walton-era Wal-Marts prided themselves on “Made in the USA” products, while today’s Wal-Mart has “Made in the USA” stickers that are made in China. Today something else happened that would have never occurred in the Sam Walton era. A number of Sam’s Clubs closed their doors permanently overnight, without so much as telling the employees. According to news reports in Business Insider and other sources, 63 stores closed with no notice at all, leaving hundreds suddenly unemployed and customers without a pharmacy outlet (not to mention useless membership cards that cost anywhere from $45 to $100). What the Sam Walton - ahem, Sam Hill — is going on? Can’t these people give their employees the common decency of a two-week notice? If you want to see how quickly you as an employee can get “blackballed,” quit a job without giving a two-week notice! (Yes, I have done it in the past, and yes, it came back to haunt me.) That earthquake in Arkansas was Sam Walton rolling over in his grave.