Wal-Mart Stores reclaimed its status as the nation's largest company in 2007 -- from Exxon Mobil -- but that barely begins to describe its place in the American public imagination. The discount chain, started by Sam Walton in 1962, has become a central figure in scores of social, economic and political debates, from health care to immigration to gun control.

Supporters contend that the chain's legendary low prices have democratized consumption, allowing low-income households to afford flat-screen televisions and nine-layer lasagna. Critics say those low prices have depressed domestic wages and exported manufacturing jobs to foreign countries, hurting Americans more than helping them. All of which has made Wal-Mart the most scrutinized business in the country. Running the retailer, its chief executive, H. Lee Scott, told The New York Times, is "like running for president of the United States."

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And that has been tough for business. Over the last year, opposition from unions, community banks, elected leaders and environmentalists has prevented Wal-Mart from entering several urban areas, its last frontier for new stores.

Even so, the company's sales and profits have reached record levels. In 2006, it sold $350 billion worth of merchandise, four times more than its next biggest rival, Home Depot, and it earned $12 billion in profit. Even after stumbling in Germany and South Korea, the chain is growing rapidly abroad, in countries like Mexico, China and Brazil.

Wal-Mart's recent public relation's record is decidedly mixed: a commitment to make sweeping reductions in energy use and greenhouse emissions has won plaudits from environmentalists. And a new health care plan, with shorter waiting period before a new employee is eligible and lower premiums, has impressed critics. But its own employees have repeatedly embarrassed the company. Wal-Mart has asserted that two top advertising executives violated company policies by conducting a sexual affair and accepting gifts from a potential vendor. The pair deny those claims. And a computer technician taped phone calls between Wal-Mart public relations officials and a reporter for The New York Times. -- Michael Barbaro, April 25, 2007

Wal-Mart Jump-Starts Discounts for Holidays

By MICHAEL BARBARO
Published: October 31, 2007

In what is shaping up to be the earliest holiday shopping season ever, Wal-Mart Stores says it will offer door-buster discounts this Friday, three weeks before they are traditionally unveiled on the day after Thanksgiving.
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The giant discount chain is expected to announce a plan today to sell five major products — like a $350 laptop — beginning at 8 a.m. on Friday in a bold effort to jump-start holiday shopping two days after Halloween.

The move is likely to put growing pressure on Wal-Mart’s competitors, like Best Buy and Toys “R” Us, to begin marking down merchandise well ahead of Nov. 23, known as Black Friday because it was historically the day stores turned a profit, or went into the black.

The pre-Thanksgiving price-cutting underscores how worried the retail industry is about consumer spending this season. With the housing market in a slump and energy prices high, industry analysts expect retail sales in November and December to grow at the slowest rate in five years.

In the phenomenon of “creeping Christmas,” stores like CompUSA and Gap have begun opening their doors at midnight on Thanksgiving to drum up business, delighting some bargainhunting consumers and irritating some others who bemoan the earlier-than-ever start to the season.

But no retailer has ever tried to single-handedly move Black Friday, considered the biggest shopping day of the year.

Linda Blakley, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, said that consumers “are feeling all kinds of pressure, but because part of our DNA is to provide great prices on the gifts people buy, we are starting to do that early.”

Four of the five products will remain secret until Thursday morning, when they can be found — but not bought — on the walmart.com Web site. Shoppers can begin buying them in stores at 8 a.m. on Friday, where the company expects the kind of long, early-morning lines that are common on Black Friday.

By keeping the products secret until the last minute, Wal-Mart will avoid the risk of newspaper circulars leaking out onto the Internet weeks before the sale, as Black Friday ads now regularly do, much to retailers’ chagrin.

Ms. Blakley said Wal-Mart would still offer Black Friday deals on Nov. 23. “This,” she said, “is an early Christmas gift to our customers.”