Wal-Mart cuts 11,200 workers at Sam's Clubs

By Mae Anderson • ASSOCIATED PRESS • January 25, 2010 NEW YORK — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will cut about 11,200 jobs at Sam's Club warehouses as it turns over the task of in-store product demonstrations to an outside marketing company. The move is an effort to improve sales at Sam's Club, which has underperformed the company's namesake stores in the U.S. and abroad. The cuts represent about 10 percent of the warehouse club operator's 110,000 staffers across its 600 stores. That includes 10,000 workers, mostly part-timers, who offer food samples and showcase products to customers. The company also eliminated 1,200 workers who recruit new members. Employees were told the news at mandatory meetings on Sunday morning. "In the club channel, demo sampling events are a very important part of the experience," said Sam's Club CEO Brian Cornell in a phone interview with The Associated Press. "Shopper Events specializes in this area, and they can take our sampling program to the next level." Shopper Events, based in Rogers, Ark., works with Wal-Mart's namesake stores on in-store demonstrations. Sam's Club wants the company to improve sampling in such areas as electronics, personal wellness products and food items to entice shoppers to spend more. Cornell has been working to improve results since taking the helm in early 2009, introducing new store formats, price cuts and offering more variety and more brands of food items. Earlier this month, Wal-Mart Stores closed 10 underperforming Sam's Club locations, resulting in the loss of about 1,500 jobs.