Wal-Mart Responds To Congress About Nazi Tshirts Still On Its Shelves

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Walmart responded to a letter from Congress exhorting the retailer to remove tshirts bearing Nazi insignia, apologizing for letting some shirts fall through the cracks, as evidenced in a statement forwarded to us by a hill source.

Walmart responded to a letter from Congress exhorting the retailer to remove tshirts bearing Nazi insignia, apologizing for letting some shirts fall through the cracks, as evidenced in a statement forwarded to us by a hill source.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. was not aware of the origins of the image when we stocked the t-shirt in question.

Respect for the individual is a core value of our company and we would never have placed this t-shirt on our shelves had we known the origin and significance of this emblem.

We immediately began pulling all t-shirts from the store shelves 11 weeks ago and have reached 99.5% compliance. Our records show that some 1100 shirts remain in the system, although we have issued a register restriction so the shirts cannot be purchased.

When we heard yesterday that some stores still had some of the shirts in inventory, we reissued the return-to-vendor directive. Our fashion merchandising team will reiterate the issue in their weekly video to stores.

If the records showed that the shirts were still in the system, then why were they allowed to remain on the shelves? Certainly not out of “respect for the individual.” — BEN POPKEN

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