Submitted by Laura Miller on
"Wal-Mart is working with Hill & Knowlton on a PR campaign designed to rehabilitate the much-maligned company's reputation in California and pave the way for 40 new Wal-Mart Supercenters in the state in the next few years," PR Week reports. The world's largest retailer published an "open letter to California residents" in 15 California newspapers on September 23. "As the company has grown, we've become a target for negative comments from certain elected officials, competitors and powerful special interest groups," Wal-Mart wrote. PR Week reports that several of H&K's California offices have been working with Wal-Mart for several months on the PR effort, "primarily handling media relations tasks." Wal-Mart announced plans to add 55 million square feet of retail space in 2005, representing an 8 percent increase in retail space for the company, which had a record setting $134.5 billion in net sales for the six months ended July 31, 2004.
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