
1. Europe is not a country, it’s a continent with app. 50 countries – or nations.
2. Walmart opened stores in several European countries, including Germany, and fell flat on their face. Why? Because they completely ignored local culture as well as tried to force their employees into practices that are illegal in Europe.
For example:
- Walmart employed greeters – Europeans find that creepy as fuck and will actively avoid a store where they are accosted at the door by some old person (Walmart usually employs pensioners for this).
- Walmart cashiers have to stand at their till; European stores provide their cashiers with ergonomic seating. We like our cashiers rested and not in unnecessary pain, thank you. They are valued employees, not just chattle to be exploited.
- Walmart had “Baggers”, people who put your items into plastic or paper bags. Europeans generally do not like having their groceries manhandled into plastic bags. We are fully capable of using our own bags, thank you very much. Also, many of us have a system of how we pack our groceries for fast and convenient unpacking at home – which the bagger cannot know or comprehend.
- Walmart tried to impose “no office romance” rules, which are actually against the law in most European countries. Employers have no say whatsoever in who you date or what you do in your free time.
- Walmart demands their employees are cheerful and smile all the time. Fuck no! Europeans find that dishonest, and seriously, who wants to shop at a store that gives you an “I am utterly dishonest and a creep” vibes?
These are some of the reasons Walmart utterly failed in Europe. They literally went bancrupt here, and went back to the states with their tail between their legs.
