Wal-Mart worker dies after shoppers knock him down

[djones520]

I did however stand in line at one this morning at 4:30 a.m. (a clean super Walmart closer to Boston) as I love Black Friday shopping and have been enjoying it with my sisters and friends for many many years.     One of my sisters had a list of stuff she wanted to get at the Walmart doorbuster price so we went there first.   The line extended from the front of the building all the way to the back of the building.    The crowd was very festive and friendly -- as has been the case at most stores every year I go out, and when the doors opened the line moved into the building in a very orderly manner.   The Walmart staff handled the crowds perfectly -- no problems at all.

Your missing a fundamental differance in your situation, and the one in the story.  Your crowd was well mannered.  This crowd was an unruly mob who broke the doors of the store down, and trampled over the Walmart staff attempting to handle the crowd.  Even police on the scene blamed the scenario on the crowd.

It is not Walmarts responsibility to make sure I do not act like a total fool.  And suing them because 200 other people where impatient ass holes who couldn't wait 15 extra seconds is just the heights of stupidity.

If you think that Walmart is repsonsible, then I guess next year they need to prop extra supports onto the doorways, and have riot police standing by with tear gas to keep the crowds under control.  I'm not an expert on Walmart training programs, but I can't imagine that they cover Riot Control in their modules.

[Thor]

I suppose that IF one looked at the ethnicity of the two different crowds, one might make an assumption as to where the problem lies......



(just sayin')

[formerlurker]

Your missing a fundamental differance in your situation, and the one in the story.  Your crowd was well mannered.  This crowd was an unruly mob who broke the doors of the store down, and trampled over the Walmart staff attempting to handle the crowd.  Even police on the scene blamed the scenario on the crowd.

It is not Walmarts responsibility to make sure I do not act like a total fool.  And suing them because 200 other people where impatient ass holes who couldn't wait 15 extra seconds is just the heights of stupidity.

If you think that Walmart is repsonsible, then I guess next year they need to prop extra supports onto the doorways, and have riot police standing by with tear gas to keep the crowds under control.  I'm not an expert on Walmart training programs, but I can't imagine that they cover Riot Control in their modules.

No I mentioned the crowd in my area as testimony that black friday sales are not all like this. 

Crowd control for these type of events are absolutely the responsibility of the party who is holding the event.   That is pretty much the case for every venue.   Walmart will need to have paid police detail, or pass out voucher slips for the items they are in line for to people as they line up (as Best Buy and a few other stores do) so there is no rush when the doors open.   

Mob scene like that who is not taking direction from Walmart staff (who were outside working the crowd the entire time I was in line yesterday -- making jokes, reminding everyone what the rules are, answering questions as to where items will be located in the store) - police should have been called to the store immediately.     The presence of police cruisers would have calmed the crowd.   

That all said, the short of it is Walmart held a 'doorbuster' price event that they heavily advertised.    They allowed customers onto their property to park their vehicles and line up outside their doors, some 4+ hours prior to opening their store.   They offered no crowd control or safety precautions.    They made no attempts to form or monitor the line.    They allowed the group of customers outside their store to get so out of control that they placed their staff and their customers in grave danger.   They are 100% liable for the death of their employee.  This was not an instance of a gang storming the store out of the blue -- this was a planned event that was planned poorly. 

Crowd control is not rocket science, and when you are dealing with events that occur in rough neighborhoods it is rather paramount it is handled well. 

 

[formerlurker]

I suppose that IF one looked at the ethnicity of the two different crowds, one might make an assumption as to where the problem lies......



(just sayin')

I don't think it is ethnicity more than class of people.   There were plenty of minorities in the line I was in, however they were middle class/upper middle class as is the demographics for the area I was in.

You hold an event in a rough neighborhood, you have to plan for everything -- including things going terribly wrong. 

[TheSarge]

They could fix this crap and prevent it from happening in two ways.

1) Get enough stock to have the sale last from store opening to store close.  That way people wouldn't feel the need to bum rush the store at 0400 in the morning because they are one of about a thousand people trying to get one of 200 XBOX 360's maked down for the sale.

2) Ties into what I said above...make the sale prices ALL DAY not just for two or three hours.  And open the store at normal time.

[Atomic Lib Smasher]

I've worked retail at Kohl's and Toys R' Us on BLack Friday when they opened the doors.. it is pandemonium, but this is just nuts. There's gotta be some sort of wrongful death suit coming here soon.

[Miss Mia]

WalMart's just gone to hell.  I don't know about the stores where you all live, but all the ones around me are just awful.  The superstores, that is.   Not that this is about the store per se, but about the customers responsible for killing someone over what..........?  Some cheap electronics?  Good deal on a coffee maker?   

I rarely, maybe twice a year max, go to Walmart.  I hate the store.  They're dirty and crowded and the shoppers are rude.  And I'm even talking about that "nice" one by the new football stadium. 

The straw that broke the camel's back for me was many years ago.  I had to pick up kitty litter after work and I stopped at the one in Las Colinas (a very "nice" area).  No shit, the people in the next check out line, their kid was in the basket and just leaned over and threw up all over the floor.  The parents didn't act embarrassed or even make a move to try and clean it up.  It was disgusting.  I'd rather pay a couple dollars more and go to Target.

My dislike of Walmart even permeated my online shopping.  They had a printer that you could buy online for only $29 for yesterday.  I went ahead and bought one from Best Buy online that was $50. 

[NHSparky]

Well, that speaks more to management than the shopper.  Frankly, losers are everywhere.

[TheSarge]

Well, that speaks more to management than the shopper.  Frankly, losers are everywhere.

Or possibly to the higher amounts if illegals in this country who just bring the crappy attitides and rudeness of their home country here.

They bum rush stores in their own country..whats wrong with doing the same thing here right?

Hey if shoving your shopping cart into the lower back of some schlub ahead of you works back home...it'll be just as effective here no?

[Miss Mia]

Or possibly to the higher amounts if illegals in this country who just bring the crappy attitides and rudeness of their home country here.

They bum rush stores in their own country..whats wrong with doing the same thing here right?

Hey if shoving your shopping cart into the lower back of some schlub ahead of you works back home...it'll be just as effective here no?

No, I'm talking I've had these bad experiences at Walmarts in the upper-middle class areas.  It's not because of illegals, it's because there are rude assholes and they seem to all shop at Walmart.

[Atomic Lib Smasher]

No, I'm talking I've had these bad experiences at Walmarts in the upper-middle class areas.  It's not because of illegals, it's because there are rude assholes and they seem to all shop at Walmart.

You can find rude assholes anywhere. When I was at Toys R Us working a few Christmases ago, the hottest thing was the Tickle Me Elmo, and a couple of middle aged well to do looking ladies damn near came to fisticuffs over the last one on the shelves until they brought out more from the back.

[Hawkgirl]

Certain caliber of people shop at certain stores.

For example, I like Costco...it's an all cash/debit store...they don't take credit cards...I always have a good experience at Costco...On the weekends, it does get busy and there are long lines, but I try to go during the week or non peak hours to avoid crowds.

This year, my job gave us a special on BJ's. $15 for 15 months...(I pay $45 for 1 year at Costco)
So I went to BJ's....the store was filthy and disorganized, the people were nasty and rude, both customers and those employed there..BJ's takes credit cards. 
I don't know if that is a major difference..but I will never go back to BJ's and will be renewing my Costco card. 
I also shop only at Publix and Target.

[bijou]

NEW YORK —  Police were reviewing video from surveillance cameras in an attempt to identify people who trampled on a Wal-Mart worker killed when a crowd of post-Thanksgiving shoppers burst through the doors at a suburban store and knocked him down.

Criminal charges were still possible, but identifying anyone in the store's videos may prove difficult, said Nassau County police spokesman Detective Lt. Michael Fleming on Friday.

...
link

I hope they find the guilty parties.

[Tucker]

Pictures from an exhibition. (Sorry Kieth)

http://www.nydailynews.com/money/galleries/walmart_stampede_captured_in_pictures/walmart_stampede_captured_in_pictures.html

[Eupher]

You wouldn't see this kind of idiocy outside a Bloomingdale's.

[Thor]

Pictures from an exhibition. (Sorry Kieth)

http://www.nydailynews.com/money/galleries/walmart_stampede_captured_in_pictures/walmart_stampede_captured_in_pictures.html

I think that the pics say it all......


Eupher, I don't think those people would be shopping at a Bloomingdale's or Macy's ......

[Chris_]

I work at Wal Mart. I make OK money and have, contrary to many stories, excellent medical coverage, and a number of benefits you never, ever hear about. The ONLY people who have keys to the doors at Wal Marts are the Store Managers and the Assistant Managers, these keys DO NOT leave their hands, that said, if this poor guy was unlocking the door, as reported, someone did something VERY incompatible with company guidelines.

They could fix this crap and prevent it from happening in two ways.

Like shopping online, or just not being an ass?

1) Get enough stock to have the sale last from store opening to store close.  That way people wouldn't feel the need to bum rush the store at 0400 in the morning because they are one of about a thousand people trying to get one of 200 XBOX 360's maked down for the sale.

We had 16 of those XBoxes, and no fights and not even a raised voice when we sold out of them at 6:05. A better target for rage on Wii, Xbox and PS3 pricing and availability would be Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. Why don't we have enough, because THEY do not make enough to meet demand. Why are Wii's the same price at KmartKMart,Best Buy PS2  XBox and Wii New Egg Wii Notice anything? The prices of each are the SAME no matter where you go. That is Price Fixing, my friend and when liberals accuse Big Oil of it, it is felonious and immoral, but, when Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo do it, it is OK? Every game console costs THE SAME no meatter where you buy it. EVERY GAME Costs the same too. Perhaps not letting video game companies RESTRAIN TRADE by arbitrarily controlling prices on the games they sell would be a nice start too.

2) Ties into what I said above...make the sale prices ALL DAY not just for two or three hours.  And open the store at normal time.

In the first HOUR we were open yesterday we sold as much (dollar value) merchandise as we usually do in a DAY. The second HOUR was like unto the first. This is not our doing, this is morons en mass who have nothing better to do than buy a bunch of shit. Oh, BTW, recession MY ASS! If there were a recession we would not have sold near as many $1000 TV's, $800 Computers and $250-$500 video game systems as we did... anecdotal as all hell, but, still...

[Eupher]

Eupher, I don't think those people would be shopping at a Bloomingdale's or Macy's ......

Precisely.

[Chris_]

Certain caliber of people shop at certain stores.

For example, I like Costco...it's an all cash/debit store...they don't take credit cards...I always have a good experience at Costco...On the weekends, it does get busy and there are long lines, but I try to go during the week or non peak hours to avoid crowds.

This year, my job gave us a special on BJ's. $15 for 15 months...(I pay $45 for 1 year at Costco)
So I went to BJ's....the store was filthy and disorganized, the people were nasty and rude, both customers and those employed there..BJ's takes credit cards. 
I don't know if that is a major difference..but I will never go back to BJ's and will be renewing my Costco card. 
I also shop only at Publix and Target.

Costco not only accepts credit cards they offer their own Amex.

[Thor]

I will say that my local Sears store, which usually does $40-80K/ day depending on the day, raked in some $300K+ on black Friday. I wish I had still been working there!! The appliance salesmen sold $20K of appliances each that day, averaged out, and they have six or eight salesmen, with two shifts. But, people were nice, having fun and nobody got hurt or injured due to the crowds.

Edited to add, that same Sears store did $260+K last year......

[Eupher]

Where's the one that says, "Fat woman wearing spandex"?

[Ptarmigan]

I rarely, maybe twice a year max, go to Walmart.  I hate the store.  They're dirty and crowded and the shoppers are rude.  And I'm even talking about that "nice" one by the new football stadium. 

The straw that broke the camel's back for me was many years ago.  I had to pick up kitty litter after work and I stopped at the one in Las Colinas (a very "nice" area).  No shit, the people in the next check out line, their kid was in the basket and just leaned over and threw up all over the floor.  The parents didn't act embarrassed or even make a move to try and clean it up.  It was disgusting.  I'd rather pay a couple dollars more and go to Target.

My dislike of Walmart even permeated my online shopping.  They had a printer that you could buy online for only $29 for yesterday.  I went ahead and bought one from Best Buy online that was $50. 

Don't take this I am anti-Wal-Mart. Going there is like in the movie Idiocracy.

[formerlurker]

This is not our doing, this is morons en mass who have nothing better to do than buy a bunch of shit.

Those 'morons' are the reason why you are gainfully employed. 

[NHSparky]

Those 'morons' are the reason why you are gainfully employed. 

They're not the reason I'M gainfully employed.  Can I call them morons?  Scariest place I've ever been was a Wally World at 9 PM on a Saturday night.  Five Westpacs in some of the biggest shithole slums in the world and I felt safer than I did in that place that night.

[formerlurker]

If the store closes early, it really puts a damper on playing Wal-Mart Bingo

 


When I was pregnant with my first child (I was 36, my husband was 40),  we went into a Walmart as a last resort to see if they had a baby item I was having zero luck finding anywhere.  As luck would have it they had it, so I grabbed that and a few other things for the baby.    At the checkout line my husband was paying for it when the cashier (who appeared to be older than him) said to him "you're such a nice grandfather buying all this for your grandchild."    I burst out laughing, but he was NOT amused.

Yeah, he hasn't been a fan of Walmart since that time either.