Bentonville to Beijing

To prepare for a class about Wal-Mart's pay equity challenges, we paid a visit to the local Supercentre. Beijing's Wal-Mart is not a big-box island in a sea of parking, but a multi-level department store housed in an office tower. No fewer than seven greeters welcomed us to "Wah-R-Mar" and there was always a blue smock trailing me through the aisles armed with the same awestruck stare to which I'm starting to become accustomed. This is not my first trip to a Wal-Mart store on foreign soil, but unlike Kathy, the sporting goods manger in Seneca Falls, NY, nobody at this store congratulated me on my command of english. The most notable distinction between North American stores and the Beijing store is the unused floor space. The aisles are wide and empty, so you don't have to squeeze around end-caps and baskets overflowing with rubber balls, and the shelves are much shorter. To my surprise, DVDs were priced at less than $2 Canadian - only pennies more than they go for on the street. I'll suspend my suspicion and assume that Wal-Mart is not risking the liability of selling pirated films. Now, if only I could find a Giant Tiger...