Wal-Mart’s Emergency Plan Pays Off

Hurricane Katrina gave retail giant Wal-Mart the biggest natural disaster it has ever had to confront, but the stores in Katrina’s path were able to keep themselves on track. What did Wal-Mart do right?

The Wall Street Journal says the company had to close 126 of its stores – including 12 in the New Orleans area alone – and two of its distribution centers because they were in Katrina’s direct path. More than half of those stores lost power, and 89 reported damage from the storm.

However, a week later, not only was the company able to reopen 15 of the 126 stores in the area, but was able to beat FEMA “by days in getting trucks filled with emergency supplies to relief workers and citizens whose lives were upended by the storm,” the paper says.

According to the paper, “Wal-Mart’s speed in responding to Katrina underscores the extent to which it and other big-box retailers like Home Depot have become key players in responding to natural disasters. Whereas FEMA has to scramble for resources, Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart has it own trucks, distribution centers and dozens of stores in most areas of the country. It also has a specific protocol for responding to disasters, and it can activate an emergency command center to coordinate an immediate response.”

To read the full article, click here: http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2005/09_13-07/BUS