Amid Turmoil, Walmart Pressing Forward in San Ramon, West Coast

Walmart's expansion of its Neighborhood Market grocery store chain on the West Coast, including a store in San Ramon, is moving forward even as the Arkansas-based company is facing serious allegations of bribing foreign officials and covering it up in the United States.

Construction continues for the Neighborhood Market in the Country Club Village Shopping Center off Alcosta in South San Ramon. The store is planned to open in September, Walmart media director Delia Garcia said.

Not just in San Ramon, but Garcia said Walmart is pressing forward with opening Neighborhood Markets throughout California, including Pleasanton, Hayward and Stockton.

In Pleasanton on Monday, the City Council delayed a vote to allow a Neighborhood Market becuase it wanted to see if the allegations the company faces will have an impact on the city.

Walmart's potential legal trouble first became public on April 21, when the New York Times reported Walmart de Mexico orchestrated a bribery campaign of influential Mexican officials to gain market share in the country.

When American Walmart officials got wind of the bribery campaign, they shutdown an internal investigation, the New York Times says.

There's a federal law, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes it illegal for American corporations to bribe foreign officials. The Justice Department is currently investigating if any laws have been broken. The Mexican government is also investigating if laws were broken in their country.

Adding to the company's trouble, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), which holds more than 5.3 million shares of Walmart, sued the company last week. It believes senior Walmart officials made opportunistic stock sales before the New York Times article broke.

The fallout from the scandal has impacted Walmart's shareholders. Since April 21, the stock has dropped about 8 percent, totalling about $15 billion.

Garcia said she could not comment on the New York Times article or the lawsuit filed by CalSTRS.

-------

Follow San Ramon Patch on:
Facebook — facebook.com/SanRamonPatch
Twitter — twitter.com/SanRamonPatch

You can signup for San Ramon Patch's daily newsletter here: sanramon.patch.com/newsletters