A retail giant that began as a corner store in a small Arkansas town, Wal-Mart has become the largest private employer in the world. It is a typical American business success story –– or is it? Nelson Lichtenstein, professor of history at UC Santa Barbara and author of "The Retail Revolution: How Wal-Mart Created a Brave New World of Business," will answer this question and more in a talk sponsored by the UCSB History Associates on Tuesday, October 6.
Lichtenstein's talk, titled "The ‘Big Box' Phenomenon: Wal-Mart and the Future of American Business," will begin at 5:30 p.m. It will take place, appropriately, in an empty retail space at 5668 Calle Real in Goleta. A reception at 5 p.m. will precede the event.
The cost is $10 for UCSB History Associates and $12 for non-members. Advance registration is recommended, and can be arranged by calling the Department of History at (805) 893-2991.
In addition to explaining how Wal-Mart changed the retail trade, international trade, and America itself, Lichtenstein will discuss why so many communities have mobilized to keep the big box retailer out of their neighborhoods, and what changes lie ahead for the huge retailer in the Obama era.
Lichtenstein, who is also director of the UCSB's Center for the Study of Work, Labor, and Democracy, is also the author of "American Capitalism: Social Thought and Political Economy in the Twentieth Century."
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