Wal-Mart Rehabilitates Its Image

BENTONVILLE, ARKANSAS, USA - MARCH 14: (EUROPE OUT) Shoppers look for merchandise at a Wal-Mart store, March 14, 2005 in Bentonville, Arkansas. Based in the small town of Bentonville, Arkansas (pop. 19,730), with 1,5 million employees and earnings of 285 billions last year, Wal-Mart has grown into the biggest corporation in the world since Sam Walton opened his first store in nearby Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962. Today Wal-Mart operates 3,700 stores in the U.S. and 1,607 abroad. The fiercely anti-union and media-shy company has recently become the target of critics regarding the treatment of its employees and the effects of its large and inexpensive stores on small local businesses. Wal-Mart is currently waging a battle to rehabilitate its image. (Photos by Gilles Mingasson/Getty Images)