Globalization of Food Retailing and the Consequences of Wal-Martization in Mexico

The impact of Wal-Mart on its competitors, suppliers, employees, and the communities where it locates has received considerable attention in the United States for more than a decade. Only recently, however, have social scientists turned their attention to the international dimensions of Wal-Mart's emergence as the world's largest corporation. To date, the majority of international research has been carried out in Europe. Perhaps the two best-known case studies are Wal-Mart's foray into Germany and its takeover of the British retailer ASDA in 1999 (Hallsworth and Evers 2002; Christopherson 2001; Burt and Sparks 2001).