LISSA’S: Wal-Mart’s King of Favorites

I know in the past I have tried to introduce everyone to Bryan Lambert, the store manager at the Sherman, TX Wal-Mart #947. If you have forgotten some of the things, just click his name for all that has been said in the past, including his criminal record. When you are up to date, feel free to continue on reading.

As I have stated before, this is the same person who makes people work off the clock. The same person who instructs his Department Managers to tell their employees “It is okay if one of their associates doesn’t get a break.” The same manager who pulls items off the floor, or won’t allow items to come out to be sold. The same manager who tries to screw vendors. The same manager who makes his department managers work other departments, and then gets mad that their departments are not done. The same manager who bends the rules to fit his mood, and the same one who started the annual popularity contest. This is the same manager who decided that he can get credit for Christmas movies and music, and has been sending them back to the vendor for the past couple of months, and has made the order that all Christmas items from vendors be removed from the store by the 24th of December so he doesn’t have to use his dollars to mark them down. This is the same manager who has decided it is better to have his employees work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day instead of hiring an outside company to allow his employees one day off a year.

This is also the same manager who has two drunk driving convictions. While I am on this subject, let me explore this one detail. Since posting the criminal record, I have heard many rumors from people at Wal-Mart on this subject. First of which, Bryan used political pull through his associations to have one drunk driving conviction removed from record. When checking into his background to see how possible this could be, I have found out that Mr. Lambert does have many influential friends. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Denison. Secondly, I have heard many, many people talk about Wal-Mart District Manager Buddy Sherrill, his boss, as being the person who bailed him out of jail on his last conviction.

This is also the same manager who has made the new rule in the store that the cart pushers can no longer do carryouts for the customers. So, I guess you are now responsible for taking your own television or entertainment center out to your own car and put it in.

But now, there is new news. Apparently, we have underestimated our good Mr. Lambert. In a new report from the store, I was forced to look back on his career. I have talked to many people from his old store in Denison, TX, Wal-Mart #147. In the year he has been gone, the bonuses for store associates has jumped up. The associates at this store offered their condolences to the Sherman store Mr. Lambert now infests. Since arriving at Sherman, sales increase has been slower than normal, but if you are not going to pull everything off the shelf you are supposed to sale, I guess it is only reasonable. The Denison store does not do as much business as the Sherman store. Wal-Mart categorizes its stores by annual income. Managers move up through the ranks of the stores, until they get to the Sherman store level. But Mr. Lambert was able to jump a category or two to get to this current store. I guess his boss saw something in him. Oh, yeah, the same boss who was rumored to have bailed him out is the same one who brought him up a couple of levels. Seems they have been friends for awhile.

Now comes the new twist. The Sherman store was just nominated for “Store of the Year.” Hmmm, sales are down, employee morale is at an all time low, bonuses are decreasing, freedoms are being taken away…. And he gets nominated “Store of the Year.” Now if I was a betting person, I would guess that the nomination came from Mr. Sherrill again. Since he is the District Manager and it is his store, I am sure he had some hand in the nomination. Now just in case this store wins this award, the store gets a pretty certificate to hang in its “Site to Store” area, yeah store! I am sure the associates who are working at the time when the certificate is given will be able to get a slice of cake. But the cake will be long gone before everyone gets a chance, just like every other award the store has gotten. But the Store Manager gets something special. If the store wins, the Manager gets a fat bonus (goes good with the $10,000 he has to spend to keep his license) and a promotion to District Manager. Huh? Yep, it seems Mr. Lambert has used his friends to get him the fast track to promotion. It didn’t matter who he ran over, it didn’t matter about his employees he has put into the hospital, and it didn’t matter about the customers or the people who had to work in his dictatorship. All this time, it was about him.

And many are mad. Yes, this story comes from higher up in the ranks. Mr. Lambert has many, many, many people who hate him. Several are his closest workers, and they do not feel that he deserves this award. You would think that a manager would need at least a little respect to do his job. Fortunately, a Wal-Mart manager doesn’t need any respect, just an oppressive thumb.

There you go, another chapter in the “Meet Your Sherman, TX Wal-Mart Manager” saga.