Glass, who succeeded Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, stepped down as president and CEO in January but remains chairman of Wal-Mart's executive committee of directors. The lawsuit does not reveal the source of its allegation concerning Glass. Glass ordered the Edmond Supercenter to obtain revenge by dropping its prices even below cost if necessary to drive Crest out of business," the lawsuit alleges. Glass was personally offended that he was 'kicked out' of Crest (even though he was subsequently invited to stay), and that Mr. The lawsuit says that a Crest assistant manager asked the people to leave, suspecting that they were snooping for Wal-Mart, but that a senior manager told them they could stay if they wished. Crest alleges that the group was using a hand-held scanning device to record Crest's prices of various items.
This is an unfortunate attempt to generate publicity."Īccording to the lawsuit, David Glass, the former president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart, along with several other Wal-Mart personnel, visited Crest Foods on May 23, just six days after the opening of the Edmond Wal-Mart Supercenter. "We engage in fair competition and try to give our customers the best value," Wertz said. "It's not the typical story of the mom-and-pop store getting underpriced by Wal-Mart and complaining," Rupert said.īill Wertz, a Wal-Mart spokesman, denied Crest's accusations. They claim Wal-Mart has a vendetta against Crest. As a result, Crest filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court in Oklahoma City against the Bentonville, Ark., retailer seeking millions of dollars in damages.īut it's about more than competition, said Kent Meyers and Tony Rupert, the Crowe and Dunlevy attorneys who are arguing the case. On May 2, 2017, a site plan was approved by Edmond's planning commission for the possible 106,565-square-foot store and no timeline was set on when the store would have been completed.Ĭrest is based out of Edmond at its store on 15th Street and Santa Fe Avenue.Wal-Mart is known for its competitive prices, but an Oklahoma City grocer claims the retail titan has taken a good thing too far.Ĭrest Food claims that the Edmond Wal-Mart Supercenter has engaged in "predatory pricing" to drive the Edmond Crest Foods store out of business. There are no plans to sell the site, Harroz said, but he is sticking to the company philosophy of paying for new stores with cash rather than taking out loans.
"We are just going to wait it out," Harroz said. But after construction bids came in over budget he has delayed construction for another two to three years. The company purchased 16.72-acres of land several years ago on the northwest corner of Sooner Road and Covell Road in Edmond, and last fall began dirt work preparing a pad site.Īt that time, Harroz stated that the building project would begin in about a year. The company is looking to push forward on two stores with one in Yukon and Mustang, but the exact locations have not been released. "We are pulling back on the reins," said Bruce Harroz, president of Crest. EDMOND - Crest Foods is holding off on its future store in Edmond as the company looks to expand its footprint near Yukon and Mustang amid increased competition from new WinCo stores in the Oklahoma City area.
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