Value Village NOT owned by Walmart.
Last weekend I wrote about a casual mention broadcast by CBC that Value Village was owned by Walmart. It was news that took me by surprise me so I did my own research. I didn’t turn up any link between Value Village, Savers (the U.S. for-profit company that owns Value Village) and Walmart.
However, I did contact CBC directly and yesterday I received a reply. Here’s what I was told when I asked about the claim they’d made:
That was our mistake. The episode you heard was a repeat and after it first aired we learned our mistake. We promptly aired a correction and now, doh, we played the same one again. You are right, there is no connection with Walmart.
So there you have it. For the time being, the aisles of vintage clothing and recycled housewares are safe from the threat of a box-store takeover.
Now, that doesn’t mean Value Village comes out clean in this. I’m actually glad CBC made the mistake of broadcasting that misinformation again because it drove me to find out that Value Village is not a nonprofit — contrary to what I’d believed for years.
Rather, it’s owned by Savers, a 200+ for-profit American chain that is in turn owned by the private equity investment firm of Freeman Spogli and Company.
And just because some investment firms have indeed been getting hand-outs, that doesn’t make them a charity.
Mystery solved.
P.S. Jeff Smail, Regional Director of Value Village, has posted a reply explaining his company’s position in the previous post. Read his comments here.
Tags: Value Village, walmart
Required said:
Apr 24, 09 at 11:45 amKudos to your follow-through on this matter, and thanks for sharing the formal resolution and clarification.
If you’re in touch with those VV folks: if they want to dispel this myth they should 1) add the myth and truth to the VV page at wikipedia and 2) get the issue addressed by snopes.com since the latter is the de facto repository of internet hoaxes & truths.
Thx again for posting the follow-up!
ffn said:
Apr 24, 09 at 12:03 pmRequired — Regional director of Value Village left a comment on the previous post. You can check it out there.
Karol said:
Apr 25, 09 at 3:34 pmGreat research. At least you followed up, and now everyone knows.
Fran said:
May 01, 09 at 11:29 amThank you. I too heard that comment on CBC and wanted to followup.
Jeff said:
May 22, 09 at 10:17 amThanks for the article. I was blown away that Walmart would buy them…didn’t quite seem to fit.
Great blog…keep it up.
Jeff
Who owns Value Village? « The Enrichment Centre said:
May 27, 09 at 6:11 pm[...] http://www.firedfornow.com/uncategorized/value-village-not-owned-by-walmart-not-savers/ [...]
albuterol said:
Jun 13, 09 at 7:34 amGreat research.
George said:
Jun 18, 09 at 4:41 amVery interesting… thanks.
Forex ea said:
Jul 06, 09 at 4:34 amWalmart would have felt happy to hear this… Anyways thanks for investigating the truth …
Designer Clothing Blog said:
Jul 10, 09 at 9:12 pmVery very interesting. Great research. Thanks for the article. Appreciate the effort. Cheers
b2c said:
Jul 15, 09 at 11:43 pmi like shopping in Walmart.
Gas Fires said:
Jul 23, 09 at 3:59 amThanks for sharing!
i was gonna say value village is apparently owned by walmart… but i looked into it and its not. so all good. Oh and the upcoming sale excites me greatly. Please await my arrival as I yearn to be united with all your thrifty gems. Don’t worry my sweet provider of all things vintage, it won’t be long now.
Safety Boots said:
Jul 24, 09 at 4:22 amValue village is definitely not owned by walmart. I don’t really get why everyone thinks that everything is now owned by walmart!! Not that I dont like walmarts bargains..
Annabelle said:
Jul 28, 09 at 5:40 amwalmart is so huge it dictates local wages….
i think that says alot
Craig said:
Aug 11, 09 at 5:18 amGreat research and thanks for sharing the information
Cheap Designer Clothes said:
Aug 16, 09 at 11:54 amWe are an online designer label clothes store stocking brands such as Ed Hardy, Armani, Oakley, Henleys, Bvlgari, Ralph Lauren and many more all at exceptionally low prices!
Stress Management said:
Aug 21, 09 at 6:28 pmInteresting indeed. thanks for the information. Walmart has been my most favorite place to shop for years now. Thanks for the information. Cheers
bonnie clark said:
Aug 25, 09 at 8:41 amso how much money does Cerbral Palsy actually receive as a result of the clothes sold to value village to raise funds for cerebral palsy
guts said:
Aug 25, 09 at 11:42 pmHey..good job..its really appreciable effort from u. keep writing good.
Fashion Mag said:
Aug 26, 09 at 1:42 amBloopers like this keep happening, walmart is no saint either.
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Gas Fires Liverpool said:
Sep 03, 09 at 11:55 amWalmarts probably the best place for the best bargains, true they may be huge corporate bodies eating up the new entrants, but as a customer you will always settle for whats best for you!!
OutperformingYourself said:
Sep 10, 09 at 10:43 amThank You for this Great Research! This is a Great Effort i would say! Walmart is indeed a great place to shop.
Investment Advisor Toronto said:
Sep 11, 09 at 8:06 amI wouldnt be surprised if Walmart owned value village. The thing is however that I have lost faith in the CBC. It is like the quality of programing, especially news, has fallen alot in recent years.
joomla extensions said:
Sep 13, 09 at 12:05 amI to heard many times that Value village is owned by Walmart. But while I was around there I did some research but it was quite clear that Value village is definitely not owned by walmart.
Flueless Gas Fires said:
Sep 14, 09 at 8:53 amYeah so its not directly owned by wallmart, but I’m sure its got something to do with, the management or something atleast, because you will never get these kinda bargains anywhere else! except the flea market of course!!
affordable websites said:
Sep 15, 09 at 7:50 pmGreat article. I think Wall-mart has there hands in almost every marketing business out there just for the so fact Wall-mart is a great business. I haven’t been into a wall-mart for months now and i still feel like i am going to a wall-mart but i am really in target.
update music said:
Sep 15, 09 at 10:19 pmInteresting indeed. thanks for the information. Walmart has been my most favorite place to shop for years now. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Walmart owned value village. The thing is however that I have lost faith in the CBC.
kids wall art said:
Sep 18, 09 at 2:07 pmVery interesting. I have always loved Savers, but thought they were a non profit as well. They offer some better value that Walmart that is for sure!
Amy
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concrete garages said:
Sep 28, 09 at 7:33 amI don’t think anyone can cut prices that low, wall mart has such a great competitive pricing advantage, its crazy! Love the place, cant wait for more offers!
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Sep 30, 09 at 10:19 amWoow.. I’m totally agree with your post!
thanks
Wilbert said:
Sep 30, 09 at 11:25 amWho said that? I never remember hearing that value village was owned by walmart. Who ever reported this must seriously check their sources again.
satrap said:
Sep 30, 09 at 11:36 pmi dint think value village is owned by walmart, i heard oce that save a lot is owned by walmart. either way, i hate walmart for their abuse of employees.
compare learning managemeте systems said:
Oct 04, 09 at 10:31 pmThis is indeed true, I did some ground work and realized that value village is not owned by walmart, though it seems to appear that way.. Its really confusing how walmart manages to identify that they own everything!
кати said:
Oct 06, 09 at 3:39 amИзвините а мне вот любопытно какой же комментарий должен быть чтобы вы его не считали спамерским, глядя на ваш пост в любом даже в очень серьёзном со стороны комментарии вы видите спамера.
Chris McClelland said:
Oct 06, 09 at 2:04 pmIt doesnt really matter who owns Wal-Mart it is a powerhouse that has made it’s investors simply put: a lot of money. I was under the assumption that Wal-Mart was owned mostly by private shareholders?
fxopen review said:
Oct 07, 09 at 3:39 amwhile the quality of reporting has deteoriated somewhat, it’s great that at least clarification was made.
Police gear said:
Oct 08, 09 at 7:26 pmKudos to the efforts you took in following up the issue. That was a well written article. Thanks for sharing.
rachel said:
Oct 10, 09 at 4:36 amit was intellectual and appreciable too
Walk In Bathtubs said:
Oct 11, 09 at 7:13 amThis was a very interesting find. Although walmart is not necessarily on good terms with small biz owners they are doing a great job nowadays offering valuable products at amazing prices. You unfortunately can not deny that true fact.
Hi Vis Vests said:
Oct 16, 09 at 4:18 amI think that the main point of issue is that it takes someone to do some great investigation to find out exactly who owns which company. Private equity companies have not come out of the recent crash smelling of roses, they have been generally viewed as the worst of the worst when looking at profit maximization irrespective of the social impacts so it is nice to know exactly who owns what and maybe we should press for this information to be more visible!
Biometric said:
Oct 16, 09 at 7:47 pmI have a personal distaste for Walmart, they represent everything that is wrong with the current economic conditions of the US.
Business for Sale Liverpool said:
Oct 18, 09 at 12:48 pmThanks for the post and infact the blog, some great articles! I hate the fact that in the UK so many towns now are completely identical same shops same bars all owned by the same chains. Chester and York are two of very few cities that remain unique still, such a shame.
buy joomla components said:
Oct 21, 09 at 6:29 amIt doesnt really matter if value village is owned by wal-mart or not, they still have the best deals! true you might get a few places that have it cheaper sometimes, but they will never bea as constant as walmart!
Vintage Clothing Boutique said:
Oct 24, 09 at 5:48 amRead all the posts about this and find it interesting that everyone is up in arms over the for-profit nature of Value Village. From what I can tell, they don’t hide this fact and they do do a lot of good work with the community and with other non-profits.
Besides, often times, the “non-profit” status is a guise. All it means is that the organization has $0 on its books at the end of the year. Most non-profits still create income and pay their employees. And, if the same people who started the organization are employees of that organization… well, they’re earning a profit.
I think it’s laudable that this company will come out and say it is for-profit.
Bowling Tips said:
Oct 29, 09 at 12:10 pmI dont think they are owned by walmart at all, they have been doing pretty good value village, they have some decent offers. Was in and out of this place back in July, would love to go check it out sometime soon..
Buy UGG Boots said:
Oct 31, 09 at 10:07 pmThanks for the article. I was blown away that Walmart would buy them…didn’t quite seem to fit.
Great blog…keep it up.
Jeff
Ed Hardy said:
Nov 04, 09 at 6:49 amThis article gives the light in which we can observe the reality. this is very nice one and gives indepth information. thanks for this nice article!
Ed Hardy
online learning blog said:
Nov 05, 09 at 12:00 pmindeed value village is definitely not owned by walmart, though it does seem like it. Walmarts been giving out great offers for quite sometime, hopefully value village will too!
transfer smart said:
Nov 05, 09 at 11:03 pmInteresting indeed. thanks for the information. Walmart has been my most favorite place to shop for years now. Thanks for the information. transfer smart
Walk in baths said:
Nov 10, 09 at 12:12 pmNice to see CBC owned up to the mistake. It happens a lot in this day and age.
Wadim said:
Nov 19, 09 at 6:25 amInteresting indeed. thanks for the information
Gear Up and Play said:
Dec 01, 09 at 7:52 pmWow, I like value village, I didn’t hear this but I’m glad it was not true because…well, I don’t really care for Wal-Mart….
Hello kitty said:
Dec 04, 09 at 1:33 amThank you for this info, I have taken noted.
zygorguides said:
Dec 04, 09 at 1:35 amI was wondering how Walmart could own value village previously.
Savers Employee said:
Dec 07, 09 at 5:22 pmI work for savers and yes they are a for profit company but at the same time, they buy ALL their merchandise from different charities, ours buys it from the boys and girls club..
when anyone drops a donation of anything off at the store, the charity is also paid a percentage. So in all actuality, savers is about profits but might possible as a whole, give more to these charities than most.
I’m happy with the information ive been told and *researched* for myself and i can say that besides that, savers employees and management are by and large-friendly and do actually care.
Unlike the evil walmart conglomerate.
Bryn Thomas said:
Dec 18, 09 at 6:07 amValue village is definitely not owned by wal-mart, I’m not really sure how people really got an idea like that! wal-mart does not really own everything!
Raymond J. said:
Dec 20, 09 at 9:40 amInteresting stuff. It’s funny(or not) to see how fake the world is. Everything from hoaxes to companies claiming their something totally different than they are. - Ray., Mobil uten Abonnement
a said:
Dec 24, 09 at 6:00 pmValue Village is NOT owned by Walmart and though they are not non-profit they work and pay out charities. It works like this…Value Village or Savers will work with two main charities. These charities will do pick ups of used goods and drop them off in large trailers at the different stores. All the things are then weighed and Value Village pays the charity based on weight alone. They do not check if the things are usable and end up throwing many things out that they paid the charities for. On site donations are also made by customers and these are weighed and the charities are also paid for for these even though they did not contribute to them. Anything that is not suitable to hit the sales floor but is not quite garbage is put in a baler and sent over seas to less fortunate countries for an extremely cheap price. Value Village reduces waste by recycling used goods, provides money to charities and helps less fortunate people around the world.
Running Shoes 4 U said:
Dec 25, 09 at 7:34 amndeed value village is definitely not owned by walmart, though it does seem like it. Walmarts been giving out great offers for quite sometime, hopefully value village will too!
Fatburningfurnace said:
Dec 27, 09 at 7:26 pmFor the time being, the aisles of vintage clothing and recycled housewares are safe from the threat of a box-store takeover.
Paul Smith Clothing said:
Dec 27, 09 at 11:44 pmWell I too strongly disagree that multi national companies should own everything. There should be a diversification of owner ship.
sports supplements said:
Dec 28, 09 at 4:48 amwell obviously value village can not be owned by walmart! its got its own branches and i heard they are expanding pretty fast too! they’ve got decent offers aswell. A great place to shop during this season thats for sure!
Lyle and Scott said:
Dec 28, 09 at 9:59 pmValue Village certainly has a better atmosphere than Walmart. I’ve got few bad experiences with Walmart and now I really don’t like to go to Walmart. Value Village was a really good alternative for the season shopping. Loved the place.
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Dec 30, 09 at 12:05 pmIt’s a very nice posting, good work .
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Dec 30, 09 at 12:21 pmThanks for doing some great investigating!
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Printing Birmingham said:
Feb 07, 10 at 7:29 amI think its pretty evident now that value village is not owned by wal mart! I dont know how this idea came into place. it just doesnt make sense!
Crane Hire said:
Feb 10, 10 at 9:03 amI am still suprised people think vale village is still owned by wal-mart! I mean come on people! Its so obvious! well hopefully this should clear it up for you!
Caliper Engineering said:
Feb 14, 10 at 10:37 pmYeh, I too have a huge amount of friends who thinks that value village is owned by wallmart. Wonder how such a bogus news went around to so many people. This article will certainly prove them wrong. Thanks
ASP.NET component development said:
Feb 16, 10 at 1:13 amValue Village has been my favorite place to shop. And I know for a fact that it is not owned by Walmart. In my honest opinion, I think Value Village is better than Walmart. Simply because of the environment there is somewhat feels you homely and comfortable.
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Feb 18, 10 at 10:37 pmNice posting, hope it will be useful
UK Pool Tables said:
Feb 26, 10 at 2:19 amValue village is not owned by Walmart! period! I totally agree with what you say, people have to realize that walmart doesnt own everything!
Sales Recruitment said:
Mar 02, 10 at 9:38 amThis is hilarious! Love the amount of comments defending value village though! and everyones like oh walmart! Wonder if they have any good sales coming up.
Festival Tents said:
Mar 13, 10 at 2:06 amIndeed! Value village it getting quite a bit of attention now huh! well they do have amazing sales! Really worth it if you ask me! go have a look for yourself!
white file cabinet said:
Mar 16, 10 at 5:48 amTrue, its been awhile since I’ve been to walmart, and the way things are going im sure they too have a pretty good sale coming up this spring!
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4 drawer filing cabinet said:
Mar 20, 10 at 4:13 amAgreed value village has some great offers, and you cant really compare it to the rest of the places. sometimes its even less than its own margins so why wouldnt you wanna go there!
Freya Swimwear said:
Mar 23, 10 at 10:47 pmExactly. There cant be owned by wal-mart! they are two completely different types of stores. Its really not that hard to miss, and i cant believe people confuse the two!
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Mar 25, 10 at 2:05 amValue village is just one place you have to shop at! its amazing, they have the best sales throughout the year, you just have to go look for youself!
Barko Collark said:
Mar 30, 10 at 12:08 amValue Village is owned by Walmart?
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Mar 30, 10 at 6:08 amI understand I agree.
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Apr 15, 10 at 11:30 pmValue Village or Savers will work with two main charities. These charities will do pick ups of used goods and drop them off in large trailers at the different stores, and I don’t think anyone can cut prices that low, wall mart has such a great competitive pricing advantage, its crazy! Love the place, cant wait for more offers!
workwear clothing said:
May 05, 10 at 12:02 pmit was intellectual and appreciable too
Marianne Long said:
May 09, 10 at 9:25 pm…Then WHY are all the new VV’s being built NEXT DOOR to Wal Marts?????…AND WHO is behind all the wonderful “benefits and advancememt posibililties” in the help wanted ads????????
galvanized tub said:
May 13, 10 at 1:15 amGood point! all value villages are all relative close by to all of the walmart stores! pretty ironic dont you think? im sure they’ve got like an agreement going on. That is the only possible explanation..
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Jun 24, 10 at 1:48 amThe photo is not only disturbing, it is an unfortunate representative of our economy today. Too many homeowners facing foreclosure, too many promises with a loan modification kit that aren’t upheld by the lenders. It’s a sad society we live in today.
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Lismore Accomodation said:
Jul 04, 10 at 5:55 amWal-mart is everywhere, glad you followed up on this though to let us know very good of you haha.
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Jul 06, 10 at 3:55 pmI have shopped at Value Village and Walmart for years. I never thought of the possible link between the two. Thanks for doing my homework for me.
Water Ranks said:
Jul 07, 10 at 9:12 pmWal-mart has become a rather greedy corporation, so it’s easy to mistake what they do and do not own. A multi billion dollar corporation like that without a single military discount, tis a shame really..
NLP Training said:
Jul 09, 10 at 5:09 pmI thought something sounded off…
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Jul 22, 10 at 3:10 amValue Village or Savers will work with two main charities. These charities will do pick ups of used goods and drop them off in large trailers at the different stores. All the things are then weighed and Value Village pays the charity based on weight alone. They do not check if the things are usable and end up throwing many things out that they paid the charities for
cosplay said:
Aug 05, 10 at 8:33 pmValue Village or Savers will work with two main charities. These charities will do pick ups of used goods and drop them off in large trailers at the different stores. All the things are then weighed and Value Village pays the charity based on weight alone. They do not check if the things are usable and end up throwing many things out that they paid the charities for
Bredbånd Nordcall ADSL said:
Aug 08, 10 at 2:22 pmHahaha.. I bet they felt this mistake, yeah! LOL..:-)
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Aug 11, 10 at 2:06 amWall mart has such a great competitive pricing advantage, its crazy! Love the place, cant wait for more offers!Love the amount of comments defending value village though!
Mobility Products said:
Aug 12, 10 at 11:03 pmI think Value Village is better than Walmart. Simply because of the environment there is somewhat feels you homely and comfortable. Walmart is just too competitive if yoiu ask me!
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Mystery Shopping Jobs said:
Aug 27, 10 at 11:50 amIt’s great to know that some stores are still independently owned - being a mystery shopper means you come across various types of shops, and generally speaking the smaller the store is the better the service! Surprising really when you consider all the training which big stores receive.