Smockumentary

It's been nearly 3 years since Wal-Mart outfitted its employees with blue smocks, an accessory better suited for scooping ice cream in a 50s diner than scanning a wide range of retail through a checkout lane. Switching to polo shirts and khakis, the look of modern day big box, seemed a direct response to cynics who quipped the mega-retailer had lost touch with an increasingly sophisticated market place, especially in urban settings where consumers have little need for flannel shirts and yards of cat printed fleece. Now, in another apparent reflection of our times, Wal-Mart is pushing its suppliers to support green labeling for every product Wal-Mart stocks. The index would be not unlike the information found on nutrition labels.