Dollar Town Employee Speaks Out
by: Daniel Riehs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—Dollar Town's cashier, Sherman Wilkins, announced Thursday that the discount store's illegal partnerships were common knowledge among shop employees. He hypothesized that Kim Gray, manager of the Academy blvd. location, was forced into silence by company executives.
Dollar Town, the nation's seventh largest dollar-store chain, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection back in December. Already, over four employees have been laid off, and the future of each of the company's two stores remains in question.
Wilkins told a House subcommittee that he felt like a little fish trying to swim upstream. "I knew that we shouldn't have been storing spoiled canned goods in the neighboring pet store, but the night manager wouldn't listen. He told me that I would have to bring my complaint directly to the top.
In August, Wilkins was able to schedule a face-to-face meeting with Gray to discuss company policy. "I started out by explaining that the entire plastic-cup display was in danger of collapse. Gray just winced and said that she would 'look into it.'"
"Did you ever fear for your life, speaking out against such a powerful corporation?" asked Representative Billy Tauzin (R-La.)
"Dollar Town was crooked. Gray had to be stopped."
Obviously, Wilkins' recollection of events differed from that of Geoffrey Schilling, Dollar Town's former CEO. His recent testimony stated that he was unaware of the store's unethical partnerships that were employed to hide expired inventory. These questionable deals ultimately inflated Dollar Town's apparent profits and lead to the company's bankruptcy.
Wilkins belived that at least three Dollar Town managers were in on the scandal. There was little talk of controversy "around the water pistols," however, as employees feared a backlash from their employers.
There was just something about the way those managers looked at you," said janitor Ron Endelson. "It just made you think, 'Hey, I bet that guy wants to tie me to a chair, drag me into the back room, and Pulp-Fiction me real good.'"
Quentin Tarantino has yet to comment on the situation.
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