Entry Point - Walmart AU

Entry-level Finance

"More stock means more profit, stupid."

"Oh my God, shut up. You're an intern. What do you know about running a store?" Wren crushes a smiley-face stress ball in one hand.

Today's pre-opening meeting is just as fun as yesterday's. The Director sparked an ongoing argument between Wren and Surprise about his latest decision of buying even more stock of the latest blockbuster video game to hit the markets.

"I know enough to know entry-level finance and business stuff."

"We can't just buy five pallets worth of a single video game! We have other expenses! This is a general store! We can't just cross our fingers and hope they all sell!"

"Well, maybe we should cross our fingers. I'm a pretty lucky person, you know."

"Surprise, name a single retail store that depends on luck to keep their store open."

"Wren, have you seen the sales for that game? Pretty telling, if you ask me." Falcon weighs in from the corner of the room.

"Falcon... I did not just hear you agree with Surprise." The stress ball in Wren's hand is pitifully close to snapping. The smiley-face on the ball is unrecognizable.

"Falcon is right. Plus, we bought out the supplier, so Target is going to have to wait another few days to even get their hands on it." The Director adds.

Wren slowly sets down the stress ball, getting up from the table. He starts to walk out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Rose looks up from her phone, calling out to Wren.

"To open the store."

"It's only 6:52."

Wren slams the door behind him.

"Imagine getting that fired up over Walmart stock, I can't relate." Surprise takes a sip of her coffee.

"I mean, the guy is pretty business-oriented. He doesn't really care about the Walmart-Target rivalry, he just follows whatever the old man here says." Rose glances at The Director, raising an eyebrow.

"He'll be just fine. Let's get the day started."

And so it was business as usual. Wren was nowhere to be found the whole morning. Rose worked diligently at her station, going about her day. But when heading back for more bags, she saw a bunch of young children making a ruckus in one of the store aisles. They all were trying to reach something, so Rose made her way over to help them.

"Hey, guys! Is there anything I can help with here?" Rose tries to put on her best kid voice, squatting down to their level.

"Kitty!" One of the kids, a young boy, pointed up to one of the high shelves. Rose looked to where he was pointing, her eyes going wide.

Misty sat on the top shelf, working away at a ripped open pouch of tuna nabbed straight from the non-perishable goods aisle. Rose gulped.

"Misty! Get back here!" She reached up to grab it, but the cat bounded out of her reach, hissing at her. It took the pouch of tuna in its mouth and took off. Rose chased after it, the children behind her following. As Misty leaped down to the second shelf, Rose took the chance and grabbed it. It hissed, trying to bite and claw Rose. She grabbed its scruff.

"Ya little devil..." She muttered under her breath as she wrangled the cat into a safer position, not giving the kids a chance to pet it. Rose made her way to The Director's office, knocking with the toe of her boot as her hands were full.

"Cat escaped." Rose shoved Misty into The Director's hands the moment he opened the door.

"Ah. So that's where she went. Thank you."