Two of the country’s largest retailers, Walmart and Sears, will no longer sell Confederate flag merchandise in their stores.
“We never want to offend anyone with the products that we offer. We have taken steps to remove all items promoting the Confederate flag from our assortment — whether in our stores or on our website,” Walmart spokesman Brian Nick told CNN.
“We have a process in place to help lead us to the right decisions when it comes to the merchandise we sell. Still, at times, items make their way into our assortment improperly — this is one of those instances,” Nick added.
A Tuesday morning search on Walmart’s website yielded nothing with the Confederate flag on it. However, a search Monday night showed the website carried the actual flag, as well as attire featuring the flag’s design, including T-shirts and belt buckles.
Sears Holdings Corporation, which owns both Sears and Kmart, told CNN it would also remove Confederate flag merchandise sold by third-party vendors online. According to spokesman Chris Brathwaite, actual Confederate flags are not sold at its stores.
The announcements from the two retailers comes in the aftermath of last week’s deadly shooting at an historic black church in Charleston, S.C. The shooter, 21-year-old Dylann Roof, who has confessed to the shooting, allegedly said he wanted to start a “race war.” Pictures have also surfaced of him holding the Confederate flag, a symbol of the slave-holding South.
On Monday, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announced she supports removing the Confederate flag from the state capitol grounds, along with the state’s two GOP senators, Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott.
