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Top-Rated Retailers for Disability Inclusion

List ranges from Albertsons to Walmart.

Published

10 months ago

July 14, 2023

INSTORE Staff

PHOTOGRAPHY: Natee127/iStock.com

Which businesses do the best job when it comes to employing the disabled? One answer to that can be found in The Disability Equality Index (DEI) by the American Association of People with Disabilities.

The index is designed to be a benchmarking tool that helps companies build a roadmap of measurable, tangible actions toward disability inclusion and equality. Each company receives a score, on a scale of zero (0) to 100, with those earning 80 and above recognized as “Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion.”

Since its inception in 2015, participation in the DEI has grown six-fold, from 80 companies at the start to 485 in 2023.

Below are the retail companies that scored 100 on the index:

Albertsons
Amazon
Best Buy
Giant Eagle
JC Penney
Kroger
Lowes
Meijer
Starbucks
Target
Walgreens
Walmart

The DEI measures a range of criteria within these six categories:

Employment Practices (40 points) – Businesses commit to and demonstrate commitment to benefits, recruitment practices, employment practices and accommodation practices that fully incorporate and include individuals with disabilities.
Culture & Leadership (30 points) – Businesses commit to and demonstrate a sustained, visible cultural commitment to disability inclusion and demonstrate visible leadership commitment to disability inclusion throughout the organization.
Enterprise-Wide Access (10 points) – Businesses commit to and demonstrate commitment to workplace accessibility.
Community Engagement (10 points) – Businesses demonstrate public-facing engagement practices that celebrate and support individuals with disabilities.
Supplier Diversity (10 points) – Businesses commit to and demonstrate supplier diversity practices that fully include and utilize disability owned, veteran/disability owned businesses and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses.
Non-U.S. Operations (not weighted) – Businesses commit to and demonstrate non-U.S. practices that incorporate and include individuals with disabilities.

Click here for more on the index.

She Wanted to Spend More Time with Her Kids. She Called Wilkerson.

Your children are precious. More precious than gold? Absolutely! Just ask Lesley Ann Davis, owner of Lesley Ann Jewels, an independent jewelry store that — until the end of 2023 — had quite a following in Houston, Texas. To spend more time with her four sons, all in high school, she decided to close her store. Luckily, she was familiar with Wilkerson and called them as soon as she knew she wanted to move on to bigger, better and more family-focused things. Was she happy with her decision? Yes, she was. Says Davis, “Any owner looking to make that life change, looking to retire, looking to close, looking for a pause in their career, I would recommend Wilkerson. Hands down!”