Walmart: No more items with Confederate flags

Ed Brackett | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Walmart, Sears to stop selling Confederate Flag products In wake of the shooting deaths of nine people inside a historic South Carolina church, some major department stores announced they would stop carrying the controversial Confederate Flag. Buzz60's Leigh Scheps (@LeighTVReporter) reports.

Walmart said in a statement Monday that it is removing "all items" promoting the Confederate flag for sale from its stores and its website.

The move came the same day that Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina called for the removal of a Confederate flag from the state Capitol grounds in Columbia. Her announcement in turn came in the wake of last week's shooting at a historically black Charleston church that left nine dead.

Charged in the killing is Dylan Roof, 21, who is white and has been attributed with making white supremacist statements. He has been pictured with images of a Confederate flag.

"We never want to offend anyone with the products that we offer," Walmart spokesman Brian Nick said in an emailed statement. "We have taken steps to remove all items promoting the confederate flag from our assortment — whether in our stores or on our web site."

The statement continued, apparently answering an inquiry from CNN that cited items for sale based on Confederate flag imagery that were available on Walmart.com. A story on CNN's website said the Walmart statement was in response to a network inquiry about sales of Confederate flag-related items.

"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 said.

Walmart is the world's largest retailer, with nearly 11,000 stores in 28 countries.