Ballwin Chairman and Schnucks Spokesperson Accused of Lying

Ballwin resident Lori Willis, who heads the Ballwin Board of Adjustment and works as the Director of Communications for Schnuck Markets, was featured in a Memphis newspaper article that suggests she lied about her knowledge of planned store shutdowns.

In an article published by the Commercial Appeal this week, the news outlet chronicled multiple conversations with Willis, who repeatedly told the newspaper there was "no truth to those rumors" leaked by employees that stores were closing.

"Typically, we would not comment on rumor and speculation, but I will acknowledge these rumors have gotten to a point with the media where I feel I need to tell you there is no truth to those rumors," Willis told the Commercial Appeal on Aug. 25.

Fewer than two weeks later, Willis announced that Schnucks was selling Memphis-area stores to Kroger, with resulting layoffs affecting about 1,000 Schnucks employees, Fox-Memphis reported.

Despite the apparent reversal, Willis denied that she lied to the newspaper. From the Commercial Appeal:

"On Friday, the day Schnucks and Kroger confirmed the sale and closings, Willis called The Commercial Appeal saying, 'First of all, thanks for understanding my situation. Yes, until now, we were bound by an agreement to stay silent on the issue.'

But Schnucks had not been silent. It had said no deal was in the works.

Asked about the apparent untruth Tuesday, Willis responded that a mere 'no comment' would have been misconstrued.

'I did not lie to you,' she told a reporter. 'I gave you the best information I had at the time...'"

The Commercial Appeal's article caught the attention of several other news outlets, including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and famed media commentator Jim Romenesko, who called Willis this week to ask her what she thought of the Commercial Appeal article, which Romenesko said "portrays her as a liar."

“I couldn’t bear to read it, but sympathetic friends in the media told me what it said,” Willis told Romenesko. “I think it should have been on the editorial page.”

Romenesko then asked Willis why she denied the sale.

“I gave them the best information I had at the time," she said.

The incident with the Commercial Appeal isn't the first time Willis and her employer have made news headlines.

A Ballwin resident said in March that Willis would be as Ballwin Board of Adjustment Chairman if a zoning issue arose between the city and the grocery store.

That statement came months after the grocery chain and the City of Ballwin late last year filed by Ballwin residents who argued that an upcoming Schnucks location would decrease their homes' property values. The controversial development also led to what former Ballwin Alderman Ron Markland ," wherein Ballwin City Attorney Bob Jones represented the city during Schnucks while also having represented Schnuck Markets as a client with his private law firm.