San Luis Obispo Voters Reject Massive Big-Box Center

Date: 28 Apr 2005 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Voters in San Luis Obispo, California, have defeated a 650,000-square-foot big-box shopping center.

The Marketplace project, which included a Target, Lowe’s, Whole Foods, Old Navy, Circuit City, and several other chains, was to be built on 130 acres of prime farmland at the gateway to the city. San Luis Obispo has a population of 45,000 and is located about halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

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Acres for Wal-Mart

Date: 21 Apr 2005 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Known for squeezing every last dime out of employees and suppliers, Wal-Mart has even managed to get a rock-bottom deal on corporate green-washing. My local newspaper, the Portland (Maine) Press Herald, reported last week, in glowing front-page coverage, that an effort to protect a tract of northern forestland from development had "taken a huge step forward thanks to Wal-Mart. Similar stories of treasured lands gaining protection with help from Wal-Mart ran in hundreds of newspapers across the country under such headlines as Wal-Mart grant will help fund Squaw Creek conservation plan, and Wal-Mart to aid in effort to protect Grand Canyon.… Read More

Wal-Mart Money Trumps Land Use Process in Bennington, Vermont

Date: 7 Apr 2005 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Wal-Mart and an Ohio developer spent heavily and attacked opponents as wealthy elites in a successful campaign to overturn a new law governing large-scale retail stores in the town of Bennington, Vermont. The local ordinance capped retail stores at 75,000 square feet (about one-and-a-half football fields) and required proposals for stores over 30,000 square to pass a community impact review. It was enacted unanimously by the town’s select board in January after three years of extensive review, public meetings and deliberations.… Read More

Philadelphia Weighs “Predatory Superstore” Law

Date: 7 Apr 2005 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Three Philadelphia City Councilors—David Cohen, Richard Mariano and Frank DiCicco—have introduced an ordinance that would bar "predatory superstores" from locating within the city. The ordinance defines predatory superstores as any store over 180,000 square feet or any store over 90,000 square feet that devotes more than 10 percent of its floor space to nontaxable grocery items.… Read More

Madison Limits Footprint of Big-Box Stores

Date: 4 Apr 2005 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

By an 18-1 vote, the City Council in Madison, Wisconsin, endorsed a measure that would limit retail stores to a footprint of no more than 100,000 square feet. Stores may be larger if they are multi-story or have structured or underground parking. A 100,000-square-foot store covers about the same land area as two football fields and typically requires at least twice as much land for the parking lot.… Read More

Keeping Louisville Weird

Date: 28 Mar 2005 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

“I was driving home one day and saw it on the back of a bus,” said Don Burch, owner of Qwest Outdoors, a retailer of outdoor gear in Louisville, Kentucky. The advertisement, in black with white lettering, said, “Keep Louisville Weird. Support Independent Businesses.”I tried in vain to find out who was doing it,” said Burch. Weeks later he finally discovered that the ads, which have been appearing on billboards and buses around the city, were sponsored by John Timmons, owner of Ear X-tacy, a 20-year-old music store. … Read More

Vermont Lawmakers Weigh Statewide Big-Box Law

Date: 16 Mar 2005 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

If a new ordinance limiting big-box retail development in the town of Bennington, Vermont, is endorsed by voters in an April referendum, two lawmakers say they will introduce bills to extend those restrictions statewide. In January, the Bennington Select Board voted unanimously to ban stores over 75,000 square feet and to require retail development projects larger than 30,000 square feet to pass a community impact review.… Read More

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