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Following an outcry from local and national activists, the city of Denver has abandoned plans to condemn a shopping center, evict more than a dozen Asian-owned business, and transfer the property to a Wal-Mart developer. … Read More
Last year when Home Depot announced that it would open in a former Ames department store building in Brattleboro, Vermont, a group of residents organized a campaign urging people to avoid the store and continue supporting their hometown merchants. The group, BrattPower: Supporting Our Local Economy, gathered 3,200 petition signatures in this town of 12,000, organized a community forum, and began running radio and newspaper ads outlining the hidden costs of large chain stores and the benefits of locally owned businesses.… Read More
Rather than capping the size of all retail stores, a growing number of cities and counties in California are banning supercenters in particular. These are generally defined as stores over 90,000 or 100,000 square feet that devote more than 5 or 10 percent of their floor area to non-taxable grocery items.
Under these ordinances, developers can still build massive box stores, so long as they do not combine department store merchandise and a full supermarket under one roof.… Read More
As Wal-Mart seeks out locations in central Los Angeles and the city council considers a measure that would ban supercenters from much of the city, a debate is brewing concerning the costs and benefits of supercenters for residents of low-income urban neighborhoods. Two dueling studies examining the impact of supercenters in southern California were recently released.
In the Wal-Mart economy, where an inexhaustible supply of cheap consumer goods has become more important than family wages for American workers, it should come as little surprise that a company which is known for its ability to track the sale of products down to the penny across a far-flung empire, would plead ignorance when accused of violating labor laws.
After courts in California and Minnesota granted class-action status to two separate lawsuits alleging that the company routinely forced its employees to work extra hours without pay, Wal-Mart spokesperson Sarah Clark said "We have no reason to believe that these isolated situations. . . represent a widespread problem with off-the-clock work." … Read More
Developers have announced plans to construct well over 2 million square feet of large retail stores in Maine over the coming months. Wal-Mart is planning a supercenter in Westbrook and perhaps another in Topsham. Lowe’s building supply is aiming at Brunswick. A 460,000-square-foot project, including Lowe’s and Target, is slated for Biddeford. HomeDepot has a site in Topsham. More than 900,000 square feet of retail is planned for Augusta, including a Lowe’s superstore and an expansion of The Marketplace that will house Best Buy, Kohl’s and others. And with the defeat of two zoning ordinance amendments in Kennebunk, that town may soon have a Stop & Shop supermarket. … Read More
Massive retail expansion could harm Maine’s economy by Stacy Mitchell Originally published in the Maine Sunday Telegram, January 11, 2004 Developers have announced plans to construct well over 2 million square feet of large retail stores in Maine over the coming months. Wal-Mart is planning a supercenter in Westbrook and perhaps another in Topsham. Lowe’s building … Read More
Where We Shop and Why It Matters – Smart City Radio show featuring Stacy Mitchell on Jan. 10, 2004.
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Typical of shopping centers built decades ago, Alameda Square in Denver is a cheap, single-story strip of stores. It’s ugly and rundown. But that does not deter shoppers. Mostly Asian Americans, shoppers come from miles around to patronize more than a dozen Asian-owned businesses, including two grocery stores, two restaurants, a hair salon, a clothing shop, a jeweler and a bakery. On a weekday afternoon, the parking lot buzzes with activity. Inside Pacific Ocean International Supermarket, the dingy exterior gives way to bright lights, shelves stocked with canned bamboo shoots and dried fish and aisles of shoppers. Most of Alameda Square’s businesses are profitable. Together they generate about $125,000 a year in sales tax revenue. But if the city of Denver has its way, these small businesses will be evicted to make way for a Wal-Mart super-center. … Read More
