Retail

1 Jul 2003

Carbondale Voters Defeat Shopping Center

by Stacy Mitchell | Date: 1 Jul 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0

On July 15, citizens in Carbondale, Colorado, voted 57 to 43 percent to reject a 252,000-square-foot shopping center anchored by a Target store. The hotly debated referendum produced the largest election turnout in the town’s history. Carbondale is a community of 5,200 people in the Roaring Fork Valley between Glenwood Springs and Aspen. Carbondale has a lively downtown of locally owned businesses, including hardware, book, and clothing stores. … Read More

1 Jul 2003

Oregon Towns Block Supercenter Expansion

by Stacy Mitchell | Date: 1 Jul 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0

Several Oregon communities are hindering Wal-Mart’s growth. The retailer wants to open new stores in ten locations around the state, but has been blocked in two communities and is facing organized opposition in at least five more. In Hillsboro, the Planning Commission voted unanimously to reject a proposed supercenter. Hundreds of residents turned out at public hearings to argue the store would inundate the area with traffic and harm nearby neighborhoods. … Read More

1 Jul 2003

Local Retailers, Neighbors Stop Walgreens in Tampa

by Stacy Mitchell | Date: 1 Jul 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0

At the urging of a broad group of residents and local business owners, the Tampa City Council voted unanimously in June to reject a proposal to level a neighborhood shopping center to make way for a Walgreen pharmacy and a bank. The shopping center is currently home to nine locally owned businesses, including three restaurants, a fitness center, beauty parlor, and laundry. A developer sought to tear down the center, annex parts of two residential properties, and construct a large, box-like Walgreen’s and a bank. … Read More

1 Jul 2003

Stoughton, Wisconsin, Citizens Declare “Uff-da Wal-Mart”

by Stacy Mitchell | Date: 1 Jul 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0

Residents of Stoughton, Wisconsin, have come together under the banner "Uff-da Wal-Mart" to fight the company’s plans to turn a nearby cornfield into a massive supercenter. Uff-da is a Norwegian expression of disdain. In mid-July, Uff-da Wal-Mart scored a significant victory when the City Council adopted a 90-day moratorium on big box retail development. The ordinance temporarily bans development of stores larger than 50,000 square feet. … Read More

1 Jul 2003

Coalition Fights Massive Big Box Subsidy in Arizona

by Stacy Mitchell | Date: 1 Jul 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0

In July, the Scottsdale, Arizona, City Council voted 4-3 to approve one of the largest subsidies ever given to a big box retail development. Those voting in the minority described the subsidy, which could amount to as much as $183 million over 40 years, as "obscene" and "insane." The 600,000-square-foot development includes a Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and Lowe’s Home Improvement store. The project is slated for a 42-acre site occupied by a derelict mall in south Scottsdale. … Read More

1 Jul 2003

Ireland May Rescind Superstore Ban

by Stacy Mitchell | Date: 1 Jul 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0

Ireland’s Environment Minister Martin Cullen has announced that the government may lift a five-year-old nationwide policy banning superstores. The policy, adopted as a temporary measure in 1998 and made permanent in 2001, prohibits stores over 3,500 square meters (38,000 square feet) in Dublin and 3,000 square meters (32,000 square feet) in the rest of the country. … Read More

27 Jun 2003

Saving Banff

by Stacy Mitchell | Date: 27 Jun 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0

Banff, like many communities in western Canada, is facing a growing influx of multinational chains. Determined to save their community from becoming"Anyplace, North America," Banff officials are investigating ways to buck the chain store trend. Luckily, they are not in uncharted territory. Communities across the continent have devised effective strategies for limiting chains and nurturing locally owned businesses. … Read More

27 Jun 2003

Saving Banff

by Stacy Mitchell | Date: 27 Jun 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0

Saving Banff by Stacy Mitchell originally published in Calgary Herald, June 27, 2003 Banff, like many communities in western Canada, is facing a growing influx of multinational chains [“Banff fears ‘corporate branding’ of resort”]. Stores like The Gap and Starbucks are multiplying rapidly, undermining the unique character of this lovely mountain town and displacing locally owned … Read More

1 Apr 2003

Mexico Imposes Code of Conduct on Wal-Mart

by Stacy Mitchell | Date: 1 Apr 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0

After a ten-month investigation of Wal-Mart, Mexican antitrust officials have imposed a code of conduct on the company and other large supermarket chains. The Mexican Federal Competition Commission (CFC) launched the investigation last May to determine whether Wal-Mart was using its market power to pressure suppliers into providing prices substantially lower than those available to other retailers (after accounting for reasonable volume discounts). … Read More