Walmart is trying to come into my town

[Kat45]

I recently found out that Walmart signed an agreement to lease some land to build a store on my town (pending government approval). My town is just 4 square miles in size and borders a big city. I thought Walmart stayed away from urban areas, stuck to the boonies, but apparently that's not true any more. My town is very blue in a very blue area so I'm surprised that this is being considered. I think the town likes the idea of the tax payments this will bring to the town, and of course it's trying to get the store to agree to give the town certain things (such as reconstructing the sewer system that they will be using). But we all know how Walmart works: they will make concessions to get in there, then once they do, it's time to do their damage to everyone and everything.

There was an online survey on people's opinions on the possible arrival of Walmart, and I was quite surprised and upset to see that a majority in the poll were for it! There is a group of people in town who are against it and they are having a meeting this week. I intend to attend. I hope we can keep Walmart out of our town. Does anyone have any experience or ideas to keep Walmart out?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Good luck, my dear Kat45!

I hope you can keep them out too...

:hi:

[Kat45]

4. Thank you, Peggy.

I hope so too. Did you ever see the movie, "Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices" (or something like that)? I thought I knew a lot about what they do, but I learned even more from this. Too bad my memory sucks and I can't remember it all.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. I never saw it; I'm not sure I could bear to.

I am reading the book "Cheap." I don't recall the author, but she talks about how our drive for lower prices affects our total environment.

It's an excellent read.

[ejpoeta]

17. i'd watch it. (i have) you might be heartened to see the towns that fought back

and kept walmart out. It might be good to know their tactics. It does get you mad, but it is good to see how they work.

[NYC_SKP]

2. Fight it. And good luck in your effort!

Because you seem to know what needs to be done and why!

:patriot:

[Kat45]

5. I intend you. Thank you.

Unfortunately, you never know how things will go.

[Fire Walk With Me]

3. Get people together to watch "The high cost of low prices", organize, and FIGHT!

[Kat45]

6. I did see it--at a Move On meeting right in my town.

Unfortunately, there weren't too many people at the meeting. I'll have to rack my brain and see if I can remember the names of the people who hosted it. They lived right on my street.

[tularetom]

7. Here's a site that some communities have used as a resource

http://walmartwatch.org/

I'm aware of at least one case history here in central CA where they have successfully blocked construction of a super walmart.

http://reclaimdemocracy.org/walmart/2006/turlock_wins_superstore_ban.php

Good luck!

[Kat45]

29. Thank you. I'll check out the information.

Looks like it could be quite helpful.

[proud patriot]

8. We have kept walmart out of our town..

granted we already have a sam's club

[Papagoose]

10. Fight it tooth and nail

Walmart got to my little town before I moved here, but I see what it has done. We have three closed hardware stores, two closed grocery stores, two closed gas stations a closed paint store, a closed hair salon and a closed oil-change shop all on the same street and all run out of business by Walmart.

I have to drive 30 miles to get to the next large grocery store for things not carried in our little food store if I want to avoid Walmart...

[sammytko]

16. How could they have closed hardware stores?

We have a super wal-mart in our small county - about 10 thousand people and still manage to support three hardware stores and a large farm and ranch store. Their dinky nuts and bolts and wimpy tools would never run the real stores out. Also have more hair salons than I can count. We do have one chain grocery (HEB) store that outsells Walmart on that department. I don't like Walmart food and this chain is pretty expensive, so I stick to the commissary in San Antonio.

Lots of walmarts in San Antonio also.

[Papagoose]

34. In fairness, Home Depot probably had more to do with the hardware store closures

Home Depot and Walmart opened about the same time, across the street from one another. I tend to blame Walmart a little more, because I personally know a few of the people who work in Walmart today who used to work in those hardware stores.

From what I'm told, there used to be 5 hardware stores pre-Walmart. Today, there is just Home Depot and Walmart.

[sammytko]

36. We also have a HD, Lowes, and other large lumber yard 20 miles down the hiway

in San antonio and the small town hardware stores are still going strong.

[Papagoose]

38. I'm happy that it sounds like it's balanced out in your area

It hasn't worked out so well around here unfortunately.

[liberal N proud]

11. Wal-Mart has been in the cities for more than 12 years

We live in a Cleveland Suburb and there are 4 Wal-Marts within 10 minutes of our house.

[Kat45]

25. It doesn't surprise me, but I wasn't really aware of that/

We're fortunate to not have many Walmarts around here.

[begin_within]

12. I thought Wal-Mart was supposedly "struggling" lately.

[no_hypocrisy]

13. Your small town was chosen precisely b/c it borders a big city.

They can't get variances and approval to build in the city or there just isn't enough commercial space available there. So they'll build in your small town, pay their taxes, and try to lure the cityfolk out to your new Walmart.

[Kat45]

26. I know. They tried to get in the city a few years ago & weren't able to.

I believe they're trying for about 4-5 suburban towns around here.

[MedicalAdmin]

33. It will

Increase crime
Cause excessive wear and tear on infrastructure that YOU pay for
Hurt established family businesses.

Get allies in the business, church and others within the communities. And identify the politicians making these decisions and make sure everyone knows who they are.

[asjr]

14. Walmart is cutting out medical insurance

for their part time help and upping rates for full time help. I guess that is how they will pay to build a new mart.

[handmade34]

15. St Johnsbury, VT did it in '94

unfortunately most there regret it...

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-08-12/business/9408120187_1_wal-mart-stores-vermont-supreme-court-vermont-residents

http://www.walmartmovie.com/


http://www.boston.com/yourlife/articles/2007/09/12/wal_mart_and_the_battle_of_vermont/


http://www.vtlivablewage.org/walmart.htm

[SheilaT]

18. I live in a city of about 60,000, and

WalMart recently opened its third store here.

A couple of weeks ago my boss tried to give me a WalMart gift certificate as a thank-you for some extra thing I had done, and I politely handed it back to her. I wasn't even tempted, which felt good.

[sammytko]

21. Could you have passed it on to someone else or donated to a charity?

[SheilaT]

24. Then I would still have been responsible for

someone shopping at WalMart.

If I want to donate to the Republican party I will do so directly.

A couple of months ago I found myself inside the Sam's Club and the few things I priced were actually cheaper at the local grocery stores than they were at Sam's. Perhaps those who shop there never comparison shop. And I know that most people are quite apolitical -- we here on DU are not entirely normal :) -- but I do pay attention to such things, and I absolutely will not spend any money in one.

[sammytko]

37. Yes, you can get things cheaper outside of sam's, but the large

quantities can make up for it. We buy the large pail of dishwasher tablets, large paper towels and toilet paper, large packs of toilet bowl cleaner and scrubbing bubbles cans, dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent - one trip and we are set for months.

[SheilaT]

39. Maybe. But you are directly contributing

to the election of Republicans, not to mention the loss of better jobs in your community. Is that really worth it?

Oh, and if you can get things cheaper outside of Sam's then how can larger quantities make up for it?

[RKP5637]

19. Remind the citizens wanting it that Walmart has a ton of lawyers and PR manipulators,

and I doubt your town has the resources to fight Walmart down the road. Walmart will do what they damn well please once in your town and many of your small shops will be gone. Then, if you have a city downtown it will be hollowed out, deserted and a mess like other small communities Walmart has invaded.

[Warpy]

20. Actually, they're in a lot of big cities. The main problem with old east coast cities

is finding the land to build on, so they target suburban towns like yours. Some towns have managed to keep them out and some haven't.

They don't care about regional politics. They care about selling crap merchandise cheaper than anyone else in town.

[Kat45]

27. Yup. I'm on the East Coast.

And they tried and failed to get in the city in recent years.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. Every small retailer in your town and surrounding towns will go out of business

When WalMart opened 50 Super Centers in Iowa, 500 small retail stores went under.

Those are scary numbers.

[lunatica]

23. My suggestion is to make a list of things people should know about Walmart and

making cheap flyers and putting them in mailboxes and posting them in all the posting areas you can find. Dry cleaners, supermarkets, small businesses, etc. A simple list of bullet points are good.

Talk to the small business owners and tell them what will happen if Walmart comes to town. Ask them to talk to their customers and to give them the flyers.

Do what you can about having a Townhall meeting.

[Kat45]

28. Thanks. That's a good idea.

I'll bring that up at the meeting next week.

[rhett o rick]

30. I heard that eminent domain was used to keep Walmart out. nm

[JoeyT]

31. Best of luck keeping them out.

When they came here they shut down every produce stand, grocery store, and all but one hardware store, and it stayed alive by charging an ungodly amount for everything Wal-Mart doesn't sell. Then they raised their prices.

[kathysart_decoration]

32. Fighting WalMart

I live in the Village of Greendale, Wisconsin and within the last year Wal Mart managed to get our village board to approve the tearing down of a beautiful building so they could build a small Wal Mart as defined by the Board. That is Wal Mart's newest plan overall. They have downsized the size of their stores specifically so they could enter the urban market. Greendale is a suburb of Milwaukee, but it is very small. They are, however, setting up shop on a commercial street, which I live off of. Somewhere in my bookmarks is the story of their new plan to downsize for urban settings. When that starts working they will take over everything. If you do the google on Wal Mart, you will find much information to use in your fight. The people who make these decisions, however, usually sell out to Wal Mart, but it is worth the fight. In other suburban areas, where people with more money live, they seem to be able to keep these stores out. Sadly, people here in Greendale believe their property taxes will go down if Wal Mart sets up shop, but the truth is that the opposite happens because the lawyers come in and make certain that Wal Mart gets their exceptions to the tax rules. Good luck.

[Shagbark Hickory]

35. They don't call it "sprawlmart" for nothin.

And sprawlmart is not exclusive to red states. Not by a long shot.

[Kat45]

40. UPDATE: Went to the meeting tonight

I'd say there were well over 100 people there; the room was packed. There is a group called 'Sustainable ' that was running the meeting. Several people from that group, some other activists and a few local politicians spoke. There was also time for anyone to go up and speak if they wanted to. I want up, mentioned my opposition and recommended the movie "Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices" (since nobody had mentioned it). Someone I knew at the meeting told me after that she'd like to see that movie. They passed around a petition against Walmart coming to town. Everyone in the room was against it and we were all wondering who in the town is favorable to it. (We figured someone must be if the store is working to come here.) We all signed up with the organization and they will let us know when relevant zoning board/planning board meetings will be held to consider the proposal.