Wal-Mart, Bharti Keep Pushing In India
Bharti CEO Says Indian Rules Slow Wal-Mart Deal [Reuters]
LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) - India’s restrictions on foreign direct investment in the retail sector have slowed Bharti’s joint venture with Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
but Chairman and CEO Sunil Mittal expects to sign a formal agreement next month. Mittal, who unveiled plans for a tie-up with the world’s biggest retailer at the start of this year, said there had been a delay to formalising the cash-and-carry joint venture but talks were still progressing.
“It is taking some time because of the restrictions on FDI (foreign direct investment). You have multiple contracts—for franchises, brand, IT, merchandising,” Mittal told reporters in London following a trade forum between India and Britain.
“I think the agreement will be signed very soon, I’d say in the next month.”
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Topics: International | Asia | India | Economic/Small Business | |
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, July 02, 2007 | Permalink
China and India: Big Boxes Cram Into Small Cities
Wal-Mart and other “big box” retailers are taking a page out of their respective domestic playbooks to expand internationally: go into smaller cities. The fact that countries such as China and India have reached a level of development where mass retailers are interested in growing outside of major urban markets shows that these countries are developing ever-larger and more geographically diverse groups of middle-class consumers (outside of coastal economic hotspots like Shanghai and Mumbai) whose needs, Wal-Mart and others bet, are not being met by these countries’ traditional, well-entrenched local sellers. And Wal-Mart, at least in China, has shown its ability to preserve its broad selection, low-price approach while adapting to Chinese retail culture. Imagine the future: site fights from Guangzhou to the Ganges.
Mass Merchants and Grocers Making Move to Smaller Areas [Women’s Wear Daily]
Mass retailers and grocers swiftly are migrating from large, retail-saturated cities to smaller urban areas for international growth, according to A.T. Kearney’s 2007 Global Retail Development Index, an annual report on the most promising markets for retail expansion.
The study, which focuses on mass merchandisers and food retailers, ranks emerging nations according to 25 variables, including economic and political risk, retail market attractiveness, retail saturation levels and the difference between gross domestic product growth and retail growth.
India nabbed the top spot for the third year in a row, thanks largely to a young population with money to spend and loosening government controls on businesses.
“India remains the most exciting retail opportunity out there,” said Ram Kuppuswamy, an author of the study. “But…in the next year or two, it’s no longer going to be as attractive because competition is going to come.”
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Topics: International | Economic/Small Business | Traffic/Sprawl | | | | India | China
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, July 02, 2007 | Permalink
Waxhaw, NC. Second Wal-Mart Battle Now in Fifth Year
On January 10, 2007, Sprawl-Busters reported that the Union County, North Carolina Board of Commissioners had rejected the Conditional Use Permit for a 196,000 s.f. Wal-Mart superstore in the town of Waxhaw. After Wal-Mart applied, a change was made in the zoning to limit retail buildings in Waxhaw to 62,500 sq. ft. The decision to reject Wal-Mart was by a unanimous 5-0 vote. The Charlotte Observer said the vote ended the “bitter debate over whether the retailer would shatter Waxhaw’s identity as a small-town enclave of antique stores and horseback-supply shops.” Wal-Mart responded to their loss by suggesting that they would simply look for another site in the area, but that they were not considering any other sites with Waxhaw. The parcel they chose on Route 16 was just half a mile north of the quaint Waxhaw downtown. The Commissioners said that the store was not compatible with the character of the surrounding area.
Yet this week, Sprawl-Busters received an email from residents in Waxhaw about another long-standing Wal-Mart battle. According to residents, “We have been fighting Wal-Mart for over 5 years. The potential Wal-Mart would be a 24-hour SuperCenter within 50 feet of a residential neighborhood, and would have a direct access road from the Wal-Mart SuperCenter into a residential neighborhood.” The email was followed by a 5 year chronology of their fight with the world’s largest retailer: “Wal-Mart bought property at the corner of Rea Road and Tom Short Road in Waxhaw in 2001. In the spring of 2002, Wal-Mart filed site plans and a permit application for a 200,000+ sq. ft. supercenter with gas station and several outparcels. There is one Wal-Mart within 7 miles of Waxhaw and another one under construction within 5 miles of Waxhaw. The road from the Wal-Mart parking lot would pass by the neighborhood playground putting children and their families at an extreme safety risk.
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Topics: Community Impact | Crime & Safety | Economic/Small Business | Zoning Regulations
Posted by Al Norman on Monday, July 02, 2007 | Permalink
Duluth, GA. Pitched Roof Could Make Wal-Mart Too High
Unless Wal-Mart can get a special ruling to have a flat roof, its store in Duluth, Georgia may be too high to fly. In early June, Sprawl-Busters received the following email from Georgia:
“The purpose of my email is to seek advice on first steps in preventing the development of a supercenter in Duluth Georgia. We found out about this proposal a few days ago and we feel we need to mobilize our community and the surrounding community to do something about the situation quickly. Here are the facts: Wal-Mart has proposed a super store in Duluth, Georgia. The proposed site is zoned general commercial (C-2) meaning a retail store is an allowed use within this zoning district. Wal-mart’s engineering company (Wolverton & Associates) have applied for several variances and the zoning board of appeals meets on 27 June, 2007 to address these variances. We understand the zoning board of appeals does not have the authority to approve or disapprove Wal-Mart locating here; just on the variances. Development plans have not been submitted, according to the Director of the City Planning and Development Department. We are one of about 10 subdivisions in the immediate area of the possible development and we are looking for initial guidance from someone that has a proven track record in these situations.”
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Topics: Zoning Regulations
Posted by Al Norman on Monday, July 02, 2007 | Permalink
Austin, TX. Residents File Suit To Stop Wal-Mart Supercenter
Sprawl-Busters reported on May 12, 2007 that Wal-Mart was trying to force neighbors in Austin, Texas to accept a 225,000 s.f. superstore. But even in Texas, some things can be too big. Public pressure against the superstore forced the developer to come back in with a “smaller” plan---but not quite small enough to please opponents. Wal-Mart offered to cut the store in the Northcross Mall by 15%---from 219,000 s.f. to 186,500 s.f. But on June 26th the city approved Wal-Mart’s plan, settling on a 198,000 s.f. footprint. The citizen’s group that has been fighting this project, vowed to take their case to court, and did so on June 28th.
Responsible Growth For Northcross (R4GN) filed their lawsuit was in district court to stop the North Austin Wal-Mart proposal. The suit named the city of Austin and Lincoln Property Company as defendants. The suit charges the development violates city code because the increased traffic would endanger public safety and slow down Emergency medical vehicles. It also alleges that the development would cut down several live oak trees which are protected by city ordinance and increase rain runoff into Shoal Creek. “We’re actually involved in some discussions with the opposing party at this point to try to get an agreement that would freeze at least some of the activity going on—until we get some resolutions from the courts on this,” Brad Rockwell, RG4N attorney, told KVUE News. The suit also claims that a conditional use permit process should have been followed.
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Topics: Crime & Safety | Traffic/Sprawl | Lawsuits | Organizing | Zoning Regulations
Posted by Al Norman on Monday, July 02, 2007 | Permalink
States Target Big Box Stores
Last week, Maine Governor John Baldacci signed into law first of its kind legislation. The Maine Informed Growth Act seeks to provide detailed insight into a large-scale retail project’s projected impact on municipal services, the environment and local businesses, in addition to giving citizens a real voice in development decisions.
Maine Gov. John Baldacci last week signed into law a measure requiring developers of retail stores exceeding 75,000 square feet to conduct studies gauging the project’s impact on municipal services, the environment and local businesses. The proposed store can’t be approved if the studies find it is likely to cause a quantifiable, “undue adverse impact” on more than one of those fronts and is expected to have a harmful effect on the community overall.
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Posted by Corey Himrod on Friday, June 29, 2007 | Permalink
Broomfield, CO. City Gives Wal-Mart $7.35 Million In Welfare
On September 21, 2006, Sprawl-Busters reported that city officials in Broomfield, Colorado had offered to pay for 49% of the cost of site acquisition for a Wal-Mart supercenter---a deal that will save Wal-Mart $7.85 million, funded by taxpayers. The funding will come in the form of a sales tax to pay off the landowner, since Wal-Mart did not offer enough money to entice the existing poultry processing plant to relocate. So the city offered them welfare to cover the shortfall. A group, called Broomfield First, was quickly formed to oppose this tax giveaway, and their first order of business was to get the City Council to delay accepting a bid from Wal-Mart for the land deal. In October, 2006, the city council rejected the Wal-Mart offer on a 5-4 vote, and sent the landowner and the retailer back to the drawing board. But this week, according to the Rocky Mountain News, the Broomfield City Council approved the site development plan for a Wal-Mart Supercenter on the Barber’s Poultry property on 120th Avenue. The 7-3 vote came just before midnight on June 25th. The Council was wearing two hats: the Broomfield Urban Renewal Authority (BURA) and the City Council. The agreement calls for Wal-Mart to pay the Barber family $10.5 million, and the BURA will pay $4.85 million for relocation costs. The city also agreed to subsidize $2.5 million to the developer to pay for roadwork and infrastructure being built by Wal-Mart. The money to pay for the relocation costs and infrastructure will be generated from sales and use tax revenues from the Wal-Mart property, which includes the supercenter and four smaller pad sites. The city has justified its subsidization of Wal-Mart by saying that the project will generate an estimated $69.5 million in sales tax over the
15 years. Council members described Wal-Mart as part of their “urban renewal” of the 120th Avenue corridor. “This is about more than Wal-Mart,” one Councilman told the Rocky Mountain News. “It’s the removal of the Barber facility. It’s the redevelopment of 120th Avenue. While this may not be perfect in the eyes of many, it’s far superior to the alternative, which is do nothing and leave things as is. ... It is about economic redevelopment of 120th, and we need to move forward with that.” Neighbors complained that the project will generate too much noise. All they asked for was restrictions on Wal-Mart’s delivery times.
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Topics: Zoning Regulations
Posted by Al Norman on Friday, June 29, 2007 | Permalink
Wal-Mart: Trading China T-Shirts for Jobs
The EPI’s report shows how Wal-Mart’s sourcing decisions trade jobs for junk, taking stable, well-compensated work away from Americans and giving them cheap t-shirts, plastic toys and other goods commonly imported from China in exchange.
Last year, the retail giant Wal-Mart imported $26.7 billion of Chinese goods into the United States. The cost of those goods to Americans went far beyond the sticker prices, however. Wal-Mart’s reliance on Chinese goods cost the United States over 308,000 jobs in 2006 – or about 77 jobs for every Wal-Mart store in the United States.
These calculations come from a new analysis by the Economic Policy Institute’s leading expert on international trade, economist Robert Scott. His findings are published in a new issue brief published today, The Wal-Mart Effect.
Wal-Mart’s increased dependence on cheap imports from China is reflected in the nation’s increasing trade imbalance with that country. The United States buys imports from other countries, especially China, at a much higher rate than it sells exports, causing a trade deficit and the loss of domestic jobs. Wal-Mart was responsible for 9.3 percent of U.S. China imports from 2001-2006, and for 11.2 percent of U.S. job losses due to the trade deficit with China. The growth of Wal-Mart’s share of the trade deficit with China alone eliminated nearly 200,000 U.S. jobs in this period.
“Now we know the impact that imports from China to the world’s largest retailer has on our nation’s jobs,” said Scott. “What’s good for Wal-Mart is not always good for U.S. workers.”
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Topics: International | Asia | China | Economic/Small Business | Workers Rights & Wages |
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, June 26, 2007 | Permalink
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