U.K. SITE FIGHT: ASDA CONFIRMS INTEREST IN LONDONBERRY SITE

http://www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk/news/Asda-confirm-interest-in-city.4685110.jp” title="Asda confirm interest in city store [Londonberry Sentinel]">Asda confirm interest in city store [Londonberry Sentinel]

SUPERMARKET giant Asda has reaffirmed its desire to open a store in Londonderry.

Speculation has been growing since, in August of this year, the Sentinel first reported the retailer, owned by US market leader Wal-Mart, were looking at potential Londonderry store locations.

At that time the retail giant ruled out acquiring the former Desmonds factory site in Drumahoe or a green field site in the Gransha area of the city.

Then in September, Asda told the Sentinel it would not be the flagship tenant at a new 22 unit retail park planned for the Crescent Link.

Now the company’s Property Communications Manager Philip Bartram has said opening a store in Londonderry remains a viable option.

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Posted by Luke West on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 | Permalink

Corpus Christi, TX. Will Shopping At Wal-Mart Bring People to Jesus?

Wal-Mart has 4 existing stores in Corpus Christi, Texas-—two of them supercenters. But the company has been scouting out a number of new sites---some of which have died, some of which have been resurrected. A new site announced this week has one local pastor wondering if more people will find Jesus if a Wal-Mart is built near his church. One thing he knows for sure: he’s going to see more traffic on narrow city roads. On February 19, 2008, Sprawl- Busters reported that Wal-Mart had been hit with a double whammy in Corpus Christi, Texas. One planned supercenter was dead, and a second was mired in a landlord-tenant lawsuit. The dead project was on the southside of the city, in the Timbergate neighborhood. According to the Caller-Times newspaper, Wal-Mart got a waiver approved by the city’s Planning Commission in November 2007, after resubmitting their plans for a rezoning. In March, 2007, Wal-Mart squeaked by the Planning Commission on a 5-3 vote in favor of the project. But in June, Wal-Mart withdrew their rezoning application for South Staples Street just one day before it was scheduled to come before the City Council. Normally, if an application is pulled, the proponent has to wait a full year before resubmitting. But in this case, Wal-Mart asked that their cooling off period be cut in half.

Wal-Mart wanted the city to change the land from its current designation of single family, to a neighborhood business district. To apply for the neighborhood business zone, Wal-Mart had to eliminate a tire and lube center from the mix. City staff admitted that granting a waiver was a “rare occurrence.” But when the Planning Commission met, they voted unanimously to approve a “rare” waiver for Wal-Mart, allowing the company to proceed with their rezoning application. Corpus Christi planning staff said at the time that the retailer had not given them enough information to make a decision. “We need time to review and recommend and we’re frankly not convinced (the latest information from Wal-Mart is) adequate, but it’s at least a step in the right direction,” the city’s planning director told the Caller Times. But by February, 2008, plans for the Southside Supercenter had fallen apart, because the landowners announced that they were selling the property to the H.E.B. grocery chain. In the meantime, the second Wal-Mart project at the Parkdale Plaza, a 203,000 s.f. supercenter, ran into a landlord-tenant dispute. Dueling lawsuits were filed by the Parkdale Plaza owners and their tenants, the Sutherlands, a home improvement chain store in 13 states in the south, Midwest and Gulf Coast. The Sutherlands were sued for allowing their parking lot to deteriorate and become pitted. The Parkdale Plaza owners were sued by Sutherlands for violating an agreement not to allow a direct competitor to the home improvement store into the Plaza. Sutherlands said their lease prevents the landlord from allowing another prospective tenant to be “permitted to sell building materials and/or home improvement supplies and services.” Sutherlands wanted Wal-Mart to show that its product mix would not affect Sutherlands’ business and current lease. The Parkdale Plaza owners said the Sutherlands lawsuit was freezing progress on the Wal-Mart Supercenter and that Sutherlands needed to maintain its parking lot, or the company could face a termination of their lease.

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Posted by Al Norman on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 | Permalink

Sartell, MN. Wal-Mart Pays To Protect The Eagles

The city of Sartell, Minnesota has roughly 14,300 people. The city claims it is “the place you’ve been looking for.” For Wal-Mart Realty, that’s certainly the case. The community is located in Central Minnesota along the banks of the Mississippi River. Sartell describes itself as “a great community…experiencing growth and advancement in economic development and technology.” The city is trying to promote its quality of life as an attraction for new businesses. “Sartell offers quiet, tree-lined neighborhoods, a growing business sector, an exceptional education system, top-notch health care facilities and opportunities to grow - an ideal place to work and live. In fact, Sartell is one of Minnesota’s fastest growing communities and for good reason.” Sartell is just minutes away from downtown St. Cloud and about an hour from the Twin Cities. As city leaders say, “Sartell provides a combination of small town character and big city opportunity.” The city has no downtown, for historical reasons.

Sartell once had a “downtown” on the east side of the Mississippi along Highway 10. In the 1960’s Highway 10 was re-routed and greatly contributed to the demise of the downtown area. Then the construction of the new bridge over the Mississippi in the early 1980’s replaced the remaining businesses. Sartell’s relied on St. Cloud’s major retail center nearby, and as a result, the city never developed a traditional “downtown.” Today, Sartell residents have to drive 5 miles to the nearest Wal-Mart discount store in St. Cloud. For folks living in small town Minnesota, apparently a 5 mile trip to find cheap, Chinese products is just too much to ask. There are also four Wal-Mart supercenters within 40 miles of Sartell, but they might was well be in another country. So when Wal-Mart came knocking, city officials in Sartell gave the giant retailer the keys to the city. The city has approved a new combination Sam’s Club and Super Wal-Mart, which clearly will serve a much larger population than little Sartell. City officials made a deal with the giant retailer to underwrite the cost of a park and “eagle habitat.” On November 5, 2008, the Sartell Joint Planning Commission unanimously approved site plans for the Sam’s Club and Superstore, as part of a larger development called Epic Center, which sprawls over nearly 100 acres.

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Posted by Al Norman on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 | Permalink

NORTH CAROLINA SITE FIGHT: CONTROVERSY IN GREENVILLE

Possible Wal-Mart bringing controversy, possible jobs [WNCT-TV (N.C.)]

750 jobs could be coming to the east. The problem is there might not be enough room.

Tonight, Greenville’s Planning and Zoning Commission will vote on an amendment that could pave the way for a new Wal-Mart store.

Greenville Chief Planner Harry Hamilton tells me a site developer for Wal-Mart has been checking out this 60 to 80 acre site for about a year now.

The problem they are faced with now is that the land is divided into portions which only allow for eight to 10 acres of commercial development.

Wal-Mart requires at least 52. Without changes to the amendment, the lot will remain vacant.

Tonight, the city’s Planning and Zoning Committee will hear from the developer.

If the amendment is approved, work will begin next summer.

We’ll have more from the meeting and upset homeowners tonight at 11.

Also see: Council votes 4-2 to deny change to land-use plan [The Daily Reflector (N.C.)]