KENTUCKY SITE FIGHT: HUNDREDS ATTEND WAL-MART MEETING
Hundreds attend proposed Florence Wal-Mart meeting [WCPO-9 (Ohio)]
Hundreds of people showed up Wednesday night to see what Wal-Mart has planned for a busy intersection in Florence.
Residents’ biggest concern about the proposed Wal-Mart at U.S. 42 and Weaver Road is traffic.The store is planned on the site of an old warehouse that burned down.
Wal-Mart says it has a plan to deal with traffic and plans an entrance similar to the Super-Wal-Mart on Houston Road.
As far as building so close to another store, Wal-Mart says the action has been successful in other communities.
Posted by Beth Gostanian on Thursday, August 02 | 0 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart Shoots Itself in the Gas
Last we checked, Wal-Mart executives were blaming everything but the kitchen sink on high gas prices. Three Oklahoma consumers are claiming that the retailer may have brought those woes upon itself…
Class Action Sought on Fuel Claim [CNBC]
Three Oklahoma County consumers are seeking class-action status on a lawsuit that claims they’ve been overcharged for gasoline because it was stored at hotter than usual temperatures.
The lawsuit claims 13 retailers and oil companies kept gasoline at temperatures higher than the petroleum industry standard of 60 degrees Fahrenheit, causing the fuel to expand and provide less energy per gallon.
“The sellers of hot motor fuel are able to pocket these billions of additional dollars in temperature-inflated profits merely because the fuel they are selling is warmer than 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and customers are ignorant of the truth,” the lawsuit claims.
Defendants in the lawsuit include 7-Eleven Inc., Albertson’s LLC, ConocoPhillips Co., Shell Oil Co., Texaco Refining and Marketing Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Thursday, July 26 | 3 comments | Permalink
New Wal-Mart Plan Advances
New Plan for Wal-Mart Advances [Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World]
It is not about Wal-Mart.
That was the message the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission delivered Monday night as it unanimously agreed to recommend that the City Commission approve plans for a new Wal-Mart and four other retail buildings on the northwest corner of Sixth Street and Wakarusa Drive.
Commissioners heard about an hour’s worth of public comment — largely against the project — but were not swayed by it because much of it focused on whether Wal-Mart was a quality retailer. Planning commissioners said their role was to determine land use issues, not whether the community needs a specific retailer in town.
“Nobody is forced to buy there and no one is forced to work there,” Planning Commissioner Tom Jennings said. “We act like it is going to be indentured servitude out there. If no one wants to go into the front door or the back door, it won’t be there long.”
The issue now goes to city commissioners, who are expected to discuss the project at their Aug. 7 meeting.
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Posted by Corey Himrod on Tuesday, July 24 | 0 comments | Permalink
Independent America: Life Without the Big Box
In 2005, two reporters set out to drive across America in search of Mom-and-Pop stores. Unlike those who have gone before them, this dynamic duo avoided Wal-Marts, chain hotels and side-of-the-road fast food joints in hopes of gaining a better understanding of how Small Town America is reacting to changing economic situations, and what people are doing about it.
From YouTube:
Visit http://www.independentamerica.net/ for more, and be sure to catch the movie on the Sundance Channel on July 30th.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, July 16 | 0 comments | Permalink
MONTANA SITE FIGHT: ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS HALT WMT PLANS
Wal-Mart may be shopping for new location [Ravalli Republic (Mont.)]
Officials from the Wal-Mart corporation may be shopping for another building site other than their original proposed site north of Hamilton.
The corporation planned to construct a 150,000-square-foot store on 21 acres just north of Hamilton next to Donaldson Brothers Ready Mix Inc.
Plans to build at that site might be changing, according to Wal-Mart officials and their consultants.
In June, according to e-mail’s between Wal-Mart’s consultants and Montana Department of Environmental Quality officials, consultants for the corporation hinted that they may be looking at a different site.
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Posted by Beth Gostanian on Tuesday, July 03 | 1 comments | Permalink
MD Law Encourages Big Box Stores To Go Solar
Among the 191 new state laws that take effect in the state of Maryland today, the effects of one may not be seen for a few years. Make no mistake, however. Its sponsor believes the law could serve as a national model and could reduce the cost of electricity, as traditional energy sources such as coal and natural gas become more expensive.
Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed Senate Bill 595, which modifies the state’s renewable energy requirement to include a minimum percentage of solar power, starting at 0.005 percent of retail electricity sales in 2008 and increasing to 2 percent of electricity sales by 2022. The law is designed to encourage the use of solar panels by big box stores such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot.
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Posted by Corey Himrod on Monday, July 02 | 5 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart Watch Report: “Work at Your Own Risk”
Wal-Mart Watch today released a new report on the retail giant’s workers’ inadequate workers’ compensation program that exposes serious risks to both its workers and the public. The report, titled “Work At Your Own Risk,” highlights ways Wal-Mart puts the health of their employees as risk while shifting the burden of caring for its on-the-job injured employees onto the taxpayer. It explains how Wal-Mart, the United States’ largest private employer, has a track record of difficulty in complying with state workers’ compensation laws, while putting its employees’ health in jeopardy. The study examines seven state case studies that have ramifications for the company’s operations in all 50 states. Key examples include:
- In 2001, the State of Washington Department of Labor and Industries made the unprecedented move of threatening to seize control of Wal-Mart’s entire injured worker program, after the company showed itself “unwilling or unable to manage its workers’ compensation program as required by law.” A decertification case ultimately was settled, but Wal-Mart is prohibited from self-administering its workers’ compensation program claims in Washington until 2010.
- In 2004, Maine amended the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act and began tracking workers’ compensation payments and claims challenges, finding Wal-Mart’s challenging of workers’ compensation claims was “off the charts.”
- Class action was filed in 2007 in Oklahoma for retaliation against employees who filed workers’ compensation claims. The charges include cutting hours, transferring employees to less desirable positions, and termination. There are over 30,000 people employed by Wal-Mart in Oklahoma.
- Individual stories reflect a policy, whether formal or informal, of fighting claims regardless of validity, and delaying payments as long as possible. The result is an increase in the number of employees forced onto federal and state programs to pay for treatment and subsidize lost wages, effectively shifting the cost of compensation workers away from Wal-Mart and onto taxpayers.
Click here to read the full report.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Thursday, June 28 | 19 comments | Permalink
OHIO SITE FIGHT: DEVELOPMENT GROWS
Development grows surrounding Wal-Mart in Brimfield [Akron Beacon Journal]
Don’t be surprised to spot a thin layer of sawdust hovering over Brimfield Township.
Cascades of Brimfield—a 113-acre development that promises to turn the rural Portage County burb into a residential and retail mecca—is unfolding on schedule.
Construction is well under way on a new Lowe’s home improvement center, which is expected to open in time for the Christmas season.
It will join the nine-month-old Wal-Mart Supercenter, Applebee’s and Home Savings Bank of Youngstown, the vanguard of a retail and commercial zone that will eventually swell to 600,000 square feet. The developer is 3D Real Estate Partners Inc. from Independence.
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Posted by Beth Gostanian on Wednesday, June 20 | 0 comments | Permalink
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