Illinois Site Fight: Wal-Mart Proposal Must Go to a Vote
ity says Chatham Wal-Mart requires council vote [Chicago Sun-Times]
The Daley administration has rejected a developer’s request for administrative approval to build Chicago’s second Wal-Mart and first super-center that sells groceries.
The decision by Planning and Development Commissioner Arnold Randall means the City Council may have no choice but to re-live the political donnybrook that gave birth to the vetoed big-box minimum wage ordinance.
“If Wal-Mart and the developer would like to put this thing to a vote, I would be more than willing to start the lobbying. . . . I assume if there was some type of ordinance, they could not deny it,” said Ald. Howard Brookins (21st), whose ward includes the Chatham Marketplace at 83rd and Stewart.
But, Brookins said, “I’m not gonna be out there on a limb if that’s not something the developer or Wal-Mart wants to go through. I would hate to create additional enemies in an exercise in futility.”
Brookins accused Mayor Daley of ducking the issue to avoid alienating unions that spent millions to elect a City Council more independent of the mayor.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, March 18 | 0 comments | Permalink
Illinois Site Fight: Wal-Mart Hits Obstacles in Chicago
2nd Wal-Mart in city unlikely [Chicago Tribune]
The likelihood that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will open its second store within Chicago city limits just got smaller.
The city of Chicago declined a request to allow the world’s largest retailer to build a store at the 50-acre Chatham Market on the South Side, a former steel plant site that the discount chain has been eyeing for at least four years.
Arnold Randall, commissioner for Chicago’s Department of Planning and Development, notified the project’s developer, Archon Group LP, a unit of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., on Friday that he would not let the project move forward, according to a copy of the letter obtained by the Chicago Tribune.
The project has been in a political quagmire dating back to 2005, as labor unions, gunning for better pay and working conditions for Wal-Mart workers, fight to keep the retailer from expanding into urban markets, one of the few areas the Bentonville, Ark.-based giant has yet to enter in any big way.
City approval is required before Wal-Mart can build on the site because of some unusual events.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, March 18 | 0 comments | Permalink
Sheboygan, WI. Op-ed: Wal-Mart’s Not as Good as it Seems
Letters: Not everyone is happy new Wal-Mart is open [Sheboygan Press (Wisc.)]
We are happy that Linda Weber of the Town of Sheboygan, quoted on the front page of the Saturday, March 8 Sheboygan Press is so thrilled with Wal- Mart in her neighborhood.
Unfortunately she is not the only Linda Weber in the Town of Sheboygan. This Weber family is not as thrilled.
We are not happy with the added traffic on county Highway J, the purchasing practices of Wal-Mart, or the fact that three Wal-Mart Supercenters in the county seems to be excessive.
Frankly we avoid Wal-Mart like the plague.
LINDA and TOM WEBER
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, March 11 | 0 comments | Permalink
Aledo, IL. Wal-Mart Pulls Out
Wal-Mart scraps plans for Aledo super center [The Register-Mail (Ill.)]
Wal-Mart has scrapped plans for a super center in Aledo.
The Arkansas-based retailer announced last March it wanted to build a 100,000 square foot facility in Aledo, which would have included a grocery store. However, Wal-Mart is cutting back on the number of new stores it will open, and the Aledo project is now off the table.
“In May of 2007 we made a statement we would be curtailing our growth moving from about 300 stores a year to 170,” said company spokesman Roderick Scott. “We re-evaluated every project that we were working on and in doing that we realized that we’re going to postpone the Aledo store indefinitely.”
The new store was to be built on the east edge of Aledo along Illinois 17, just east of Boney’s Farm Store.
“Right now we don’t have any plans,” Scott said. “I don’t want to give you any false hope. We’re not bringing a super center to Aledo.
Wal-Mart will continue to operate its 40,000 square foot facility in Aledo, which opened in July 1985.
“We have a great store and really enjoy our connection and our work in Aledo,” Scott said.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, February 25 | 0 comments | Permalink
Big Box Worries Come Back to Chicago
Chicago has a long, proud history of fighting Wal-Mart. A brief respite from years of fighting the retailer ended this week when news of more votes on Wal-Mart issues came to the fore. From the Chicago Sun-Times:
Planner meets with Wal-Mart officials
Planning and Development Commissioner Arnold Randall said today he’s been meeting with Wal-Mart and union leaders to try and broker an agreement that might head off a repeat of the battle that gave birth to the vetoed big box minimum wage ordinance.
Randall disclosed his behind-the-scenes efforts at shuttle diplomacy one day after Ald. Howard Brookins (21st) said he’d been told by top mayoral aides that Mayor Daley wants another City Council vote before approving construction of a Chatham Wal-Mart at 83rd and Stewart.
Technically, all that’s needed for developers to break ground on Chicago’s second Wal-Mart and first super-center that sells groceries is administrative sign-off from Randall.
Politically, it’s another story.
After the jump, more coverage from the Sun-Times on Chicago’s Wal-Mart saga.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, February 22 | 7 comments | Permalink
Aledo, IL. Local Merchants “Happy” Wal-Mart Plan Is Suspended
Mayor Lee A. Celske describes Aledo, Illinois as “a quiet, friendly and safe rural community of 3,620 people that is a wonderful place to live and raise a family.” Located in western Illinois, Aledo is 35 minutes south of the “quad cities” of Rock Island, Moline, Davenport, and Bettendorf. The city has had a Wal-Mart discount store on SE 5th Street for 23 years, but the nearest supercenters are 23 miles away in Muscatine, Iowa, and 24 miles in Moline.
Roughly a year ago, Wal-Mart announced that it was going to expand its Aledo store into a supercenter. But this week, Quad Cities Online reports that Wal-Mart has suspended its expansion plans. This sudden announcement is one of about 130 supercenter projects nationwide that Wal-Mart has decided to forego. The company said it was going to build a 99,000 s.f. building to replace its 40,000 s.f. discount store, which opened in 1985. A Wal-Mart spokesman told Quad Cities that the retailer was cutting back its new superstore projects from 300 to 170. “The Aledo project was one of those projects,” he said.
Instead, Wal-Mart is reinvesting in its existing stores to get a better return for the company’s shareholders, the spokesman said. Aledo’s administrator admitted to the media that he had been informed verbally that Wal-Mart will not be building a new store in the community. “It is disappointing to receive this news, as the future Wal-Mart represented a tremendous economic opportunity for Aledo and the region,” the Administrator said. “There was nothing about the site, the Aledo community, or its officials that caused Wal-Mart to change its mind. It was a business decision in response to a poor economy. It is ironic that Wal-Mart should choose to concentrate on urban stores when its origins and success have been built upon rural areas. We wish Wal-Mart continued success and invite them to re-evaluate their decision. Aledo has much to offer.”
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Posted by Al Norman on Friday, February 22 | 0 comments | Permalink
Chicago, IL. Big Box Issue Returns
Could aldermen face another big-box fight? [Chicago Sun-Times]
The political hot potato that gave birth to the vetoed big-box minimum-wage ordinance is back in the City Council’s lap: Mayor Daley wants aldermen to vote again before approving Chicago’s second Wal-Mart and first supercenter that sells groceries, an alderman said Wednesday.
Technically, all that’s needed for Wal-Mart to break ground at 83rd and Stewart is an administrative sign-off by Planning and Development Commissioner Arnold Randall.
Politically, it’s another story. Ald. Howard Brookins (21st) said the Mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs informed him Daley is determined not to take the heat alone.
“I’ve been told by people in IGA that they want to do some type of vote. My retort was, what type of vote?” Brookins said.
“It’s passing the buck. The authority and all of the zoning approvals are there. All the commissioner has to do is OK it. Nothing else needs to happen. The consensus among aldermen is that they don’t want to vote. . . . Nobody wants to go through that again.”
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Thursday, February 21 | 0 comments | Permalink
Waukesha, WI. Mayor Says Wal-Mart’s Not Dead, Just In Flux
Waukesha, Wisconsin has always been a town that takes good care of its big box stores. On April 13, 2000, Sprawl-Busters reported that federal and state taxpayers were going to help shoppers in Waukesha travel to and from Wal-Mart. This generous offer of corporate welfare to Wal-Mart was expected to amount to as much as $211,191.
According to the Waukesha Metro Transit Director, stores like Wal-Mart had been asking for what amounts to a taxpayer’s subsidy to help them get shoppers and workers to their distant locations. “Fast food restaurants, Wal-Mart--they’ve all at one time or another called and said ‘Please provide more bus service.” said the Transit official. (The WMT transit company happens to be the Wall St. trading symbol for Wal-Mart, but the connection is purely coincidental). The tax-supported bus route goes by the Wal-Mart, which is located outside of the commercial center along Route 164. But now that bus route will have to be changed---or else go by a dead store.
For months, Waukesha officials have been planning for a new Wal-Mart supercenter near Highway 59. But rumors have been circulating in the press that the supercenter project may be dead—another victim of Wal-Mart’s cutback in superstore growth plans.
About six months ago, Wal-Mart announced that it was proposing a new supercenter to open in the summer of 2009, and their existing discount store near Highway 164 would close. Wal-Mart would not confirm the rumor that their supercenter project was now glue, but would only say that the retailer was still negotiating with Heartland Development Group of Milwaukee. Waukesha Mayor Larry Nelson tried to prepare his constituents for the worst. “I wouldn’t say the project is dead,” the Mayor told Greater Milwaukee Today. “I would say it’s in flux.” The Mayor said he hopes to know more within a couple of weeks. “I’m still hopeful it can be worked out.”
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Posted by Al Norman on Wednesday, February 20 | 0 comments | Permalink
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