UTAH SITE FIGHT: DISCUSSION CONTINUES IN SALT LAKE CITY
Wrong on Wal-Mart [Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)]
Wal-Mart has muscled its way into community after community, leaving the remains of locally owned businesses in its wake. So it comes as a shock to me that I actually support Wal-Mart’s proposal to build a new store on Parley’s Way. I’m at a loss as to why the Salt Lake City Planning Commission would rather see a remodel of the old structure rather than a new energy-efficient building ("Rezoning request on track for denial,” Tribune, Sept. 12). After all, the mega-retailer is coming. Traffic is coming. Why not improve the project? It’s not like the current building is an example of rare architecture deserving historical protected status, or that the present site is a beacon of modern city planning.
In a last-minute effort to use a Kmart gift card, I made a rare trip to the site, and thought: “This Kmart is the only place that can make Wal-Mart look classy.”
Bert Ankrom
Salt Lake City
Posted by Luke West on Thursday, September 18 | 0 comments | Permalink
ARIZONA SITE FIGHT: MEETING POSTPONED
Wal-Mart meeting postponed until Nov. 5 [Arizona Republic]
A shopping center zoning case that mobilized south Chandler neighbors against Wal-Mart will be postponed until Nov. 5, but the developer has already posted new signs on the property promoting the land as potential industrial site.
Diversified Partners’ request to zone 30 acres at Arizona Avenue and Riggs Road for a shopping center was supposed to have gone to the Planning and Zoning Commission on Wednesday, but on Monday the developer’s attorney requested a delay so he can continue working with residents, said planner Jodie Novak.
Kirk Sibley, leader of Riggs Residents for Retail Diversity, said the group met with Diversified’s attorney, David Cisiewski, last weekend and described the session as “productive.” Although Diversified has not named an anchor tenant for the project, residents have said they oppose it because it appears to be designed for Wal-Mart.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Luke West on Wednesday, September 17 | 0 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart Watch Weekly Update For Elected Officials 9/16/2008
Check out this week’s issue of the Wal-Mart Watch Weekly Update for Elected Officials – a compilation of Wal-Mart news from across the country and beyond.
This week’s issue begins with reports from two states that Wal-Mart is undercutting high school activity and athletic fundraising by selling merchandise bearing the logos of local high schools. In both cases, the schools in question were never contacted by Wal-Mart about whether sales of the items would hurt the school’s efforts to raise funds.
In addition, you’ll find Time and The New York Times delving into the topic of Wal-Mart moms, and the role they’ll play in the November election. Plus, check out our section on Wal-Mart and the environment to find out more about the unethical behavior of Wal-Mart’s sustainable mining supplier, and from California read about how the retail giant fought (unsuccessfully) a port-truck plan that would require tougher environmental and security standards.
And finally, check out our “Stateside” and “Wal-Mart International” sections to find out what’s going on with Wal-Mart around the country and across the globe.
Wal-Mart Watch Weekly Update for Elected Officials
Posted by Corey Himrod on Tuesday, September 16 | 5 comments | Permalink
Relief for diabetic customers: Check. Diabetic employees? Not so much.
In a press release distributed this morning, Wal-Mart has announced that it is “once again driving unnecessary health care costs out of the system and passing the savings along to its customers through the pharmacy aisles.”
How is it doing it this time? By offering exclusive-to-Wal-Mart diabetes management products for $9 each at all Wal-Mart pharmacies nationwide. That, might I say, is quite excellent actually. I myself don’t have - and don’t have immediate family members who have - diabetes. But I’ve known and worked with people who do, and one thing an individual with diabetes shouldn’t have to worry about is the cost of testing and treatment supplies, which I could imagine can get quite expensive.
No, the problem with this story isn’t in what Wal-Mart is announcing. It is, instead, the way in which Wal-Mart has treated its own employees who have diabetes. Helping the masses might seem a little nicer if the company treated its own diabetic employees with slightly more compassion and understanding.
The gold standard of what I’m talking about is the story of Stephen Orr. Orr worked as a pharmacist at a Nebraska Wal-Mart. Orr has Type 1 diabetes, a condition in which the body does not produce insulin, a hormone needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into the energy needed for daily life. As a result, Orr must administer insulin to himself several times each day. For a while, management allowed him to, you know, do the things he needed to do over the course of a day to stay alive...like actually take a lunch break. Eventually though, business and customer traffic forced Wal-Mart - instead of hiring an additional pharmacist - to inform Orr he could no longer take a break to eat and rest. In fact, he was told to eat behind the pharmacy counter if and when store traffic slowed. If you can’t guess what happened, I’ll tell you - Orr’s blood glucose levels dropped severely on multiple occasions, causing him to experience symptoms of hypoglycemia, which can include dizziness or lightheadedness, confusion, difficulty speaking, and feeling anxious or weak. Wal-Mart still refused to accommodate him, and his manager eventually fired him, explicitly telling him it was because of his diabetes.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Corey Himrod on Tuesday, September 16 | 0 comments | Permalink
ARIZONA SITE FIGHT: COUNCILMAN SIDES WITH WAL-MART PROTESTERS
Councilmen, candidate side with Wal-Mart protesters [Arizona Republic]
The years-long battle over whether Wal-Mart will go into a planned Chandler shopping center at Riggs Road and Arizona Avenue took an unusual turn this week.
Three Chandler city councilmen and a council candidate showed up at a gathering of about 40 neighborhood opponents in Basha Library Wednesday night to voice their personal objections to the project - even though they could potentially have to vote on it in the near future. Two even offered the group tips on how to fight the development.
Councilmen Matt Orlando, Bob Caccamo and Kevin Hartke and candidate Rick Heumann said they are opposed to the plan’s design and location - but stressed that the city can’t discriminate against Wal-Mart. Orlando and Heumann offered suggestions on terminology the critics should use, who to contact with their objections and which parts of the proposal they could challenge.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Luke West on Friday, September 12 | 0 comments | Permalink
UTAH SITE FIGHT: SUGAR HOUSE WAL-MART ON TRACK FOR DENIAL
Wal-Mart rezoning request on track for denial [Salt Lake Tribune]
Planners and the public piled on.
One hundred against one in the crowd. And 7-0 from the Planning Commission dais.
But if Wal-Mart thinks Wednesday’s public rebuke was a low point, it better get ready to duck again. Early signs suggest the Salt Lake City Council also will reject a rezoning request - meaning no new supercenter at 2705 E. Parleys Way.
“We’re counting votes, and I think we’re there,” Councilman Soren Simonsen said Thursday, predicting the council will put its negative stamp on the project in November or December.
Also see:Planning Commission denies Wal-Mart request [KSL-TV (Utah)] and Planning Commission Reccomends No on Wal-Mart Re-Zone [KCPW (Utah)].
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Luke West on Friday, September 12 | 0 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart in the ‘hot seat’
Remember back in June, when the FDA warned consumers about eating certain kinds of tomatoes coming out of Mexico due to potential salmonella contamination? And then expanded that warning to include certain peppers as well? All vendors of these products, including Wal-Mart were to halt the sale of such items.
Cheryl Grubbs is filing suit against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc, alleging that her husband, Brian Grubbs came close to death after eating several jalapeno peppers that were purchased at a Wal-Mart and tainted with salmonella in an article published today in LawyersandSettlements.com.
[An earlier version of this blog post mentioned that the FDA recall in question occured on June 25, 2008. This was incorrect: we apologize for the mistake.]
Tomato-Pepper Salmonella: Why the Grubbs are Suing Wal-Mart
Dolores, CO: “Truckloads of contaminated jalapenos were turned back at the border before we bought them at Wal-Mart,” says Cheryl Grubbs, “so why did Wal-Mart still have them in their store?” Her husband, Brian Grubbs, almost died from the tomato/pepper salmonella outbreak, and Cheryl is furious because his illness could have been avoided.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Luke West on Thursday, September 11 | 31 comments | Permalink
UTAH SITE FIGHT: SALT LAKE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION REJECTS WAL-MART PLAN
SLC’s Planning Commission says no to Wal-Mart [Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)]
The country’s corporate behemoth took it on the chin in Salt Lake City.
By unanimous vote, the Planning Commission issued a negative recommendation for a zoning change Wednesday that may kill Wal-Mart’s chances of erecting a new 120,000-square-foot supercenter at the mouth of Parleys Canyon.
The final decision now falls on the City Council, which could vote later this fall.
A crowd of nearly 100 erupted after the vote, some holding their fists in the air.
“We’re psyched,” said Jill Burke, with Foothill Development Watch. “That shows you the role community councils play.”
Karianne Fallow, a Wal-Mart spokeswomen, said she was surprised more of the mega-retailers supporters failed to show.
“We’ve got our remodel plans,” she said. “If we’re denied at the City Council, we’ll go forward with our remodel.”
Also see: Salt Lake City, UT. Planning Commission Recommends No Rezoning For Wal-Mart [Battle-Mart Blog]
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Luke West on Thursday, September 11 | 0 comments | Permalink
View Wal-Mart Watch's videos on YouTube