Weekly Update for Elected Officials: Oct. 10, 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 focuses on Wal-Mart and the current economic crisis. You’ll find stories on how Americans are shifting to thrift stores in order to save money, and whether September’s retail sales figures reflect a downturn in consumer spending. You’ll also find an article from CNN Money discussing whether the state of the economy will affect Wal-Mart’s hiring, especially with the holiday season coming up.
In addition to the economy, you’ll find stories on Wal-Mart’s move to small stores. Are Wal-Mart’s Marketside Stores the wave of the future? And in health care news, Wal-Mart is rolling out electronic personal health records to all of its employees, and has announced changes to its health plan for 2009.
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 [October 10, 2008]
Posted by Corey Himrod on Friday, October 10 | 0 comments | Permalink
CALIFORNIA SITE FIGHT: MORE ON WAL-MART’S ENVIRONMENTAL REJECTION IN LODI
Lodi Planning Commission rejects Wal-Mart environmental report [The Record (Calif.)]
LODI – The Lodi Planning Commission voted 5-1 Wednesday night against certifying an Environmental Impact Report for a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter in West Lodi.
Community Development Director Rad Bartlam recommended approval of the EIR, saying it meets all the city’s specifications, but that wasn’t enough for commissioners who wanted to see further analysis on how a Supercenter could affect small businesses in Lodi, especially during tough economic times.
“My main concern is blight in existing buildings,” said Commissioner Randall Heinitz, who said he thinks a Supercenter that sells groceries could knock smaller grocers out of business, leaving storefronts vacant.
Commissioner Bill Cummins was the lone vote in favor of the project. Commissioner Tim Mattheis recused himself because his wife is an attorney for a group opposing Wal-Mart.
The Carnegie Forum was filled to its capacity with people in favor of, and in opposition of a Lodi Supercenter being built to replace the giant retailer’s current location on Kettleman Lane.
Posted by Luke West on Friday, October 10 | 0 comments | Permalink
CALIFORNIA SITE FIGHT: FORUM ON BIG BOX BAN IN ATASCADERO NEXT WEEK
In June, the Atascadero City Council decided to put a measure on the ballot asking voters to cap the square footage of big box stores. Measure D-08 would also cap grocery store space. The measure is also referred to as the “Shield Initiative.”
“It would stop the Wal-Mart that’s currently proposed, which is a Supercenter,” said Tom Comar, spokesperson for Oppose Wal-Mart and Vote Yes on Measure D-08.
“I think Atascadero needs to be more business-friendly to new businesses that need to come to our area to stimulate business,” said Atascadero business owner Kelly Long, a Wal-Mart supporter.
“Measure D-08 will cap the size of a big box store - 150,000 square feet - and stop a Supercenter, which has a grocery component. It doesn’t stop a Wal-Mart department store from coming in,” added Comar.
Also see: Letter: Welcome Wal-Mart [New Times (Calif.)]
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Luke West on Friday, October 10 | 0 comments | Permalink
CALIFORNIA SITE FIGHT: LODI PLANNING COMMISSION REJECTS WAL-MART’S ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT
High tension at Lodi Wal-Mart meeting [Lodi News (Calif.)]
Tensions ran high at a meeting over five years in the making Wednesday night. When all was finished, the Wal-Mart corporation suffered a loss as the Lodi Planning Commission voted 5 to 1 (with commission member Tim Mattheis recusing himself) to deny the certification of the Final Revised Environmental Impact Report of the retail giant’s proposed Supercenter project.
Carnegie Forum was the scene of passionate discourse as a packed room of more than 100 people argued the pros and cons of the project. Most speaking to the Planning Commission voiced a dislike for Wal-Mart’s Supercenter proposal, with a smattering of those in favor of the project.
With the denial of the FREIR, the Wal-Mart project will more than likely face an appeal that would then take the report to the Lodi City Council for review.
The commission was presented with the revised impact report by Community Development Director Rad Bartlam and city staff with a recommendation to certify the EIR, basically giving the project a “go” status. The Wal-Mart Supercenter, which would essentially develop 40 acres on the southwest corner of Lower Sacramento Road and Kettleman Lane, would occupy 340,000 square feet. Twelve additional business spaces would occupy the remaining areas.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Luke West on Thursday, October 09 | 0 comments | Permalink
CALIFORNIA SITE FIGHT: LEGAL VICTORY IN SANTA ROSA
Judge stops SR Wal-Mart project [Press Democrat (Calif.)]
A Sonoma County judge has overturned Santa Rosa’s approval of a Wal-Mart store planned for southwest Santa Rosa, concluding an environmental study of the project is flawed.
The decision by Superior Court Judge Robert Boyd will delay the project indefinitely, said William Kopper, attorney for a coalition of residents and workers opposed to the retail center.
The city and Wal-Mart will have to prepare a new environmental impact report before the development can move forward, Kopper said.
“They would have to be much more specific,” Kopper said.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Luke West on Thursday, October 09 | 0 comments | Permalink
CALIFORNIA SITE FIGHT: WAL-MART MAKES ITS CASE IN LODI
Wal-Mart tries again in Lodi [The Record (Calif.)]
LODI - It’s not déjà vu.
After a protracted legal battle and months of speculation, studies and relative quiet, Wal-Mart representatives today will be back in familiar and not always friendly territory: making a case for a bigger retail center in Lodi before city planners and protesters.
The Supercenter project, approved three years ago but later shot down in court, calls for a 226,441-square-foot retail and grocery store at the southwest corner of Lower Sacramento Road and Kettleman Lane.
A revived project has been on hold since the spring. As the retail giant slowed growth of its Supercenters across the country, Wal-Mart representatives said the worsening economy forced executives to evaluate whether to continue pursuing the Lodi project. The discount chain announced in August that it would proceed.
Also see: Lodi, CA. Wal-Mart Willing To Pay Fee To Help Restore Downtown [Battle-Mart Blog]
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Luke West on Wednesday, October 08 | 0 comments | Permalink
CALIFORNIA SITE FIGHT: TRACY RESIDENTS SPEAKING OUT ABOUT WAL-MART’S LABOR PRACTICES
Letter: No to Wal-Mart [Tracy Press (Calif.)]
EDITOR,
In response to Melanie Mulford’s letter (Saturday, Your Voice) about the Wal-Mart supercenter, if you can no longer afford to shop at Safeway, there are other less expensive options for shopping here in Tracy.
I am not opposed to having a way to make my grocery money go farther, but not at the expense of the employees exploited by Wal-Mart. This is not a mom-and-pop business that cannot offer benefits or better wages. This is a massive giant that contributes to the problems of the working poor.
Wal-Mart is capable of contributing in a huge way to the quality of the lives of its employees and does not.
I am guessing that Wal-Mart employees can’t afford to shop at Safeway, either.
Posted by Luke West on Wednesday, October 08 | 0 comments | Permalink
Lodi, CA. Wal-Mart Willing To Pay Fee To Help Restore Downtown
Wal-Mart is getting desperate in Lodi, California. They have agreed not to leave an existing store empty, and are willing to pay a hefty fee to the city to help repair some of the damage their proposed superstore will do to other merchants in the downtown.
On July 27, 2008, Sprawl-Busters reported that Wal-Mart insisted its proposal for a new supercenter in Lodi was not stuck. But after six years of waiting---who can blame residents for wondering why Wal-Mart keeps trying to have its way? After six years, Wal-Mart has yet to begin work on its proposed supercenter. On February 16, 2007, a San Joaquin County judge overturned the city of Lodi’s approval of a Wal-Mart Supercenter. The judge ruled that the company’s environmental impact report (EIR) failed to take into account the impact of other Wal-Mart stores and energy consumption.
In response to a lawsuit filed by Attorney Steve Herum and the group Lodi First in March, 2005, the judge ruled that the city’s EIR left out how the new supercenter would affect Lodi, given the fact that there are already two other Wal-Mart supercenters nearby. This Wal-Mart project was originally proposed in September of 2002, but was not approved until February of 2005 on a 3-1 vote of the City Council. After the judge’s ruling, Lodi officials decided to charge Wal-Mart and its developer, Darryl Browman, a ‘big box’ development fee, which would run $4.50 per square foot, to offset losses that downtown businesses could face if the 226,868 s.f. supercenter opens.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Al Norman on Wednesday, October 08 | 0 comments | Permalink
View Wal-Mart Watch's videos on YouTube