Wal-Mart is attempting to skirt a size cap law in Calvert County, Maryland, by erecting two side-by-side stores. The law limits stores in the town of Dunkirk to no more than 75,000 square feet. Wal-Mart has proposed a 74,998-square-foot store adjacent to a 22,689-square-foot garden center.… Read More
Our response to the destructive force of mega-corporations like Wal-Mart ought to involve much more than adopting regulations that "soften the blows" and "slow the pace of change," as Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor under Clinton, argued in a recent New York Times op-ed entitled Don’t Blame Wal-Mart. Yes, we most certainly should raise the minimum wage and require companies to offer employees affordable health insurance, as Reich suggests. … Read More
Arizona Chain Reaction (AZCR), a coalition of nearly 600 independent businesses, has launched a campaign of phone calls and emails to urge state lawmakers to enact legislation that would curtail cities’ ability to offer tax breaks and subsidies to chain retail developments. “We’ve got bidding wars going on among cities out here,” said Kimber Lanning, owner of Stinkweeds, a music store in Tempe, and founding member of AZCR. … Read More
Responding to intense public pressure, developers in a three-way competition to redevelop a site on the east side of Portland, Oregon, have dropped plans to include big-box retail in their projects. The Portland Development Commission has been considering proposals to redevelop five city blocks at the base of the Burnside Bridgehead east of the Willamette River.… Read More
Massachusetts spent more than $52 million last year providing healthcare coverage to employees of some of the state’s largest companies, including numerous chain retailers like Wal-Mart, Dunkin Donuts, Stop & Shop, CVS, Home Depot, and Target. … Read More
Wal-Mart has announced that it will close a Quebec store where workers recently opted to unionize. … Read More
“That giant sucking sound you hear coming from the edge of town is the sound of money being taken out of your community by big-box stores,” said Montana Senator Ken Toole, who has introduced a bill that would levy a tax on the state’s big-box stores. The bill would impose a progressive tax on stores with more than $20 million in annual sales. Revenue of $20 to $30 million would be taxed at 1 percent. The tax would rise to 1.5 percent for revenue in excess of $30 million and 2 percent for any revenue over $40 million.… Read More
By now, many community leaders recognize that when chain retail sprawls unchecked, main street loses, not just jobs and businesses, but the very essence of what makes the district unique. Small, independent businesses CAN prosper, however, when planners use the right tools to manage economic growth in the region. This month, we report on some of the most promising new regulatory strategies available. … Read More
The Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen or LO) has announced that all of its pension funds will sell their shares of Wal-Mart stock in opposition to the "Walmartization" of wages and working conditions worldwide. "As the company has such a bad reputation, and a directly anti-human corporate philosophy, we see no other alternative than to disqualify Wal-Mart as an object for ethically responsible investment," said Svend Sorensen, president of one LO-affiliated pension fund.… Read More
