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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
In late January, the Select Board in Bennington, Vermont, voted unanimously to ban stores over 75,000 square feet and to require retail development projects larger than 30,000 square feet to pass a community impact review. Town officials said the measure was needed to ensure adequate review of the economic and community impacts of large-scale retail development, protect the viability of Bennington’s existing commercial areas, and maintain competition by preventing a single retailer from dominating the local market. … Read More
Nearly one-quarter of Wal-Mart’s 37,000 workers in Tennessee rely on Medicaid, according to state officials who released the figures at the request of the Chattanooga Times Free Press.The data show that Wal-Mart has more employees enrolled in TennCare, the state’s Medicaid program, than any other company. Other states have also found that Wal-Mart’s labor practices are placing a heavy burden on public assistance programs.… Read More
Independent business owners in Portland, Oregon, and Grand Rapids, Michigan, have launched a multi-year educational campaigns to persuade residents to "think local first" when shopping. "We’re looking to achieve a percentage change in behavior," said Paul Needham, a founding board member of the Sustainable Business Network of Portland (SBNP), which organized the buy-local initiative.… Read More
