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walmart subsidy watch.org

WALMART ALERT


Wal-Mart's Healthcare Cost To Taxpayers By State


wakeupwalmart.com

 
walmartwatch.com

sprawl-busters.com

walmartworkersrights.org

warnwalmart.org

walmartwork.org

walmartsurvivors.com

indiafdiwatch.org

lawmall.com/wal-mart

livingeconomies.org

amiba.net

newrules.org

«
VIDEOS


Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices

(walmartmovie.com)

Independent America:
The Two Lane Search
for Mom & Pop
(independentamerica.net)

Big Box Mart
(jibjab.com

Garth Brooks Parody (walmartworkersrights.org)

"Is Wal-Mart Good for America?"
Frontline, PBS Video,
www.pbs.org

The Labor Video Project Fighting Wal-Martization

«
BOOKS

The Case Against Wal-Mart
By Al Norman Raphel Marketing ruth@raphael.com:

Wal-Mart: The Face Of Twenty-First Century Capitalism
Edited By Nelson Lichtenstein
The New Press www.thenewpress.com

The Great Risk Shift:
The Assault on American Jobs, Families, Health Care and Retirement
By Jacob S. Hacker
Oxford University Press www.oup.com

War On The Middle Class:
How the Government, Big Business, and Special Interest Groups Are Waging War on the American Dream and How to Fight Back
By Lou Dobbs Viking,
a member of Penguin Group www.penguin.com

Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age
By Allison H. Fine Jossey-Bass www.joseybass.com:

Big-Box Swindle:
The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses
By Stacy Mitchell,
www.beacon.org
 www.newrules.org

Wal-Mart: The Face Of the Twenty-First-Century Capitalism Edited by Nelson Lichtenstein 
by The New Press www.thenewpress.com

The Bully Of Bentonville
How the high cost of Wal-Mart's Everyday Low Prices is Hurting America
By Anthony Bianco
by Doubleday  specialmarkets@randomhouse.com

How Wal-Mart Is Destroying America (and the World),
By Bill Quinn,
www.tenspeed.com

The United States of
Wal-Mart,
By John Dicker,
www.penguin.com

 Slam-Dunking Wal-Mart,
By Al Norman,
www.sprawl-busters.com

Nickel and Dimed,
By Barbara Ehrenreich, 
www.henryholt.com

Death By Discount,
By Mary Vermillion, 
www.maryvermillion.com

The Wal-Mart Effect
By Charles Fishman www.penguin.com

Megamall On The Hudson
By David Porter and
Chester L. Mirsky
www.trafford.com

«
STUDIES

Big Box Backlash
«
Alachua County Commission
«
Trip Generation Characteristics of Free-Standing Discount Supercenters
«
Shameless: How
Wal-Mart Bullies Its Way Into Communities Across America Study

«
What Do We Know About Wal-Mart? 
«
The Wal-Mart Game
«
The Shils Report
«
PBS Frontline Report
Is WalMart Good For America?

«
Bakersfield Ruling
«
Bakersfield Report
«
momandpopnyc.com
momandpopnyc.blogspot
«
UC Berkeley Labor Center
The Hidden Cost of WalMart Jobs

«
Northern California Big Box Studies 
«
Radio Broadcast
Past Radio Shows
«
The EEOC will hold the companies like Wal-Mart accountable for violating
the Americans With Disability Act. 

read more

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SITE FIGHTS

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«
Contact Us
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«ARTICLES FROM APRIL 2005 TO JUNE 2005   

Article Date Published Newsource
Wal-Mart Supercenter to anchor planned Turf Paradise Marketplace June 29, 2005 Mike Padgett
The Business Journal
Vancouver council turns down Wal-Mart June 29, 2005

Canadian Press

Wal-Mart acquires Carolina Circle Mall without incentives June 29, 2005 The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area 
Upscale Tastes Invade Wal-Mart's Hometown Migration of High-Priced Executives Transforms Arkansas County June 27, 2005 By Michael Barbaro
Washington Post
Attorney General accuses Wal-Mart of selling illegal fireworks June 27, 2005 Newsday Inc.
Wal-Mart put to test in Vancouver June 27, 2005 John Greenwood
Financial Post
Walmart eyes expansion in eastern Europe report June 27, 2005 Forbes.com
Wal-Mart's Most Wanted June 27, 2005 By Marianne Lavelle
US News
Eminent domain: A big-box bonanza? June 24, 2005 By Parija Bhatnagar
CNN/Money
The United States of Wal-Mart June 23, 2005 by John Dicker
BuzzFlash.com
Kennedy, Union Execs Blast Wal-Mart on Health Benefits June 23, 2005 By Randy Hall
CNSNews.com
Wal-Mart's healthcare policy rapped June 23, 2005 By Bloomberg News
Wal-Mart Is Focal Point Of Democrats' Health Bill June 23, 2005 By Amy Joyce
Washington Post
Styling With Wal-Mart June 23, 2005 By Timothy M. Otte
Kennedy, Union Execs Blast Wal-Mart on Health Benefits June 23, 2005

CNSNews.com 

Doing Something About Wal-Mart June 22, 2005 By Danny Glover
AlterNet
Wal-Mart Is Fined for Child Labor Violations June 22, 2005 From Bloomberg News
latimes.com
Senators want Wal-Mart healthcare info June 22, 2005 By David Ellis
CNN/Money
Dems' bill seeks health data from Wal-Mart, others June 21, 2005 Reuters
 
For Wal-Mart, green is the colour of money June 21-27, 2005 Peter Ladner
More Child Labor Exploitation Found at Wal-Mart June 20, 2005 by Brendan Coyne
NewStandard 
Court to hear Wal-Mart's discrimination case in August June 20, 2005 www.sfgate.com 
 
Fed Waits to See If Wal-Mart Accepts Pricier Huggies June 20, 2005 By Shobhana Chandra
and Art Pine
Bloomberg
Wal-Mart confirms Vallejo Supercenter plans June 20, 2005 By DAN JUDGE
Times-Herald
Springboro, developers to settle Wal-Mart lawsuit June 20, 2005 John Wilfong
Dayton Business Journal
Wal-Mart Nation June 19, 2005 By DORINDA ELLIOTT
BILL POWELL/SHENZHEN
Time Inc
Wal-Mart's reach/Who pays for fringe benefits? June 19, 2005 startribune.com
AmCan Wal-Mart lawsuit heads to judge June 18, 2005 By DAN JUDGE
Times-Herald
Will Labor Take the Wal-Mart Challenge? June 17, 2005 By Liza Featherstone
The Nation
Wal-Mart takes aim at hitting Target June 17, 2005 By Emily Kaiser
Reuters
STOP Wal-Mart from Coming to Your Community! June 16, 2005 Author Solidarity Sister
Court Rules Against Parts of Wal-Mart Code June 16, 2005 The Associated Press
German Labor Court Rules Against Wal-Mart Ethics June 16, 2005 NewsMax.com Wires
Wal-Mart names new head of online site June 16, 2005 By Elinor Mills
CNET News.com
Wal-Mart prods Bush for the CBC June 16, 2005 By Elana Schor
Wal-Mart store tells workers to be ready to work any shift June 15, 2005 The Charleston Gazette
 
Scrutinizing Wal-Mart ... Always. June 15, 2005 By Kate Ackley
Roll Call
Former Wal-Mart exec joins Safeway June 14, 2005 East Bay Business Times
Wal-Mart Open To More International Acquisitions June 14, 2005 Forbes.com
California Controller Requests Wal-Mart Audit June 14, 2005 Compliance Reporter
Readers Write: Turning Up the Heat on Wal-Mart June 13, 2005 By Laura Barcella
AlterNet
Anthony Weiner's Wal-Mart problem June 13, 2005 by Dominic Basulto
Corante New York
Vancouver Wal-Mart plan is opened up to public scrutiny June 12, 2005 John Colebourn
The Province
Wal-Mart advances as rivals regroup June 12, 2005 By David Connolly
Globe Correspondent
Wal-Mart loses back-pay case June 11, 2005 BAROMETER
Wal-Mart going to Cobblewood June 10, 2005 Lisa Biank Fasig
Courier
Walmart Ordered To Pay! June 10, 2005 Bob Egelko
sfchronicle.com.
Wal-Mart Ends Former Officer's Benefits on Misconduct June 10, 2005 Bloomberg
Wal-Mart official leaves after Nazi book-burning ad June 9 , 2005 By MICHAEL BARBARO
Washington Post
Wal-Mart scouts for Indian retail business CEO June 8, 2005 Pummy Kaul
Wal-Mart CEO says 5-year plan simple: Grow more June 7, 2005 Becky Yerak
 
WalMart Tries to be the Photograph Copyright Police - Ignoring Customers Rights June 7, 2005 Posted by James Fee
Wal-Mart closer to entering India June 6, 2005 Big News Network
Wal-Mart testing company gas stations June 6, 2005 By Emily Kaiser
Reuters
The 'Wal-Mart cheer' fails to quell those troubles in store June 4, 2005 By David Litterick in
New York
Lowe's, Wal-Mart come to Concord June 3, 2005 David Goll
American City Business Journals
Wal-Mart's New Realm: Reality TV June 3, 2005 By STUART ELLIOTT
Wal-Mart urged to 'clean up act' June 3, 2005 Story from BBC NEWS
Help Wal-Mart Meeting Touts Company Successes June 3, 2005 By CHUCK BARTELS
Associated Press
Wal-Mart urged by investors to improve its reputation June 2, 2005 mallenbacher.net
Turning Up The Heat On Wal-Mart June 2, 2005 posted by alex 
Critics say Wal-Mart stingy on health care June 2, 2005 NANCY BADERTSCHER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UK fund manager questions Wal-Mart compliance June 2, 2005 MARTIN FLANAGAN
Taking On a Giant (Whistleblowers Welcome) June 1, 2005 By DAVID M. HALBFINGER
Wal-Mart opponents use company's big stage to criticize employee policies June 1, 2005 The Canadian Press
Union protests, wants `better' Wal-Mart benefits June 1, 2005 By Melissa Nelson
Associated Press
Groups to complain at Wal-Mart meeting June 1, 2005 By Chuck Bartels
Associated Press
‘Wal-Mart not welcome’ May/June by Mark Caruso
Local 892 president
Logging On With A New Campaign Staffers Use Tactics Learned With Candidates to Pressure Wal-Mart May 31, 2005 By Amy Joyce
Washington Post 
Wal-Mart To Suppliers: Clean Up Your Data May 30, 2005 By Laurie Sullivan,
InformationWeek
A Force Too Strong, Even for Wal-Mart May 29, 2005 By DANIEL AKST
The New York Times
Wal-Mart Wiggles Around Worker Health May 26 , 2005 By Liza Featherstone,
The Nation
Wal-Mart Avarice May 24, 2005 by Katrina vanden Heuvel
The Nation
Former Wal-Mart exec files complaint May 24, 2005 CNN/Money
Wal-Mart Tops Planet Retail's Global Grocers List May 24, 2005 Progressive Grocer
Religious investors ask Wal-Mart to review social, economic policies May 23, 2005 By Tracy Early
Catholic News Service
Limbaugh branded Maryland's proposed Wal-Mart bill as "a vestige of fascism" May 23, 2005 mediamatters.org
Wal-Mart's Chinese suppliers shift base to India May 23, 2005 Siliconindia.com
Forum highlights the misdeeds of
Wal-Mart, treatment of employees
May 20, 2005 BY MICHAEL LYCKLAMA
 
Scott's Wal-Mart Opens Store Targeting Amish May 20, 2005 Greg Levine
Forbes.com
Maryland Governor Vetoes Wal-Mart Bill May 20, 2005 By GRETCHEN PARKER
The Associated Press
Ehrlich Vetoes Health Care Bill Aimed at Wal-Mart May 19, 2005 By John Wagner and Michael Barbaro
Clothing Company Bans Wal-Mart Kansas City  May 19, 2005 Kansas City Business News
Wal-Mart to Add 150 Jobs at German Center May 18, 2005 Associated Press
Wal-Mart to open 15 stores in China and export 18 bln usd of goods May 17, 2005 AFX News Limited
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. May 16, 2005 By swapusa
Fool.com
As American as apple pie, but now Wal-Mart is eating humble pie May 15, 2005 Katherine Griffiths
from New York
Wal-Mart of Worry May 14, 2005 By Mike Marino
TheStreet.com
Unlike in China Walmart finds India a much harder nut to crack – promises billions of dollars but stubborn India plans to restrict venture! May 14, 2005

 

Sonal Joshi
 
Wal-Mart Apologizes for Book-Burning Ad May 13, 2005 Associated Press
Lawmakers ask Wal-Mart for worker data May 13, 2005 CNN
Sowell defends Wal-Mart, ignores workers' dependence on Medicaid, food stamps May 12, 2005 Media Matters for America
Wal-Mart seeks entry into India's retail business May 12, 2005 IANS
Wal-Mart profit misses target May 12, 2005 The Associated Press
Union bargaining, Wal-Mart style May 12, 2005 By Katherine Griffiths
New Zealand Herald
Wal-Mart scene of protest May 11, 2005 CBC News
Wal-Mart's Union Problems May 10, 2005 by Steven Milloy
www.junkscience.com
SEIU Knocks Black Caucus for Wal-Mart Outreach May 10, 2005 By Kate Ackley
Roll Call 
Nugget tells Vallejo to ban super
Wal-Marts
May 9, 2005 Kelly Johnson
Sacramento Business Journal
Planned Wal-Mart changing the face of Whitehall May 9, 2005 Kathy Bergstrom
Business First of Columbus
Wal-Mart sued in harassment case May 9, 2005

Reuters

Wal-Mart makes an easy Target May 9, 2005 By Tommy Fernandez
Crain's New York Business
Teaching Wal-Mart New Tricks May 8, 2005 By TRACIE ROZHON
The New York Times Co
Wal-Mart Exec’s Comments Slap in the Face for U.S. Workers May 6, 2005 AFL-CIO
Survey: Wal-Mart is big threat to retailers May 6, 2005 Austin Business Journal
 
Burke says he has stock in Wal-Mart May 5, 2005 By Dan Mihalopoulos
and John Chase
Tribune
Teamsters target Wal-Mart DCs May 5, 2005 DCVelocity.com
Wal-Mart Continues to Be the Greatest Market Challenge to Retailers May 5, 2005 BUSINESS WIRE
 
Activists say not to buy mom's gift at Wal-Mart May 4, 2005 Bloomberg News 
Suing Over Wal-Mart May 4, 2005 by Jim Motavalli eMagazine.com
At Wal-Mart, Choosing Sides Over $9.68 an Hour May 4, 2005 By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
The New York Times
Massive Strike at Chinese Walmart Factory May 3, 2005 NoSweat.com
Quebec labour relations commission begins hearing Wal-Mart complaint May 3, 2005 940News.com
No Quick Fix for Wal-Mart May 3, 2005 By Selena Maranjian
The Motley Fool
"Mini-supercenter" slated for closed Wal-Mart store May 3, 2005 By Kristi Arellano
Denver Post
Wal-Mart’s Domain Name Battles May 3, 2005 by Phil Windley
ZDNet
As Goes Wal-Mart May 3, 2005 Beth Shulman ThomasPaine.com
Disclosures of Employers Whose Workers and their Dependents are Using State Health Insurance Programs May goodjobsfirst.org
Shopping for Subsidies: How Wal-Mart Uses Taxpayer Money to Finance Its Never-Ending Growth May goodjobsfirst.org
'Cowardly' Wal-Mart's Unionized Quebec Store Closes Apr 30, 2005 by Phil Couvrette
Associated Press
Labor Groups Launch Web Campaign to Change Wal-Mart Apr 28, 2005 NewStandard 
 
Fired Wal-Mart Executive Asks for Ruling Apr 27, 2005 Associated Press
Wal-Mart sees adding 55 mln sq feet in fiscal year Apr 27, 2005 Reuters
Wal-Mart targets college student's parody site Apr 27, 2005 Associated Press
A look at impact of big Wal-Marts Apr 24, 2005 By James Temple
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Campaign to unionize Wal-Mart 'waking up' Apr 23, 2005 By TIMOTHY SPENCE
Hearst News Service
Wal-Mart to Revolutionize Turkish Retail Market Apr 22, 2005 By Ibrahim Turkmen
zaman.com
Grand Jury Probing Wal-Mart Spending Apr 22, 2005 By CHUCK BARTELS
Associated Press
Wal-Mart under investigation Apr 22, 2005 Associated Press
Deliver Us from Wal-Mart? Apr 22, 2005 by Jeff M. Sellers
Christianity Today
Wal-Mart’s Out, But Local War Still Rages Over Development Apr 21, 2005 by Mariee Pilkington,
Chronicle Correspondent
Acres for Wal-Mart Apr 21, 2005 By Stacy Mitchell
AlterNet
Wal-Mart's Free Market Fallacy Apr 21, 2005 Jonathan Tasini
Apple hits Wal-Mart wall Apr 21, 2005 By Macworld staff
Quebec employee of unionized Wal-Mart files suit over store closure Apr 21, 2005 Canadian Press
Wal-Mart Critics Launch Ad Campaign Apr 20, 2005 Reuters
Wal-Mart Is No. 1: How Long Will It Stay at the Top? Apr 20, 2005 FORTUNE
 
Wal-Mart needs more than a conference to clean-up image Apr 19, 2005 BY SUSAN ROSENBERRY
The Western Front
Wal-Mart Money Trumps Land Use Process in Bennington, Vermont Apr 19, 2005

Institute for Local Self-Reliance

it's time for Wal-Mart to wake up Apr 17, 2005 By Joe Hansen,
UFCW International Union President
USA Today
Goliath fell, so expect Wal-Mart to teeter at least Apr 17, 2005 By Charles Stein
NY Times
Reports blast 'double-dipping' by Wal-Mart Retailer, which has gotten $50M in subsidies, has Florida's highest number of Medicaid-eligible workers. Apr 15, 2005

 

Susan Lundine and
Christine Selvaggi Baumann
Orlando Business Journal
Wal-Mart Freezes Coughlin's Benefits Apr 15, 2005 By CHUCK BARTELS
Associated Press
Wal-Mart Faces Legal Battles Over Labor Practices Apr 15, 2005 By Sarah H. Long
Sweet Victory: Maryland Stands Up To Wal-Mart Apr 15, 2005 Katrina VanHuevel
The Nation
Wal-Mart, Bullets, and Targeting Capital Plaza Apr 14, 2005 By Margie Burns
Sentinel Columnist
Slow death for would-be union Wal-Mart Apr 14, 2005 Big News Network.com
Wal-Mart leaves bitter chill in Quebec Apr 14, 2005 By Doug Struck
The Washington Post
Wal-Mart's Wily Ways Apr 13, 2005 By Kelly Hearn
Impact Press
"WAL-MART WELFARE" Apr 13, 2005 Keith Ashdown
The Progress Report
Wal-Mart to pay for lost habitats Apr 13, 2005 Associated Press
Wal-Mart faces labor union complaint Apr 13, 2005 Reuters
Dark Chart For Wal-Mart Apr 12, 2005 Matt Rand
Wal-Mart Pledges One Acre for Every Acre Developed; Partners With the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation on Land Conservation Program Apr 12, 2005

 

PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX
 
Union files charges against Wal-Mart Apr 12, 2005 By Anne D'Innocenzio,
AP Business
New Wal-Mart Stores Apr 11, 2005 Jiang Jingjing
China Daily
Beaverton Sprawlmart - Ringo Meeting update Apr 11, 2005 Steve Kaufman
Wal-Mart tries to discount image of avarice Apr 10, 2005 By Andrea K. Walker
The Baltimore Sun
Coughlin Says Cash Helped Wal-Mart Apr 9, 2005 By Michael Barbaro
The Washington Post
Wal-Mart documents demanded Apr 8, 2005 By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
New York Times
Wal-Mart vote remains on hold Apr 8, 2005 Jody Paige
Chicago Tribune
Did Wal-Mart make anti-union payments? Apr 8, 2005 Reuters
Philadelphia Weighs "Predatory Superstore" Law Apr 7, 2005

Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Maryland Legislature Passes Wal-Mart Health Care Bill Apr 7, 2005

Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Shopkeepers of the World...unite and take over Wal-Mart. Apr 7, 2005 by Alan Bisbort
New Mass Media
Md. Passes Rules on Wal-Mart Insurance Bill Obligates Firms On Health Spending Apr 6, 2005 By John Wagner
and Michael Barbaro
Washington Post
Wal-Mart to Combat Criticism in New Ways Apr 6, 2005 By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO
The Associated Press
Wal-Mart family lobbies for tax cuts Apr 5, 2005 By Jim Hopkins,
USA TODAY
Vermont town to vote on limiting size of big-box retail chains like Wal-Mart Apr 5, 2005 Canadian Press
DAVID GRAM
Labor slaps Wal-Mart ahead of media fest Apr 5, 2005 By Steve Hargreaves,
CNN/Money
Wal-Mart fires back at opponents Apr 5, 2005 By Parija Bhatnagar
CNN/Money
Madison Limits Footprint of Big-Box Stores Apr 4, 2005

Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Wal-Mart foes launch unified effort Apr 2, 2005 New York Times
No unionization for Quebec Wal-Mart Apr 1, 2005 CBC News
Winds of change stir up Wal-Mart Apr 1, 2005 By Chuck Bartels
The Associated Press
Wal-Mart in Brossard: Intimidation prevails over democracy Apr 1, 2005 CNW Telbec via COMTEX
Wal-Mart staff changes healthy Apr 1, 2005 Chuck Bartels
Associated Press
Welcome to Wal-Mart: Always Low Prices, Always Low Wages April by Stephanie Luce
Monthly Review
Wal-Mart Supercenter to anchor planned Turf Paradise Marketplace

Mike Padgett
The Business Journal
June 29, 2005                  
[back to top]

A Wal-Mart Supercenter will head the lineup of several new businesses that soon will be among the attractions next to Turf Paradise in northwest Phoenix.

The new development, named Turf Paradise Marketplace, is planned on 70 acres next to the track.

"A Wal-Mart Supercenter will be coming in, and a Sam's Club and Checker Auto, those will be the first three built," said track owner Jeremy Simms.

Simms said a major commercial development has been proposed on the unused property northwest of the track since 2000, when he bought the race track on a total of more than 300 acres southeast of Bell Road and 19th Avenue.

Both Wal-Mart and Sam's Club are expected to open by late summer 2006. Wal-Mart spokesman Jack Bisio said construction is planned to start later this summer. He said an existing Wal-Mart at 330 W. Bell Road will be closed for relocation to the new Supercenter at Turf Paradise Marketplace.

The Supercenter will have about 200,000 square feet and employ from 350 to 500 workers. Sam's Club will have 135,000 square feet and about 200 employees, Bisio said.

Wal-Mart currently has nine Supercenters in the Valley -- two in Phoenix, two in Glendale, two in Mesa, and one each in Scottsdale, Surprise and Apache Junction. The company also has 11 regular Wal-Marts throughout metro Phoenix.

Existing businesses on the south side of Bell Road, including a renovated McDonald's at the southeast corner of 19th Avenue and Bell, will be integrated into the new development.

Simms said the design includes a new four-lane road that will offer access to the track and the new stores. The road will meander eastward from 19th Avenue toward the track and then veer north on the existing street from Bell Road.

The race track will remain open during construction, said Paul Gilbert, Simms' attorney.

The buildings' exteriors will be similar to retail designs seen in North Scottsdale, such as Gainey Ranch Villages at Scottsdale and Doubletree Ranch roads.

The signage for Turf Paradise Marketplace will include a depiction of a miniature racetrack with three metal jockeys.

On the east side of the Bell Road entrance to the track is a smaller parcel where Simms said he has plans for a selection of restaurants and small retailers. He said he has rejected an earlier idea for office buildings as part of his total redevelopment proposal.

© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.

[back to top]


Vancouver council turns down Wal-Mart

Canadian Press
Wednesday, June 29, 2005           
[back to top]    

Vancouver — The "green" Wal-Mart designed especially for Vancouver was turned down overwhelmingly by Vancouver city council on Tuesday after developers spent four years working on it and opponents spent just as long battling against it.

Only Mayor Larry Campbell and his two political opponents from the Non-Partisan Association supported the big-box store proposal for a former car dealership site on the city's Southeast Marine Drive.

In a rare display of unity on a controversial issue, both factions of the centre-left Coalition of Progressive Electors voted together in opposing the project.

Everyone also voted the same way in voting down a giant Canadian Tire store planned for a site nearby.

The surprise decision made people like Louise Seto, a southeast Vancouver resident who led a campaign against both big-box stores, ecstatic.

"I think they really validated the whole vision of the city. They put the teeth behind the words," she said.

But those who had worked on the Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire applications were dismayed by the decision that many had believed would be much closer than the 8-3 split that emerged Tuesday.

Architect Peter Busby, a renowned sustainability advocate who designed a Wal-Mart concept with windmills on the roof, natural light, and significant energy efficiency, said he was tremendously disappointed.

"Vancouver lost an important opportunity. It became political. It wasn't about the design. It wasn't about the land use."

Wal-Mart's local development consultant, Darren Kwiatkowski of First-Pro Shopping, described himself as "flabbergasted and stunned" that council rejected it after the proposal had been supported by both staff and the city's urban design panel. 

[back to top]


Wal-Mart acquires Carolina Circle Mall without incentives

The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area 
June 29, 2005                                                       
[back to top]  

Without economic incentives, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is buying the former Carolina Circle Mall in eastern Greensboro and will convert it into a giant retail store next year.

Greensboro businessman Don Linder, who owns almost all of the property and arranged the deal, confirmed that Wal-Mart is buying the 78-acre site off N.C. 29 for $3.3 million and will have its contractors start construction of a new 206,000-square-foot "supercenter" store in January. That store should take about eight months to be ready and should open in fall 2006, Linder said.

Linder has spent the last three years buying up parcels of the vacant 78-acre site with the hopes of selling it to a larger industrial company. Wal-Mart was willing, but only if the location was ready by November.

In June, Linder asked the Greensboro City Council for $300,000 in economic incentives to help get the site ready and built for Wal-Mart. But amid public opposition by those against tax incentives and eastern Greensboro neighborhood groups that supported the Wal-Mart proposal, Linder withdrew his request two weeks ago.

Wakefield Associates demolition crews have already cleared out the out-parcel stores around the mall and this week have been removing walls inside the 600,000-square-foot mall. At this pace, the demolition will be completed by fall and the site can be graded by December in order to meet Wal-Mart's deadline, Linder said.

"A project like this is very difficult," Linder said. "There are hundreds of issues that we've addressed from many groups, and we're still moving forward."

Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) anticipates 60,000 shoppers a week at the new store.

© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.

[back to top]


Upscale Tastes Invade Wal-Mart's Hometown Migration of High-Priced Executives Transforms Arkansas County

By Michael Barbaro
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 27, 2005                     
[back to top]

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Wal-Mart's folksy, baseball cap-wearing founder, Sam Walton, so despised public displays of wealth that, after his death in 1992, the billionaire's heirs decided to enshrine his prized possession, a battered Ford pickup, behind a simple storefront on the town square here.

But Walton's spirit of restraint is harder to find next door to the museum at Fusion, a new fine-arts gallery that sells $2,500 abstract paintings and $1,200 urns. Or at the nearby Landers Hummer dealership, crowded with $62,000 sport-utility trucks. Or inside Shadow Valley, a gated community where four-bedroom houses fetch $1 million.

The hard-nosed retailing tactics of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have transformed communities across the country, but none more so than the one in its own back yard. Benton County, once a sedate backwater, is quickly morphing into a swanky oasis in the middle of the Ozarks.

Wal-Mart's unchallenged dominance in American retailing--it now sells about 30 percent of many household consumables--has persuaded scores of suppliers to open satellite offices around its headquarters to ensure their products remain on the chain's coveted shelves.

The result is an unprecedented migration of high-paid executives to the northwest corner of Arkansas -- professionals from amenity-rich cities like New York, San Francisco, Atlanta and Miami, who bring not only their six-figure salaries, but an appetite for Jaguars, sushi, pet day-care centers, Gucci shoes and Chanel sunglasses.

Every week or so a new retailer, restaurant or spa sprouts up amid the cow patches here to satisfy their every need and, seemingly overnight, a county synonymous with a purveyor of cheap socks, dolls and televisions is earning a reputation for something altogether different: luxurious living.

Until recently, being dispatched to a supplier's Wal-Mart office was a dreaded assignment -- two years of eating at a nearby Applebee's and shopping at, well, Wal-Mart. "Nobody wanted to do it," said Ron Johnson, who runs the Wal-Mart office for Walt Disney Co.'s consumer products division. "That's not a problem anymore. So much has changed."

Wal-Mart has produced a fair share of millionaires, but Walton's rigid code of humility -- even top executives stay at a Holiday Inn when traveling on the company dime -- remains deeply ingrained in the company's culture, discouraging conspicuous consumption.

Wal-Mart's suppliers, however, honor no such vow of modesty.

In Rogers, just north of Bentonville, nattily dressed executives from Kellogg Co. and Colgate-Palmolive Co. sip lattes and lunch on cold Thai salmon at the Market, a gourmet grocery store that offers sushi-making lessons. Up the street, at Murphy's Jewelry, the latest Versace fashion show flickers on a flat-panel television and $100,000 necklaces glimmer from behind a glass case.

Jeff Collins, an economist the University of Arkansas's Sam Walton School of Business, said the thousands of suppliers who have moved to the region are "trying to recreate the world they knew back home, wherever that was, and they have the money to do it."

From 1990 to 2000, Benton County's population jumped 57 percent, to 153,406 from 97,499, while the average household income rose to $40,281 from $26,021, according to census data.

Wal-Mart is not the only company cranking out wealth in northwest Arkansas. J.B. Hunt Transport Inc., the trucking company, and Tyson Foods Inc., both major employers, are based here. But neither has the global reach or supplier network of Wal-Mart. "Around here, Wal-Mart is the catalyst," said Bill W. Schwyhart, a partner at Pinnacle Group, which is developing a $200 million upscale shopping center near Wal-Mart's headquarters.

And by Wal-Mart, Schwyhart means its vendors.

In nondescript office parks that have cropped up across the region, the biggest names in consumer goods--Procter & Gamble, Gillette Co., Nestle and PepsiCo Inc.--are packed in cheek-by-jowl with tiny manufacturers such as Dolly Inc., a children's clothing firm, and cigar-maker Swisher International Inc.

No one knows the exact number of suppliers who have opened shop near Wal-Mart, but local officials put the number at 2,000, and predict the figure could eventually double.

The phenomenon began in 1989 after Procter & Gamble, Wal-Mart's largest supplier, opened a 10-person office in Fayetteville, Bentonville's neighbor to the south. Today, P&G's Wal-Mart staff has ballooned to 200.

There are now 20 office parks dedicated to Wal-Mart vend