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San Diego to Ban Wal-Mart Supercenters

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The City Council here voted late Tuesday to ban certain giant retail stores, dealing a blow to Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s potential to expand in the nation's eighth-largest city.

The measure, approved on a 5-3 vote, prohibits stores of more than 90,000 square feet that use 10 percent of space to sell groceries and other merchandise that is not subject to sales tax. It takes aim at Wal-Mart Supercenter stores, which average 185,000 square feet and sell groceries.

Mayor Jerry Sanders will veto the ban if the Council reaffirms it on a second vote, which will likely happen in January, said mayoral spokesman Fred Sainz. The Council can override his veto with five votes.

"What the Council did tonight was social engineering, not good public policy," Sainz said.



Supporters of the ban argued that Wal-Mart puts smaller competitors out of business, pays workers poorly, and contributes to traffic congestion and pollution. Opponents said the mega-retailer provides jobs and low prices and that a ban would limit consumer choice.


This is wonderful, I wish the Florcence city council woud think along these lines.



http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WAL_MART_SUPERCE...=2006-11-29-00-29-46
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quote:
Originally posted by smurph:
this is awesome! maybe this will catch on in other areas. You know if an area the size of San Diego can do this places like Florence Al could if they wanted !


I agree 100%, but you know our elected officals would never pass up a bribe or some sort of tax revenue even if it means putting the mom and pops out of bussines. Wal-Mart is bad for America!
well not just Walmart,I am against ALL large chain stores. All of them are bad for hometown type businesses and THESE are the backbone of ones community.
What really saddens me that there are no local clothing stores anymore,mostly we have stores of large clothing chains . Well we do have a couple but those are designer exclusive wanna-bes and the everyday working person simply cannot afford to shop there.
quote:
Originally posted by mustangfan2003:
"pays workers poorly they say? i've worked in grocery stores for a while and i know people at wal mart made more then me."


(with tongue in cheek) Now, mustangfan2003, you'd better watch it! Pretty soon, NashBama will start telling you about how lazy you are, and that all minimum wage workers live at home with their parents, and that anyone who makes only slightly more than minimum wage is unworthy, dumb or any other such nonsense.

Just fair warning!

(removed tongue from cheek)

No doubt, you've read the minimum wage post... right?
I don't guess those of you who are for WalMart being here has seen the latest report they have out. WalMart wants the entire workforce to be part time now so that benefits and overtime will not be paid. WalMart is not what it was started to be. Now it's a cut throat business running out the local shops and grocery stores. Ban all WalMarts. I don't shop at them. My wife was accused of stealing from them. Pissed me off and then after I hired a lawyer was told it was a scare tactic Walmart used on all employess. Walmart, go back to Arkansas.
I dont see the ban happening in Florence, MSC... but I will continue to shop the mom&pop stores whenever i can. You might pay a little more, but the parking is better lol. The local grocery, hardware and clothing stores are much more personable to me. And dont get me started on Lowes, if youre looking for something and ask someone, where or what it is?.... They dont have a clue. I had rather shop with knowledgeable, friendly people.
So what happens when Mom and Pop (who probably pay their workforce cash) are successful and outgrow a chain store? I understand that Walmart has hurt alot of people in many cases those people end up working for them but how do we limit anyones success? I cant imagine agreeing to a situation that if I was successful I had to quit/close/go away.
Walmart is an issue I'm torn over. On one hand, their convenience is very attractive, make one stop and get everything from a haircut and lunch to groceries and clothes all while getting an eye exam and changing your oil. On the other hand, they are the absolute death of "Mom and Pop" businesses everywhere.

A short time back I was working on a project and needed a few odd nuts and bolts, specialty type fasteners, that I knew my local small town hardware store had in stock. I decided to stop off on my way to work and pick up what I needed and go into work a few minutees late. As I sat there at 7:30, waiting for someone to open the door, I looked at the sign only to see they didn't open until 8:30 A.M.! I was somewhat shocked. I mean, if you think about it, most people who need hardware are on their way to work in the mornings and at work a long time before these folks opened up. If they were in the retail clothing business or appliances I could understand it, but hardware is for people who are generally at work early with no time to run around in the middle of the day. Combine this with nearly getting locked up inside the store if you're there at 5:00 P.M. and it makes it hard to do business with them.

The whole point to this rant is, I hear a lot of business owners complain about Walmart hurting their business but these same business owners don't try to help themself in a lot of cases by working with their customers and meeting their needs. The bottom line was, I decided, that if they didn't need my business enough to be open early or late enough for me to shop with them, I'd do business with the "Big Box" store too. Walmart, Lowes and Target do hurt small business but we're not living in Norman Rockwell's America anymore either, times change. I don't know the solution but it's not as simpleas running the "Big Boxes" out of town.
I've found that I save more money shopping at Big Star & Dollar General than I do when shopping at Walmart alone. I also get much better service and am not exhausted. AND, if I realize I've forgotten the toothpaste, I don't have to walk a mile to get back to that aisle. I shop at ALDI's every few weeks to stock up on items that are a great bargain. ALDI's has a completely different feel, but don't let it sway you from checking it out before you make a final judgment...great buys.

My husband loves the hardware store at Seven Points, but that is his department. Smiler

Oh, and for baby and children's clothing and furniture, you need to check out The Baby's Room on Tennessee Street...huge range of prices, so have to look for the bargain.
quote:
Originally posted by Shoals Lover:
quote:
Originally posted by mustangfan2003:
"pays workers poorly they say? i've worked in grocery stores for a while and i know people at wal mart made more then me."


(with tongue in cheek) Now, mustangfan2003, you'd better watch it! Pretty soon, NashBama will start telling you about how lazy you are, and that all minimum wage workers live at home with their parents, and that anyone who makes only slightly more than minimum wage is unworthy, dumb or any other such nonsense.

Just fair warning!

(removed tongue from cheek)

No doubt, you've read the minimum wage post... right?


I never said all minimum wage workers are lazy, I said most were students like mustangfan. Get a clue.
We haven't purchased a penny's worth of anything at a Wal-Mart in over six years.

No kidding!

And, we've saved much, much more money!

Consider two of the most-often-heard arguments that Wal-Mart supporters claim as the basis for their support:

1) They're good for the economy.

2) They help people save money on things they'd buy every day.

Examine the strategies that Wal-Mart stores use when they come into towns.

They tout that the construction of the stores will benefit skilled laborers. Never mind that when they're built WMT has a track record of hiring illegals.

They claim that the store's sales will benefit the local economy. Never mind that their tactics put locally owned businesses out of business.

They claim that by putting people on the WMT payroll they're helping families. Never mind that they have NEVER hired any such low-level employee for a 40-hour-per-week job. They call it "peak time," and it's under 30 hours per week. That way, they avoid any risk of paying overtime, or being required to pay benefits.

They claim that they save people money on the products they regularly buy. Never mind that on many items people regularly buy, they can obtain at a nearby grocery store or "dollar" store.

They once claimed "We buy 'Made in America,' so you can too!" Now, almost everything they sell is imported. The manufacturing jobs have been exported. The cheap Shanghai, Chinese garbage is imported.

They claimed that their business model was beneficial to those small business owners whom desired to do business with Wal-Mart. Never mind that they've always had one of the most horrible track records of business relations with those small business owners and entrepreneurs, by forcing them to take back merchandise damaged while in the store's possession, thus taking a loss on any profit they otherwise may have enjoyed.

They claim that they're for equality of treatment for all. Never mind that they continue to remain defendants in a class-action lawsuit by current and former female employees whom have well-documented claims of wage discrimination based on sex.

The list goes on, and on, and on, and on... ad nauseum.
quote:
Originally posted by mlholt:
Walmart is an issue I'm torn over. On one hand, their convenience is very attractive, make one stop and get everything from a haircut and lunch to groceries and clothes all while getting an eye exam and changing your oil. On the other hand, they are the absolute death of "Mom and Pop" businesses everywhere.

A short time back I was working on a project and needed a few odd nuts and bolts, specialty type fasteners, that I knew my local small town hardware store had in stock. I decided to stop off on my way to work and pick up what I needed and go into work a few minutees late. As I sat there at 7:30, waiting for someone to open the door, I looked at the sign only to see they didn't open until 8:30 A.M.! I was somewhat shocked. I mean, if you think about it, most people who need hardware are on their way to work in the mornings and at work a long time before these folks opened up. If they were in the retail clothing business or appliances I could understand it, but hardware is for people who are generally at work early with no time to run around in the middle of the day. Combine this with nearly getting locked up inside the store if you're there at 5:00 P.M. and it makes it hard to do business with them.

The whole point to this rant is, I hear a lot of business owners complain about Walmart hurting their business but these same business owners don't try to help themself in a lot of cases by working with their customers and meeting their needs. The bottom line was, I decided, that if they didn't need my business enough to be open early or late enough for me to shop with them, I'd do business with the "Big Box" store too. Walmart, Lowes and Target do hurt small business but we're not living in Norman Rockwell's America anymore either, times change. I don't know the solution but it's not as simpleas running the "Big Boxes" out of town.


I have tried to trade at my local hardward store a few times with the same result each time. I take my order to the counter, pay for it and proceed to the yard to find out that they are out of 1 or 2 things on the list. They suggest Lowes or Home Depot for the missing items. I explain that if I have to go to the big boys for part of the order that I just as well get the whole order filled there.
I can't add any negatives to what has already been posted about Wal-Mart except to reccommend that everyone who reads this goes to Hollywood Video in MSC and rent: "Wal-Mart the High Cost of Low Prices." After you see it, the way the company screws employees, the sweat shops the goods come from and how they are operated, if it allows you to ever walk into a Wal-Mart again you are less compasionate than me. Wal-Mart and the "Big Boxes" along with the Republicans in their pockets is ruining this country.
Well Shoals Lover wouldn't it be interesting to see City Councils give millions of dollars of incentives and close a public park to a "Big Box" retailer. NO WAIT; that is happening as we speak. And while I am at it; I love the Shoals too, but I love the Shoals I grew up in, that had good paying jobs, good police forces, adequate public education and instilled in young people a hope for the future. It was interesting: I spent the day doing volunteer work with college students and NOT ONE planned on remaining in this area after they graduated, as a matter of fact about half planned on transferring to another University after their basics were over at UNA so they would have better credentials for their resume. Shoals Lover: keep your blinders on if you want to. You obviously haven't seen the suffering or experienced it as I and thousands of others have in this area in the last 10 years. Isn't it interesting to you that the population has steadily decreased for the last 10 years? Can you guess why? You have already stated your profession, medical. Job security. Well with the exception of medical and legal their is no longer job security in the Shoals anymore and most people are either depressed as hell or like the ol "MADDOG" here: MAD AS HELL AND AIN'T GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE. Yeah I love the Shoals enough to not let it rot and die and am screaming long and loud. May be a shout in the wilderness, but soon I think you will see changes, probably at the voting box, until the citizens who have been disinfranchised in this area get it right.
Just as you are, I'm also opposed to Florence city's attempt to vilify our veterans' memories by a land grab.

The deal, I'm almost certain, is dead in the proverbial water because TVA has proposed a rule change regarding land use in such a fashion.

Thanks be to God for that!

And, like you and many others, I am completely concerned about the area which I so dearly love.

But, be of Good Cheer!

This area's history ain't over yet!

It's now being written, and my perspective on it, is to press forward, and call for the best.

I'm fond of saying, "Don't tell me why something can't be done; tell me why you won't do it."

This area and its people are blessed, blessed, blessed.

Is is perfect? Absolutely not!

But, I can guaran-darn-tee you and others this one thing: It's a whole sight better than many alternatives!

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