The Community Land Use and Economics Group

Beaverton, Oregon's city council has voted 5-0 to reject a proposed new Wal-Mart. (September 2007)

In response to a recently adopted big box ordinance requiring big retailers to pay 'living wages', Target has cancelled plans for a new store on Chicago's South Side. (September 2007)

Home Depot is quietly growing its wholesale unit. (August 2007)

Wal-Mart is pulling out of Germany, selling all 85 of its stores to a German chain. The king of discount was beaten at its own game in a country where retailers have honed their pricing strategies to satisfy an exceptionally price-conscious consumer. Among the cultural lessons Wal-Mart learned the hard way: Don't smile at the customers, and don't offer to bag the groceries. (August 2007)

What happens when Wal-Mart closes a store? Jacksonville, Alabama is finding out. The city assumed the $240,000 annual lease on the building when Wal-Mart moved out two years ago but has yet to agree on a new use for it. (August 2007)

Wal-Mart has opened a multi-level store in downtown White Plains, New York. (July 2007)

The California Supreme Court ruled on July 13 that cities and counties can restrict development of big-box superstores in order to protect local businesses. The decision upholds an April 5th lower court ruling that allowed the town of Turlock to enact an ordinance prohibiting development of retail stores larger than 100,000 square feet that use more than 5 percent of their space for grocery sales. (July 2007)

U.K.-based supermarket Tesco is coming to the US - not with gigantic stores, but with 14,000-square-feet or so downtown "Fresh and Easy" stores - something between a convenience store and a grocery store. It plans to open its first US stores in southern California, where it is so far facing much of the same resistance Wal-Mart has encountered there. Tesco is the U.K.'s largest retailer. (May 2007)

Wal-Mart has announced it is pulling out of Korea and closing some of its stores in Germany. Just didn't work out, it seems. (May 2007)

A report by the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business confirms Wal-Mart's shift into more upscale merchandise (having saturated sales at lower price points in the US), with wine, 400-thread-count sheets, and flat-panel TVs being hot sellers. (May 2007)

Hercules, California's city council voted on May 23rd to use its power of eminent domain to seize land purchased by Wal-Mart for a new superstore, suggesting that undeveloped land has a higher public value than land with a Wal-Mart. (May 2007)

Wal-Mart is threatening to ask Putnam County, Florida officials to use eminent domain to seize land from a handful of property owners who don't want to sell their land to the company. Wal-Mart wants to build a distribution center there. (May 2007)

Hercules, California may use eminent domain to block a proposed Wal-Mart, seizing the 17-acre site now owned by the world's largest retailer. The city council has notified Wal-Mart that it will consider a resolution of necessity - the first step in the eminent domain process - on May 23. (May 2007)

Former big-box stores get religion. (March 2007)

Wal-Mart is suing the creator of a T-shirt with the word Wal-ocaust and an iron eagle clutching the Wal-Mart smiley face. The T-shirt designer is countersuing (with support from Ralph Nader Public Citizen Litigation Group), claiming free speech rights. The Wal-ocaust website also includes a link to a new, related website, "Wal-Kaeda". (February 2007)

Wal-Mart's opened an upscale store in Plano, Texas. But it's likely to be a one-time experiment. (December 2006)

What happens when Wal-Mart comes to town, displaces many of the local businesses, then decides one day to close up shop? The town of East Dundee, Illinois is apparently about to find out. (November 2006)

The California Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the zoning regulations passed by the City of Turlock prohibiting construction of big box stores containing full-service grocery stores represent an appropriate use of the city's "police powers", effectively blocking Wal-Mart's attempt to build a new store there. (October 2006)

Wal-Mart says it plans to open 50 stores in distressed communities and will provide training for small businesses in the area on how to become a Wal-Mart supplier and how to survive its arrival. (September 2006)

Wal-Mart's expansion plans for 2007 include 20 to 30 new discount stores; 270 to 280 new Supercenters; 15 to 20 new Neighborhood Markets; 30 to 40 new Sam's Clubs and 220 to 230 new international stores. (June 2006)

Orange County, Florida has passed a year long moratorium on big box stores. (June 2006)

Somerville, Massachusetts mayor Joe Curtatone spoke out this week against the possibility of Wal-Mart entering thie city, saying "I'm not about to let Wal-Mart come in to wreak havoc on our local workforce and business community." (March 2006)

Vermont has passed a bill that requires big box developers to pay for impact studies that examine how stores would affect local economics, traffic and community character. (March 2006)

Former Atlanta mayor and civil rights leader Andrew Young will serve as chairman of a pro-Wal-Mart organization, "Working Families for Wal-Mart", to help reduce community opposition to the world's largest retailer. (February 2006)

Tesco, the U.K.'s largest grocery chain and a Wal-Mart rival, has announced plans to open stores in the U.S. (February 2006)

Carbondale, Colo., moves closer to a ban on big box stores. (February 2006)

Forbes magazine reports that Wal-Mart's international operating profits grew by $3 billion in 2004 as its international business increased more than 18 percent last year. (January 2006)

They're out: Most of the papers from the November 4th Wal-Mart-sponsored conference on the corporation's economic impact are now available online. They're a mixed bag - some find that Wal-Mart helps, some finds that it hurts (a lot). (December 2005)

After killing many downtown businesses when it opened in Livingston, Alabama 25 years ago, Wal-Mart is closing its Livingston store. It's opened a new store in nearby Demopolis. (November 2005)

Wal-Mart has begun opening medical clinics in some of its Florida stores. (October 2005)

Jib-Jab takes on Big-Box Mart. (October 2005)

The industrial development authority in Monroe County, New York has approved a package of tax incentives for a proposed new Target store that will be developed at the site of a former shopping mall. (October 2005)

A citizens group in Florence, South Carolina is challenging the city's decision to permit development of a new Wal-Mart, claiming the city is in violation of a 1994 state law requiring local governments to have (and use) comprehensive plans. (October 2005)

Another citizens group - this one in Pittsfield, Michigan - is launching a recall petition to remove three public officials from office because of their alleged failure to oppose a proposed Wal-Mart store there. (October 2005)

Michigan's state department of agriculture has turned down a request from the owners of a piece of farmland to be released from a state farmland preservation through which they have been receiving tax incentives for several years. The couple had wanted to make the land available for a new Wal-Mart store, which the department of agriculture believes would degrade adjacent farmland in Portsmouth Township. (October 2005)

Things are getting testy in Wisconsin over Wal-Mart. In Jefferson, Alderman David Alderson faces a recall election this Tuesday over his 'no' vote to annex 22 acres of land for a Wal-Mart superstore. Wal-Mart has also been the issue behind city council turnover in Stoughton and allegations of improper city government action in Beaver Dam. Alderson divided voter anger into four categories: "Those who just don't want a Wal-Mart super center, those who would like one but just not in that spot, those who don't think you should recall because of a vote you don't like, and those who don't think we need Wal-Mart running the city." (October 2005)

Monroeville, Pennsylvania's city council has rejected a proposed Wal-Mart in the face of stiff public opposition. By a 5-2 vote, the council overturned the planning commission's earlier 3-2 vote in favor of the project. (September 2005)

Officials in Benson, Arizona are moving forward with a development agreement with Wal-Mart that could give Wal-Mart as much as $1.5 million in tax incentives to open a store there. (September 2005)

In spite of citizen opposition, officials in New Haven, Indiana have approved construction of a new Wal-Mart, the county's sixth. Wal-Mart also won approvals recently in Livonia and Murpheysboro, Illinois. But citizens in Albuquerque are considering suing the city for denying their appeal of the city's recent approval for a new Wal-Mart. (September 2005)

Journalist John Dicker reports on a shocking set of facts about Wal-Mart in an AlterNet interview about his new book ... like, if Wal-Mart were a country, it would be the world's 20th largest; a new Wal-Mart opens every 38 hours; and Sam Walton's wife and children each earn about $176 million in dividends - as Dicker says, "That's your paycheck just for waking up Walton". (September 2005)

US Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) held a Congressional field hearing Monday on Wal-Mart's impact on small businesses. (September 2005)

Over 1,000 developers and retail chains met in Bombay this week to talk about entering the lucrative Indian market. Wal-Mart - already exploring expansion into India - is also investing in central America by buying a 33 percent stake in a central American retail holding company. (September 2005)

Vallejo, California's city council has approved a new rule that will require anyone who wants to open a retail store larger than 75,000 square feet to first demonstrate that it will not have a detrimental economic impact on the community. According to the Vallejo Times Herald, the permitting process will new require answers to questions like the fiscal or economic impact on local government revenues, wage structures, and existing retail sales. (September 2005)

Bowing to public opposition, a builder has dropped plans to build a Wal-Mart in Avondale, Arizona. The store would have been Avondale's second Wal-Mart. The Arizona Republic quoted a Wal-Mart spokesperson as saying," It's not uncommon for some developers to scrap plans when facing overwhelming public opposition." That's nice to know. (September 2005)

The Round Lake Beach, Illinois city council has postponed its vote on a proposed Wal-Mart in the wake of public concern about the potential traffic impact of the 205,000 square foot store. (September 2005)

Vermont, which led the nation for so many years in keeping out big-box superstores, is losing ground. In addition to new Wal-Mart store proposals in Rutland and St. Albans, a St. Johnsbury newspaper boasted last week that, just seven years after Wal-Mart's arrival, "[...] the Meadow Street area has been transformed from grazing lands to a regional commercial center...." (September 2005)

Logan, Utah's planning commission voted unanimously last week to approve plans to build a new Wal-Mart, contingent on the developer meeting 60 conditions. (September 2005)

Retail Forward projects that Wal-Mart will control 35 percent of the USA's grocery sales by 2007. (September 2005)

After reporting yesterday that Wal-Mart is interested in moving into the soon-to-be-vacant Filene's building in Boston's Downtown Crossing neighborhood, the Boston Globe reports today that the company has changed its mind. (September 2005)

Wal-Mart claims the UK's Tesco has too much of a monopoly. Lots of coverage online - here, here, and here, for example. "[...] I am sure there is a point where government is compelled to intervene, particularly in the (United Kingdom), where you have the planning laws that make it difficult to compete," Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott told London's Sunday Times. (September 2005)

Big box battles over the last few weeks: Kodiak, Alaska; Phoenix, Arizona; Craig, Colorado; Westminster, Colorado; Livonia, Michigan; Portsmouth, Michigan; Park Rapids, Minnesota; Big Flats, New York; Chatham County, North Carolina; Dillonvale, Ohio; Norman, Oklahoma; Helotes, Texas; Riverton, Utah Fircrest, Washington, Fitchburg, Wisconsin. And some new twists in the big box battle in St. Albans, Vermont (August 2005)

Wal-Mart has agreed to pay a $1.15 million fine levied by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection for improperly storing pesticides and fertilizers, allowing them to seep into local water supplies. (August 2005)

Gwinnett County, Georgia has bought a vacant Wal-Mart building for $3.75 million and plans to use it to house County health offices. Wal-Mart is requiring that no more than 30 percent of the building be used for offices, though, so most of the building's 100,000 square feet will be used for record storage. (August 2005)

Avondale, Arizona's planning commission has rejected a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter. Same thing in Independence Township, Michigan, where the Township Planning Commission has decided in favor of new housing, rather than big-box development, for a 70-acre site. (August 2005)

Wal-Mart is asking for $1.5 million in sales tax breaks to build a new store in Benson, Arizona. (August 2005)

Wal-Mart's bid to appeal an Oregon state Land Use Board of Appeals ruling denying it a permit to build a new store in Central Point, Oregon has been dismissed because the company mailed its notice to the city of Central Point by first-class mail, rather than by certified mail. The state's law requires that such notices be sent via a service that provides proof of date and time of mailing. (August 2005)

“Stevie, Stevie, your mother and father and the city are sick and tired of your messy room. Your whole block will now be turned into a Wal-Mart.” (August 2005)

Wal-Mart has agreed to abide by the store hours imposed on them by West Des Moines, Iowa's city council. The world's largest retailer had earlier sued the city over its requirement that the store close at midnight and not reopen until 6 a.m. The new store's neighbors had complained the all-night hours the company demanded would generate traffic and noise. (August 2005)

Speaking of Wal-Mart, the company has withdrawn its proposal to build a new store in Newport News, Virginia, in the face of what the Hampton Roads Daily Press called "blistering community opposition". (August 2005)

And, speaking of Wal-Mart withdrawing its plans for proposed new stores, it has also announced it is scrapping its plans for a new store in Henry County, Georgia. Although Wal-Mart has not said why it is dropping its plans, it faced stiff community opposition there, as it did in Newport News (above). (August 2005)

Apparently not discouraged by being rejected in New York City's Rego Park neighborhood earlier this year, Wal-Mart is actively scouting other potential locations in the city. According to City Councilor Helen Sears, "I think whatever they do, they'll find resistance unless there are some very definite changes in their policies." (August 2005)

Looks like Gresham, Oregon is likely to reject Wal-Mart's bid for a new store there. (August 2005)

Another community tries to hide its big box store. (August 2005)

Wal-Mart is sponsoring a November 4th conference on Wal-Mart's global economic impact. "I think the idea driving this (conference) is that you've seen a great deal written out there about the impact of the compan," a Wal-Mart spokesperson said. "Much of that information has been provided by activist organizations, and not a lot of folks out there are questioning the rigor of those studies." (August 2005)

A citizens group in Independence, Michigan is asking the town council to increase property tax by one-half mill for the next five years to raise money for a legal defense fund in the event a big-box retailer tries to locate there. The tax increase would raise an estimated $750,000. The council will discuss the group's proposal during its August meetings. (August 2005)

Ansonia, Connecticut's planning commission voted unanimously last night to approve construction of a new 127,000 squarefoot Target store on an industrial site immediately adjacent to the downtown. The mattress factory previously there burned down in 2001. (August 2005)

In 2004 GBT Realty - a Nashville developer building a shopping center to be anchored by a new Target store - ignored a restraining order blocking construction because of environmental damage that would be caused by relocating a creek. While Target celebrates its grand opening today, the developer faces a contempt of court charge and massive fines for defying the court order. (August 2005)

The group that successfully defeated a proposed Wal-Mart in Stanwood, Washington is now urging its members to run for city council. Three of the five council seats, plus the mayor's slot, are up for grabs in the upcoming election. (August 2005)

By an 8-1 vote, Newport News, Virginia's planning commission rejected a proposed Wal-Mart last night. "It clearly is a regional development being put in the middle of a residential neighborhood," said Commissioner Gary West. (July 2005)

A tie vote among county commissioners in Palm Beach County, Florida last night has dashed Wal-Mart's hopes of replacing a smaller Wal-Mart there with a new supercenter. (July 2005)

County commissioners in Winchester, Indiana are divided over alternatives for expanding courthouse space. Half want to tear down the National Register-listed Randolph County Courthouse and move to an abandoned Wal-Mart building; the other half want to keep the historic courthouse and expand into other downtown buildings. (July 2005)

Another affirmation that downtowns are the places where all your civic rights remain intact: Wal-Mart is banning people in Bentonville, Arkansas from gathering signatures for a package-liquor-sales petition on Wal-Mart property. The petitioners claim that, since 92 percent of people in Benton County shop at Wal-Mart at least once a month, it's the only place to collect signatures. (July 2005)

Groceries account for sixty percent of sales at Wal-Mart superstores, and the corporation - the largest grocer in the US - plans to add 240-250 new superstores, 25-30 new Neighborhood Markets, and 30-40 new Sam's Clubs in 2006, increasing its space by eight percent. (July 2005)

A judge in Rock County, Wisconsin has dismissed a lawsuit by three Janesville residents who sued the city over its decision to give a conditional use permit to a developer who wants to build a Wal-Mart. The three residents have 45 days to appeal. (July 2005)

Another community protesting a proposed Wal-Mart - this time in Voorhees, New Jersey, where a developer has proposed building a Wal-Mart at the dying Echelon Mall. "What the public wants is small towns centers like in Haddonfield and Moorestown," says John Baumann, a local architect who's suggesting the city consider a new, mixed-use town center instead. (July 2005)

An underperforming K-Mart in Bergen, New Jersey is being taken by eminent domain to make way for a new Home Depot. According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, eminent domain has also been used for projects involving Wal-Marts, Targets, and Costcos. (July 2005)

Vallejo, California's city council will vote tomorrow on a bill that would require big box superstores to conduct economic impact studies as part of the site approval process. Many items sold in superstores - like groceries - aren't taxable and therefore generate little retail sales tax revenue for local government. (July 2005)

The American Civil Liberties Union has written a letter to the Yelm, Washington city council challenging the council's five-month-old ban on using the phrases "Wal-Mart", "big box" or "moratorium" during city council meetings. (July 2005)

Wal-Mart has hired a Texas ad firm that worked on President Bush's reelection campaign to help persuade residents of Miramar, Florida that it would be good to have a Wal-Mart nearby. A glossy brochure, featuring happy families, promises "A new Wal-Mart. The good life is about to get better". (July 2005)

Plans for a new, larger Wal-Mart and a Lowe's in Sanford, Maine stalled Wednesday when the town's planning commission failed to approve the project's rezoning request, expressing oncern about directing traffic away from the downtown, about the quality of the jobs likely to be created, and about losing industrial land. (July 2005)

Under intense public pressure, Wal-Mart withdrew a controversial proposal to build two new stores side-by-side in Calvert County, Maryland, exploiting a loophole in a local zoning law intended to prevent huge new retail development. Now it says it will reconsider its original plan in several years. (July 2005)

The city council in Campbell Island, BC has unanimously rejected a rezoning request for a proposed Wal-Mart store, just days after Vancouver's city council similarly rejected a proposed Wal-Mart. (July 2005)

IKEA, whose US stores have so far been sprawling suburban superstores, is opening a multi-floor downtown store in Coventry, UK. The new IKEA will occupy the site of a grocery co-op driven out of business by new grocery superstores outside the town center. (July 2005)

Wal-Mart plans to increase its investment in Japanese retailer Seiyu, making it a Wal-Mart subsidiary. (7.6.2005)

A California Assembly bill that would have made it easier for Wal-Mart to move into banking has been indefinitely shelved. Several years ago Wal-Mart tried to buy an Orange County industrial bank, but the Assembly intervened. Unlike commercial banks, industrial banks (which offer almost all banking services except demand deposit accounts) are not regulated by the Federal Reserve. (July 2005)

Wal-Mart wants to move into Poland. And Hungary. And Russia. According to the Warsaw Business Journal, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott recently told the Financial Times "We now want to be in these countries. It doesn't matter to us which of these will be first. We want all of them at some point." (July 2005)

Wal-Mart is appealing a ruling by Oregon's Land Use Board of Appeals that it would need a conditional use permit from the city in order to build a new superstore in Central Point, Oregon. Central Point's city council turned down Wal-Mart's request in April 2004 because of concerns about traffic, environmental impact, and inconsistency with the city's development plans, which envision a community shopping center on the site Wal-Mart has targeted. Wal-Mart then appealed the city council's decision to the state Land Use Board of Appeals, which ruled in favor of the city on June 9th. "They're pretty tenacious," says Central Point dommunity development director Tom Humphrey. "It's unfortunate they aren't as devoted to the communities they plan businesses in as they are to fighting to have their way." (July 2005)

In a significant victory, the Utah Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the City of Sandy, Utah must allow a voter referendum on its decision to rezone a former gravel pit to permit development of a new retail complex that, if developed, will include a Wal-Mar and a Lowe's. The Court's unanimous decision may make it easier for other Utah communities to challenge municipal economic development decisions in the future. According to Justice Matthew Durrant, "We conclude that the exercise of the people's referendum right is of such importance that it properly overrides 'individual economic interests. The referendum right, so fundamental to our conception of government, should not and cannot be so easily thwarted." (July 2005)

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled yesterday that Wal-Mart must re-do part of its Environmental Impact Review (EIR) before moving forward with construction of a new store in Rosemead, California. Judge David Yaffe sided with a citizens' group, Save Our Community, saying that the EIR submitted by Wal-Mart and Rosemead City Hall did not investigate alternative sites nor adequately address the environmental impacts of a 24-hour store on the surrounding neighborhood (July 2005).

Home Depot plans to open convenience stores in the parking lots of four of its Nashville-area superstores this December. According to a company spokesperson, "Our research continues to show us that consumers are time-starved. So we know that anything we can do to make the process of shopping easier ... is a good idea" (July 2005).

By an 8-3 majority, Vancouver, BC's city council voted down a proposed Wal-Mart. The proposal would have put an environmentally friendly Wal-Mart (with natural light and rooftop windmills) on the site of an abandoned car dealership. Plan supporters and opponents had been grappling with the proposal for four years (July 2005).

Tesco, the UK's largest discount superstore, now captures one out of every eight British pounds spent by UK consumers (July 2005).

Two of the largest shopping mall companies - Simon Property Group and General Growth Properties - say they aren't too concerned about the glut of mall anchor vacancies caused by recent department store mergers (Sears + K-Mart, Federated + May, etc.) because so many big box stores are expanding and looking for new properties. Best Buy plans to add 200 new stores. Bed Bath & Beyond is adding 85 new stores this year. The Gap plans to open 260 new stores - most of them Old Navy stores - by 2007. Wal-Mart, Target, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Staple's, Lowe's, and Home Depot are also hunting for new space (July 2005).

Wal-Mart eyes expansion into Poland, Hungary and Russia (June 2005).

Cabela's, an outdoor/sports superstore, will receive a public benefits package worth $72.9 million to open a new store in Buda, Texas. The package - one of the largest on record in Texas - includes $4 million in property tax savings, $20 million in road improvements, and $36 million in site improvements (including an artificial mountain, a 60,000 gallon freshwater aquarium, and a supply of Guadalupe bass to swim around in it). The store is expected to generate $72 million annually in sales (June 2005).

Home Depot is buying Georgia-based Williams Brothers Lumber Co., to strengthen its position in the professional building market (June 2005).

Wal-Mart is quickly transforming Benton, Arkansas, its headquarters town, into an upscale mecca as businesses have popped up offering everything from Hummers and sushi to pet day-care and pink leather club chairs for the well-paid executives who work for Wal-Mart and its suppliers (June 2005).

First Interstate Bank, which has been operating branch banks inside Wal-Mart stores in Montana and Wyoming, has begun closing the in-store banks because of growing competition from Wal-Mart itself, which is slowly moving into providing banking services (June 2005).

The Financial Times reports that Wal-Mart is launching a new unit to explore options for acquiring other chains - particularly chain grocery stores - in the US. One of its potential targets: Whole Foods.

The city of Parker, Colorado is giving $6+ million worth of tax incentives to Target to stay in Parker and build a larger store there. Target had threatened to close its existing Parker store and build a superstore outside the city limits if it didn't receive assistance. The city will refund use and excise taxes to Target when the certificate of occupancy is issued for the new building, then will split all sales tax revenue above $850,000 annually with Target for nine years, which means that Target will ultimately receive 87 percent of the tax revenue generated, with the city receiving 13 percent (6.22.2005).

But in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, the local school board unanimously rejected a proposed $1.4 million tax incentive program for Wal-Mart. The school board's approval, along with that of the township and county commissioners, would have been required in order for Wal-Mart to get the tax breaks. According to school board director Robert Betz, ''The board also felt that, here is the world's largest corporation, and they want a tax break from this little area that can't afford much. They could probably buy and sell this town three times over.'' Actually, according to our calculations, Wal-Mart (with a market capitalization of $202,954,000,000) could buy and sell Tamaqua (whose building stock is worth about $260 million) something like 778 times over, more or less (6.21.2005).

Meanwhile, a citizens group in Phoenix is launching a recall initiative against a city councillor who supported construction of a new Target Greatland store that will span two entire blocks in a residential neighborhood there (6.22.2005).

The city council in Westminster, Colorado has approved $5 million in sales tax rebates to a developer building a new Wal-Mart in town. (January 2006)

Wal-Mart will manage a new shopping mall (and Wal-Mart store) being built in Hangzhou, the capital of China's Zhejiang Province. (December 2005)

IKEA, the Swedish retailer loved for its sleek, inexpensive D-I-Y furniture and loathed for its garish, gargantuan bright blue and yellow superstores, plans to open ten small downtown stores in the UK, beginning with a three-floor building that will include a restaurant and residential units in Hillingdon, a London suburb (June 2005).

Charlotte, North Carolina's city council approved a $12.3 million tax incentive package for the Midtown Square Mall makeover, a project the Charlotte Observer describes as "a faux Main Street of big-box stores, restaurants, offices and condominiums". Home Depot and Target will anchor the "Main Street" (June 2005).

When's the last time a big box store sent you a thank-you gift? (June 2005)

Wal-Mart has signed a lease agreement "of as long as 90 years" with the owner of a site in Portland, Oregon on which the city had hoped to build a light rail station (June 2005).

A Super H grocery store in Skiatook, Oklahoma is suing Wal-Mart for corporate espionage, claiming Wal-Mart workers have been scanning bar codes on Super H's shelves.

In a survey conducted by Ad Age magazine, American adults named Wal-Mart as both the second most trusted and second least trusted company, illustrating a deep division in public sentiment about the world's largest retailer.

Target has proposed building a 127,000 square foot store on the site of an industrial building gutted by fire four years ago in downtown Ansonia, Connecticut. (June 2005)

Grocery industry analysts predict that Winn-Dixie will close one-third of its stores, primarily in states in which Wal-Mart is now the number one or number two grocer. (June 2005)

Plainville, Massachusetts voters turned down a proposal to rezone 8+ acres across from a new Target store from residential to commercial use. (June 2005)

Movie producer Robert Greenwald, whose credits include "The Burning Bed" and "The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth about Enron", is producing a movie about Wal-Mart - "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" - to be released this fall. (June 2005)

Coming soon to a theatre near you: "Czech Dream", a movie about a fictitious big-box superstore in Prague. (June 2005)

Stores magazine reports this month on communities whose local governments use eminent domain to seize homes and small businesses to make way for development of big-box superstores. (June 2005)

Asda, the British superstore chain Wal-Mart acquired several years ago, is planning to double the size of its online grocery shopping service. The service will offer 20,000 food and non-food items for home delivery. (June 2005)

Northern Ireland officials will announce their decision today about whether to permit construction of a 220,000 square foot John Lewis superstore in Lisburn. Merchants in Lisburn and Belfast are worried that the proposed superstore will harm their downtowns. (June 2005)

An Associated Press story appearing in a number of publications in June reports that Wal-Mart is losing its edge and exhibiting symptoms that hurt K-Mart and other rivals in the past: cluttered stores, poor customer service, merchandise that customers don't like, and fading employee morale. (June 2005)

With 6,000 stores in 13 countries and sales of $308 billion in 2004, Wal-Mart is the world's largest grocer, according to Planet Retail's annual survey of the world's top 30 grocers. (June 2005)

Why isn't anyone happy with dividends and good ol' appreciation anymore? Lowe's is feeling pressure to expand abroad in order to increase shareholder value. (June 2005)

Target has announced plans to add 600 new stores in the next five years, bringing its total to about 2,000. It believes it can double that number before exhausting its market opportunities in the USA.

Wal-Mart has dropped its plan to build side-by-side stores in Dunkirk, Maryland. It had proposed the side-by-side stores in order to skirt the town's 75,000 size limit for new commercial buildings.

At its annual shareholders meeting in June, Target reported that things are looking bright since it unloaded two of its department store chains (Marshall Field's and Mervyn's): earnings from continuing operations are up 30 percent over the same period last year, more than double Wal-Mart's record for the same period.

Home Depot reports that, while its first-quarter earnings are up 14 percent, it is closing almost one-third of its Expo stores. Expo offers upscale fixtures and home furnishings.

Two Pennsylvania state lawmakers want Wal-Mart to buy the abandoned 410,000 square foot Hoffman Mills factory building in Shippensburg and use it to manufacture textiles for sale in its stores, hiring back many of the mill's former workers. A South Carolina town approached Wal-Mart earlier this year with a similar proposal for reusing an abandoned factory building there, but Wal-Mart turned them down (May 2005).

Wal-Mart officials have announced plans to increase orders of goods from India by 30 percent. They're visiting India this week, seeking to expand the company's foothold there (May 2005).

Target is thinking about moving into an 800,000 square foot former Macy's store in Boston's Downtown Crossing neighborhood (May 2005).

Wal-Mart is opening its first store in Beijing, where it plans to eventually open three discount stores and two Sam's Clubs (May 2005).

A new Wal-Mart planned for Montcross, North Carolina will have "a suggestion of Gothic architecture", resembling neighboring Belmont Abbey (May 2005).

Scripps Howard News Service's Bonnie Erbe reports that sprawl development costs communities more in services than it generates in revenue, citing studies from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, among others (May 2005).

Businessworld magazine reports that Wal-Mart has had numerous meetings with Indian government officials recently, paving the way to the company's entry into India (June 2005).

Escondido, California's city council has approved plans for construction of a 158,000 square foot Wal-Mart (June 2005).

The City of Taunton, Massachusetts is considering suing neighboring Raynham over its decision to permit construction of a new Wal-Mart, citing likely traffic problems (June 2005).

Best Buy plans to open a three-level, 29,000 square foot store on the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 44th Street in New York (June 2005).

Wal-Mart has announced plans to roll out 250 Supercenters, 40 Sam's Clubs, 45 discount stores and 30 Neighborhood Markets in 2005, totaling about 55 million square feet of new retail space (June 2005).

Aberdeen SD's city council has approved an ordinance limiting the amount of street frontage that can be used for commercial development along Highway 16, effectively blocking Wal-Mart from building a new supercenter there (June 2005).

A big victory: Voters in San Luis Obispo CA have rejected a proposal to build Dalidio Ranch Marketplace, a massive shopping complex that would have dwarfed San Luis Obispo's historic and award-winning downtown in size and would almost certainly have caused its economic demise (June 2005).

Meanwhile, over in the Central Valley, developers have filed plans to turn 130 acres of farmland into a 750,000 square foot shopping center, including big-box retailers, adding to the 200,000 square feet of retail space already there (June 2005).

A Carnegie Mellon University student's website parodying Wal-Mart has been removed from his internet service provider's server after Wal-Mart pressured the company to do so (June 2005).

A citizens group in Plano TX is filing an ethics complaint and considering a recall drive against the city's mayor over her handling of zoning approvals for a new Wal-Mart. The group says the mayor is "pro developer and anti homeowner" (May 2005).

Lowe's has offered to contribute $1 million for open space preservation to Salt Lake City if the city closes two streets and an alley where the hardware superstore wants to build a new store (May 2005).

Wal-Mart is opening a 150,000 square foot, three-story store in Richmond CA's Hilltop Mall, one of a small number of retail giants that usually opt for standalone stores that have recently opened stores in shopping malls (May 2005).

The Center for Community and Corporate Ethics ran a full-page ad in the Chicago Tribune, accusing Wal-Mart of costing American taxpayers $1.6 billion annually (April 2005)

The Washington, DC city council is considering a bill that would prohibit construction of big-box stores over 80,000 square feet if more than 15 percent of the proposed store will sell nontaxable items (like groceries) (April 2005).

Legislators in South Carolina are working on a bill that would provide a 25 percent state tax credit to developers who rehabilitate or demolish vacant big box stores or strip shopping centers.

In his new book "Built for Growth", former Starbuck's exec Arthur Rubinfeld takes on Wal-Mart. " "It is one thing in 1962 for Wal-Mart to bring inexpensive shopping to a rural town," he writes. "It is another thing 40 years later to bring visual blight to the open land next to a town or suburb. It is one thing to pay low salaries when you start in an impoverished region where other salaries are even lower. It is another 40 years later to be the largest company in the world and offer pay and benefits below the industry norm."

Fayette, West Virginia's city council has voted to approve development of a new shopping mall with a Super Wal-Mart on the site of a Civil War battlefield.

Voters in Bennington, Vermont rejected a proposed cap on the size of new retail stores built in the community.

Madison, Wisconsin has a new ordinance regulating big-box store development.

Julia Christensen, a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, spent last summer driving around the US with a videocamera, documenting what communities are doing with empty big box stores.

In the event we forget why regional collaboration is so important... Metuchen, New Jersey is suing the town next door, Edison, over Edison's plans to build a new Wal-Mart right on the boundary between the two communities.

Two Washington state communities - Tumwater and Yelm - have joined forces to fight two proposed Wal-Mart stores together.

A last-minute amendment to the federal highway bill would give Wal-Mart $37 million to widen the road leading to the corporation's headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. The House of Representatives has already approved the bill, which now goes to the Senate for action.

If you missed it before, you can hear Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" commentary on Wal-Mart here.

Wal-Mart announces plans to build at least five new supercenters in Nevada

Wal-Mart submits application for Gresham OR store without traffic study

Wal-Mart avoids retail size limit by splitting a proposed store in Dunkirk, Maryland into two halves

According to the April 2005 edition of The Shelby Report, Wal-Mart has now captured 35 percent of all grocery sales in Birmingham, Alabama.

Wal-Mart denies report of free rent at Riverview (Mesa AZ)

Candidates want Super Wal-Mart (Gainesville FL)

Phone survey about Wal-Mart raises questions (Bennington VT)

Residents oppose planned Wal-Mart (Chester PA)

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	Beaverton, Oregon's city council has voted 5-0 to reject a proposed new Wal-Mart. (September 2007) In response to a recently adopted big box ordinance requiring big retailers to pay 'living wages', Target has cancelled plans for a new store on Chicago's South Side. (September 2007) Home Depot is quietly growing its wholesale unit. (August 2007) Wal-Mart is pulling out of Germany, selling all 85 of its stores to a German chain. The king of discount was beaten at its own game in a country where retailers have honed their pricing strategies to satisfy an exceptionally price-conscious consumer. Among the cultural lessons Wal-Mart learned the hard way: Don't smile at the customers, and don't offer to bag the groceries. (August 2007) What happens when Wal-Mart closes a store? Jacksonville, Alabama is finding out. The city assumed the $240,000 annual lease on the building when Wal-Mart moved out two years ago but has yet to agree on a new use for it. (August 2007) Wal-Mart has opened a multi-level store in downtown White Plains, New York. (July 2007) The California Supreme Court ruled on July 13 that cities and counties can restrict development of big-box superstores in order to protect local businesses. The decision upholds an April 5th lower court ruling that allowed the town of Turlock to enact an ordinance prohibiting development of retail stores larger than 100,000 square feet that use more than 5 percent of their space for grocery sales. (July 2007) U.K.-based supermarket Tesco is coming to the US - not with gigantic stores, but with 14,000-square-feet or so downtown "Fresh and Easy" stores - something between a convenience store and a grocery store. It plans to open its first US stores in southern California, where it is so far facing much of the same resistance Wal-Mart has encountered there. Tesco is the U.K.'s largest retailer. (May 2007) Wal-Mart has announced it is pulling out of Korea and closing some of its stores in Germany. Just didn't work out, it seems. (May 2007) A report by the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business confirms Wal-Mart's shift into more upscale merchandise (having saturated sales at lower price points in the US), with wine, 400-thread-count sheets, and flat-panel TVs being hot sellers. (May 2007) Hercules, California's city council voted on May 23rd to use its power of eminent domain to seize land purchased by Wal-Mart for a new superstore, suggesting that undeveloped land has a higher public value than land with a Wal-Mart. (May 2007) Wal-Mart is threatening to ask Putnam County, Florida officials to use eminent domain to seize land from a handful of property owners who don't want to sell their land to the company. Wal-Mart wants to build a distribution center there. (May 2007) Hercules, California may use eminent domain to block a proposed Wal-Mart, seizing the 17-acre site now owned by the world's largest retailer. The city council has notified Wal-Mart that it will consider a resolution of necessity - the first step in the eminent domain process - on May 23. (May 2007) Former big-box stores get religion. (March 2007) Wal-Mart is suing the creator of a T-shirt with the word Wal-ocaust and an iron eagle clutching the Wal-Mart smiley face. The T-shirt designer is countersuing (with support from Ralph Nader Public Citizen Litigation Group), claiming free speech rights. The Wal-ocaust website also includes a link to a new, related website, "Wal-Kaeda". (February 2007) Wal-Mart's opened an upscale store in Plano, Texas. But it's likely to be a one-time experiment. (December 2006) What happens when Wal-Mart comes to town, displaces many of the local businesses, then decides one day to close up shop? The town of East Dundee, Illinois is apparently about to find out. (November 2006) The California Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the zoning regulations passed by the City of Turlock prohibiting construction of big box stores containing full-service grocery stores represent an appropriate use of the city's "police powers", effectively blocking Wal-Mart's attempt to build a new store there. (October 2006) Wal-Mart says it plans to open 50 stores in distressed communities and will provide training for small businesses in the area on how to become a Wal-Mart supplier and how to survive its arrival. (September 2006) Wal-Mart's expansion plans for 2007 include 20 to 30 new discount stores; 270 to 280 new Supercenters; 15 to 20 new Neighborhood Markets; 30 to 40 new Sam's Clubs and 220 to 230 new international stores. (June 2006) Orange County, Florida has passed a year long moratorium on big box stores. (June 2006) Somerville, Massachusetts mayor Joe Curtatone spoke out this week against the possibility of Wal-Mart entering thie city, saying "I'm not about to let Wal-Mart come in to wreak havoc on our local workforce and business community." (March 2006) Vermont has passed a bill that requires big box developers to pay for impact studies that examine how stores would affect local economics, traffic and community character. (March 2006) Former Atlanta mayor and civil rights leader Andrew Young will serve as chairman of a pro-Wal-Mart organization, "Working Families for Wal-Mart", to help reduce community opposition to the world's largest retailer. (February 2006) Tesco, the U.K.'s largest grocery chain and a Wal-Mart rival, has announced plans to open stores in the U.S. (February 2006) Carbondale, Colo., moves closer to a ban on big box stores. (February 2006) Forbes magazine reports that Wal-Mart's international operating profits grew by $3 billion in 2004 as its international business increased more than 18 percent last year. (January 2006) They're out: Most of the papers from the November 4th Wal-Mart-sponsored conference on the corporation's economic impact are now available online. They're a mixed bag - some find that Wal-Mart helps, some finds that it hurts (a lot). (December 2005) After killing many downtown businesses when it opened in Livingston, Alabama 25 years ago, Wal-Mart is closing its Livingston store. It's opened a new store in nearby Demopolis. (November 2005) Wal-Mart has begun opening medical clinics in some of its Florida stores. (October 2005) Jib-Jab takes on Big-Box Mart. (October 2005) The industrial development authority in Monroe County, New York has approved a package of tax incentives for a proposed new Target store that will be developed at the site of a former shopping mall. (October 2005) A citizens group in Florence, South Carolina is challenging the city's decision to permit development of a new Wal-Mart, claiming the city is in violation of a 1994 state law requiring local governments to have (and use) comprehensive plans. (October 2005) Another citizens group - this one in Pittsfield, Michigan - is launching a recall petition to remove three public officials from office because of their alleged failure to oppose a proposed Wal-Mart store there. (October 2005) Michigan's state department of agriculture has turned down a request from the owners of a piece of farmland to be released from a state farmland preservation through which they have been receiving tax incentives for several years. The couple had wanted to make the land available for a new Wal-Mart store, which the department of agriculture believes would degrade adjacent farmland in Portsmouth Township. (October 2005) Things are getting testy in Wisconsin over Wal-Mart. In Jefferson, Alderman David Alderson faces a recall election this Tuesday over his 'no' vote to annex 22 acres of land for a Wal-Mart superstore. Wal-Mart has also been the issue behind city council turnover in Stoughton and allegations of improper city government action in Beaver Dam. Alderson divided voter anger into four categories: "Those who just don't want a Wal-Mart super center, those who would like one but just not in that spot, those who don't think you should recall because of a vote you don't like, and those who don't think we need Wal-Mart running the city." (October 2005) Monroeville, Pennsylvania's city council has rejected a proposed Wal-Mart in the face of stiff public opposition. By a 5-2 vote, the council overturned the planning commission's earlier 3-2 vote in favor of the project. (September 2005) Officials in Benson, Arizona are moving forward with a development agreement with Wal-Mart that could give Wal-Mart as much as $1.5 million in tax incentives to open a store there. (September 2005) In spite of citizen opposition, officials in New Haven, Indiana have approved construction of a new Wal-Mart, the county's sixth. Wal-Mart also won approvals recently in Livonia and Murpheysboro, Illinois. But citizens in Albuquerque are considering suing the city for denying their appeal of the city's recent approval for a new Wal-Mart. (September 2005) Journalist John Dicker reports on a shocking set of facts about Wal-Mart in an AlterNet interview about his new book ... like, if Wal-Mart were a country, it would be the world's 20th largest; a new Wal-Mart opens every 38 hours; and Sam Walton's wife and children each earn about $176 million in dividends - as Dicker says, "That's your paycheck just for waking up Walton". (September 2005) US Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) held a Congressional field hearing Monday on Wal-Mart's impact on small businesses. (September 2005) Over 1,000 developers and retail chains met in Bombay this week to talk about entering the lucrative Indian market. Wal-Mart - already exploring expansion into India - is also investing in central America by buying a 33 percent stake in a central American retail holding company. (September 2005) Vallejo, California's city council has approved a new rule that will require anyone who wants to open a retail store larger than 75,000 square feet to first demonstrate that it will not have a detrimental economic impact on the community. According to the Vallejo Times Herald, the permitting process will new require answers to questions like the fiscal or economic impact on local government revenues, wage structures, and existing retail sales. (September 2005) Bowing to public opposition, a builder has dropped plans to build a Wal-Mart in Avondale, Arizona. The store would have been Avondale's second Wal-Mart. The Arizona Republic quoted a Wal-Mart spokesperson as saying," It's not uncommon for some developers to scrap plans when facing overwhelming public opposition." That's nice to know. (September 2005) The Round Lake Beach, Illinois city council has postponed its vote on a proposed Wal-Mart in the wake of public concern about the potential traffic impact of the 205,000 square foot store. (September 2005) Vermont, which led the nation for so many years in keeping out big-box superstores, is losing ground. In addition to new Wal-Mart store proposals in Rutland and St. Albans, a St. Johnsbury newspaper boasted last week that, just seven years after Wal-Mart's arrival, "[...] the Meadow Street area has been transformed from grazing lands to a regional commercial center...." (September 2005) Logan, Utah's planning commission voted unanimously last week to approve plans to build a new Wal-Mart, contingent on the developer meeting 60 conditions. (September 2005) Retail Forward projects that Wal-Mart will control 35 percent of the USA's grocery sales by 2007. (September 2005) After reporting yesterday that Wal-Mart is interested in moving into the soon-to-be-vacant Filene's building in Boston's Downtown Crossing neighborhood, the Boston Globe reports today that the company has changed its mind. (September 2005) Wal-Mart claims the UK's Tesco has too much of a monopoly. Lots of coverage online - here, here, and here, for example. "[...] I am sure there is a point where government is compelled to intervene, particularly in the (United Kingdom), where you have the planning laws that make it difficult to compete," Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott told London's Sunday Times. (September 2005) Big box battles over the last few weeks: Kodiak, Alaska; Phoenix, Arizona; Craig, Colorado; Westminster, Colorado; Livonia, Michigan; Portsmouth, Michigan; Park Rapids, Minnesota; Big Flats, New York; Chatham County, North Carolina; Dillonvale, Ohio; Norman, Oklahoma; Helotes, Texas; Riverton, Utah Fircrest, Washington, Fitchburg, Wisconsin. And some new twists in the big box battle in St. Albans, Vermont (August 2005) Wal-Mart has agreed to pay a $1.15 million fine levied by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection for improperly storing pesticides and fertilizers, allowing them to seep into local water supplies. (August 2005) Gwinnett County, Georgia has bought a vacant Wal-Mart building for $3.75 million and plans to use it to house County health offices. Wal-Mart is requiring that no more than 30 percent of the building be used for offices, though, so most of the building's 100,000 square feet will be used for record storage. (August 2005) Avondale, Arizona's planning commission has rejected a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter. Same thing in Independence Township, Michigan, where the Township Planning Commission has decided in favor of new housing, rather than big-box development, for a 70-acre site. (August 2005) Wal-Mart is asking for $1.5 million in sales tax breaks to build a new store in Benson, Arizona. (August 2005) Wal-Mart's bid to appeal an Oregon state Land Use Board of Appeals ruling denying it a permit to build a new store in Central Point, Oregon has been dismissed because the company mailed its notice to the city of Central Point by first-class mail, rather than by certified mail. The state's law requires that such notices be sent via a service that provides proof of date and time of mailing. (August 2005) “Stevie, Stevie, your mother and father and the city are sick and tired of your messy room. Your whole block will now be turned into a Wal-Mart.” (August 2005) Wal-Mart has agreed to abide by the store hours imposed on them by West Des Moines, Iowa's city council. The world's largest retailer had earlier sued the city over its requirement that the store close at midnight and not reopen until 6 a.m. The new store's neighbors had complained the all-night hours the company demanded would generate traffic and noise. (August 2005) Speaking of Wal-Mart, the company has withdrawn its proposal to build a new store in Newport News, Virginia, in the face of what the Hampton Roads Daily Press called "blistering community opposition". (August 2005) And, speaking of Wal-Mart withdrawing its plans for proposed new stores, it has also announced it is scrapping its plans for a new store in Henry County, Georgia. Although Wal-Mart has not said why it is dropping its plans, it faced stiff community opposition there, as it did in Newport News (above). (August 2005) Apparently not discouraged by being rejected in New York City's Rego Park neighborhood earlier this year, Wal-Mart is actively scouting other potential locations in the city. According to City Councilor Helen Sears, "I think whatever they do, they'll find resistance unless there are some very definite changes in their policies." (August 2005) Looks like Gresham, Oregon is likely to reject Wal-Mart's bid for a new store there. (August 2005) Another community tries to hide its big box store. (August 2005) Wal-Mart is sponsoring a November 4th conference on Wal-Mart's global economic impact. "I think the idea driving this (conference) is that you've seen a great deal written out there about the impact of the compan," a Wal-Mart spokesperson said. "Much of that information has been provided by activist organizations, and not a lot of folks out there are questioning the rigor of those studies." (August 2005) A citizens group in Independence, Michigan is asking the town council to increase property tax by one-half mill for the next five years to raise money for a legal defense fund in the event a big-box retailer tries to locate there. The tax increase would raise an estimated $750,000. The council will discuss the group's proposal during its August meetings. (August 2005) Ansonia, Connecticut's planning commission voted unanimously last night to approve construction of a new 127,000 squarefoot Target store on an industrial site immediately adjacent to the downtown. The mattress factory previously there burned down in 2001. (August 2005) In 2004 GBT Realty - a Nashville developer building a shopping center to be anchored by a new Target store - ignored a restraining order blocking construction because of environmental damage that would be caused by relocating a creek. While Target celebrates its grand opening today, the developer faces a contempt of court charge and massive fines for defying the court order. (August 2005) The group that successfully defeated a proposed Wal-Mart in Stanwood, Washington is now urging its members to run for city council. Three of the five council seats, plus the mayor's slot, are up for grabs in the upcoming election. (August 2005) By an 8-1 vote, Newport News, Virginia's planning commission rejected a proposed Wal-Mart last night. "It clearly is a regional development being put in the middle of a residential neighborhood," said Commissioner Gary West. (July 2005) A tie vote among county commissioners in Palm Beach County, Florida last night has dashed Wal-Mart's hopes of replacing a smaller Wal-Mart there with a new supercenter. (July 2005) County commissioners in Winchester, Indiana are divided over alternatives for expanding courthouse space. Half want to tear down the National Register-listed Randolph County Courthouse and move to an abandoned Wal-Mart building; the other half want to keep the historic courthouse and expand into other downtown buildings. (July 2005) Another affirmation that downtowns are the places where all your civic rights remain intact: Wal-Mart is banning people in Bentonville, Arkansas from gathering signatures for a package-liquor-sales petition on Wal-Mart property. The petitioners claim that, since 92 percent of people in Benton County shop at Wal-Mart at least once a month, it's the only place to collect signatures. (July 2005) Groceries account for sixty percent of sales at Wal-Mart superstores, and the corporation - the largest grocer in the US - plans to add 240-250 new superstores, 25-30 new Neighborhood Markets, and 30-40 new Sam's Clubs in 2006, increasing its space by eight percent. (July 2005) A judge in Rock County, Wisconsin has dismissed a lawsuit by three Janesville residents who sued the city over its decision to give a conditional use permit to a developer who wants to build a Wal-Mart. The three residents have 45 days to appeal. (July 2005) Another community protesting a proposed Wal-Mart - this time in Voorhees, New Jersey, where a developer has proposed building a Wal-Mart at the dying Echelon Mall. "What the public wants is small towns centers like in Haddonfield and Moorestown," says John Baumann, a local architect who's suggesting the city consider a new, mixed-use town center instead. (July 2005) An underperforming K-Mart in Bergen, New Jersey is being taken by eminent domain to make way for a new Home Depot. According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, eminent domain has also been used for projects involving Wal-Marts, Targets, and Costcos. (July 2005) Vallejo, California's city council will vote tomorrow on a bill that would require big box superstores to conduct economic impact studies as part of the site approval process. Many items sold in superstores - like groceries - aren't taxable and therefore generate little retail sales tax revenue for local government. (July 2005) The American Civil Liberties Union has written a letter to the Yelm, Washington city council challenging the council's five-month-old ban on using the phrases "Wal-Mart", "big box" or "moratorium" during city council meetings. (July 2005) Wal-Mart has hired a Texas ad firm that worked on President Bush's reelection campaign to help persuade residents of Miramar, Florida that it would be good to have a Wal-Mart nearby. A glossy brochure, featuring happy families, promises "A new Wal-Mart. The good life is about to get better". (July 2005) Plans for a new, larger Wal-Mart and a Lowe's in Sanford, Maine stalled Wednesday when the town's planning commission failed to approve the project's rezoning request, expressing oncern about directing traffic away from the downtown, about the quality of the jobs likely to be created, and about losing industrial land. (July 2005) Under intense public pressure, Wal-Mart withdrew a controversial proposal to build two new stores side-by-side in Calvert County, Maryland, exploiting a loophole in a local zoning law intended to prevent huge new retail development. Now it says it will reconsider its original plan in several years. (July 2005) The city council in Campbell Island, BC has unanimously rejected a rezoning request for a proposed Wal-Mart store, just days after Vancouver's city council similarly rejected a proposed Wal-Mart. (July 2005) IKEA, whose US stores have so far been sprawling suburban superstores, is opening a multi-floor downtown store in Coventry, UK. The new IKEA will occupy the site of a grocery co-op driven out of business by new grocery superstores outside the town center. (July 2005) Wal-Mart plans to increase its investment in Japanese retailer Seiyu, making it a Wal-Mart subsidiary. (7.6.2005) A California Assembly bill that would have made it easier for Wal-Mart to move into banking has been indefinitely shelved. Several years ago Wal-Mart tried to buy an Orange County industrial bank, but the Assembly intervened. Unlike commercial banks, industrial banks (which offer almost all banking services except demand deposit accounts) are not regulated by the Federal Reserve. (July 2005) Wal-Mart wants to move into Poland. And Hungary. And Russia. According to the Warsaw Business Journal, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott recently told the Financial Times "We now want to be in these countries. It doesn't matter to us which of these will be first. We want all of them at some point." (July 2005) Wal-Mart is appealing a ruling by Oregon's Land Use Board of Appeals that it would need a conditional use permit from the city in order to build a new superstore in Central Point, Oregon. Central Point's city council turned down Wal-Mart's request in April 2004 because of concerns about traffic, environmental impact, and inconsistency with the city's development plans, which envision a community shopping center on the site Wal-Mart has targeted. Wal-Mart then appealed the city council's decision to the state Land Use Board of Appeals, which ruled in favor of the city on June 9th. "They're pretty tenacious," says Central Point dommunity development director Tom Humphrey. "It's unfortunate they aren't as devoted to the communities they plan businesses in as they are to fighting to have their way." (July 2005) In a significant victory, the Utah Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the City of Sandy, Utah must allow a voter referendum on its decision to rezone a former gravel pit to permit development of a new retail complex that, if developed, will include a Wal-Mar and a Lowe's. The Court's unanimous decision may make it easier for other Utah communities to challenge municipal economic development decisions in the future. According to Justice Matthew Durrant, "We conclude that the exercise of the people's referendum right is of such importance that it properly overrides 'individual economic interests. The referendum right, so fundamental to our conception of government, should not and cannot be so easily thwarted." (July 2005) A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled yesterday that Wal-Mart must re-do part of its Environmental Impact Review (EIR) before moving forward with construction of a new store in Rosemead, California. Judge David Yaffe sided with a citizens' group, Save Our Community, saying that the EIR submitted by Wal-Mart and Rosemead City Hall did not investigate alternative sites nor adequately address the environmental impacts of a 24-hour store on the surrounding neighborhood (July 2005). Home Depot plans to open convenience stores in the parking lots of four of its Nashville-area superstores this December. According to a company spokesperson, "Our research continues to show us that consumers are time-starved. So we know that anything we can do to make the process of shopping easier ... is a good idea" (July 2005). By an 8-3 majority, Vancouver, BC's city council voted down a proposed Wal-Mart. The proposal would have put an environmentally friendly Wal-Mart (with natural light and rooftop windmills) on the site of an abandoned car dealership. Plan supporters and opponents had been grappling with the proposal for four years (July 2005). Tesco, the UK's largest discount superstore, now captures one out of every eight British pounds spent by UK consumers (July 2005). Two of the largest shopping mall companies - Simon Property Group and General Growth Properties - say they aren't too concerned about the glut of mall anchor vacancies caused by recent department store mergers (Sears + K-Mart, Federated + May, etc.) because so many big box stores are expanding and looking for new properties. Best Buy plans to add 200 new stores. Bed Bath & Beyond is adding 85 new stores this year. The Gap plans to open 260 new stores - most of them Old Navy stores - by 2007. Wal-Mart, Target, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Staple's, Lowe's, and Home Depot are also hunting for new space (July 2005). Wal-Mart eyes expansion into Poland, Hungary and Russia (June 2005). Cabela's, an outdoor/sports superstore, will receive a public benefits package worth $72.9 million to open a new store in Buda, Texas. The package - one of the largest on record in Texas - includes $4 million in property tax savings, $20 million in road improvements, and $36 million in site improvements (including an artificial mountain, a 60,000 gallon freshwater aquarium, and a supply of Guadalupe bass to swim around in it). The store is expected to generate $72 million annually in sales (June 2005). Home Depot is buying Georgia-based Williams Brothers Lumber Co., to strengthen its position in the professional building market (June 2005). Wal-Mart is quickly transforming Benton, Arkansas, its headquarters town, into an upscale mecca as businesses have popped up offering everything from Hummers and sushi to pet day-care and pink leather club chairs for the well-paid executives who work for Wal-Mart and its suppliers (June 2005). First Interstate Bank, which has been operating branch banks inside Wal-Mart stores in Montana and Wyoming, has begun closing the in-store banks because of growing competition from Wal-Mart itself, which is slowly moving into providing banking services (June 2005). The Financial Times reports that Wal-Mart is launching a new unit to explore options for acquiring other chains - particularly chain grocery stores - in the US. One of its potential targets: Whole Foods. The city of Parker, Colorado is giving $6+ million worth of tax incentives to Target to stay in Parker and build a larger store there. Target had threatened to close its existing Parker store and build a superstore outside the city limits if it didn't receive assistance. The city will refund use and excise taxes to Target when the certificate of occupancy is issued for the new building, then will split all sales tax revenue above $850,000 annually with Target for nine years, which means that Target will ultimately receive 87 percent of the tax revenue generated, with the city receiving 13 percent (6.22.2005). But in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, the local school board unanimously rejected a proposed $1.4 million tax incentive program for Wal-Mart. The school board's approval, along with that of the township and county commissioners, would have been required in order for Wal-Mart to get the tax breaks. According to school board director Robert Betz, ''The board also felt that, here is the world's largest corporation, and they want a tax break from this little area that can't afford much. They could probably buy and sell this town three times over.'' Actually, according to our calculations, Wal-Mart (with a market capitalization of $202,954,000,000) could buy and sell Tamaqua (whose building stock is worth about $260 million) something like 778 times over, more or less (6.21.2005). Meanwhile, a citizens group in Phoenix is launching a recall initiative against a city councillor who supported construction of a new Target Greatland store that will span two entire blocks in a residential neighborhood there (6.22.2005). The city council in Westminster, Colorado has approved $5 million in sales tax rebates to a developer building a new Wal-Mart in town. (January 2006) Wal-Mart will manage a new shopping mall (and Wal-Mart store) being built in Hangzhou, the capital of China's Zhejiang Province. (December 2005) IKEA, the Swedish retailer loved for its sleek, inexpensive D-I-Y furniture and loathed for its garish, gargantuan bright blue and yellow superstores, plans to open ten small downtown stores in the UK, beginning with a three-floor building that will include a restaurant and residential units in Hillingdon, a London suburb (June 2005). Charlotte, North Carolina's city council approved a $12.3 million tax incentive package for the Midtown Square Mall makeover, a project the Charlotte Observer describes as "a faux Main Street of big-box stores, restaurants, offices and condominiums". Home Depot and Target will anchor the "Main Street" (June 2005). When's the last time a big box store sent you a thank-you gift? (June 2005) Wal-Mart has signed a lease agreement "of as long as 90 years" with the owner of a site in Portland, Oregon on which the city had hoped to build a light rail station (June 2005). A Super H grocery store in Skiatook, Oklahoma is suing Wal-Mart for corporate espionage, claiming Wal-Mart workers have been scanning bar codes on Super H's shelves. In a survey conducted by Ad Age magazine, American adults named Wal-Mart as both the second most trusted and second least trusted company, illustrating a deep division in public sentiment about the world's largest retailer. Target has proposed building a 127,000 square foot store on the site of an industrial building gutted by fire four years ago in downtown Ansonia, Connecticut. (June 2005) Grocery industry analysts predict that Winn-Dixie will close one-third of its stores, primarily in states in which Wal-Mart is now the number one or number two grocer. (June 2005) Plainville, Massachusetts voters turned down a proposal to rezone 8+ acres across from a new Target store from residential to commercial use. (June 2005) Movie producer Robert Greenwald, whose credits include "The Burning Bed" and "The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth about Enron", is producing a movie about Wal-Mart - "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" - to be released this fall. (June 2005) Coming soon to a theatre near you: "Czech Dream", a movie about a fictitious big-box superstore in Prague. (June 2005) Stores magazine reports this month on communities whose local governments use eminent domain to seize homes and small businesses to make way for development of big-box superstores. (June 2005) Asda, the British superstore chain Wal-Mart acquired several years ago, is planning to double the size of its online grocery shopping service. The service will offer 20,000 food and non-food items for home delivery. (June 2005) Northern Ireland officials will announce their decision today about whether to permit construction of a 220,000 square foot John Lewis superstore in Lisburn. Merchants in Lisburn and Belfast are worried that the proposed superstore will harm their downtowns. (June 2005) An Associated Press story appearing in a number of publications in June reports that Wal-Mart is losing its edge and exhibiting symptoms that hurt K-Mart and other rivals in the past: cluttered stores, poor customer service, merchandise that customers don't like, and fading employee morale. (June 2005) With 6,000 stores in 13 countries and sales of $308 billion in 2004, Wal-Mart is the world's largest grocer, according to Planet Retail's annual survey of the world's top 30 grocers. (June 2005) Why isn't anyone happy with dividends and good ol' appreciation anymore? Lowe's is feeling pressure to expand abroad in order to increase shareholder value. (June 2005) Target has announced plans to add 600 new stores in the next five years, bringing its total to about 2,000. It believes it can double that number before exhausting its market opportunities in the USA. Wal-Mart has dropped its plan to build side-by-side stores in Dunkirk, Maryland. It had proposed the side-by-side stores in order to skirt the town's 75,000 size limit for new commercial buildings. At its annual shareholders meeting in June, Target reported that things are looking bright since it unloaded two of its department store chains (Marshall Field's and Mervyn's): earnings from continuing operations are up 30 percent over the same period last year, more than double Wal-Mart's record for the same period. Home Depot reports that, while its first-quarter earnings are up 14 percent, it is closing almost one-third of its Expo stores. Expo offers upscale fixtures and home furnishings. Two Pennsylvania state lawmakers want Wal-Mart to buy the abandoned 410,000 square foot Hoffman Mills factory building in Shippensburg and use it to manufacture textiles for sale in its stores, hiring back many of the mill's former workers. A South Carolina town approached Wal-Mart earlier this year with a similar proposal for reusing an abandoned factory building there, but Wal-Mart turned them down (May 2005). Wal-Mart officials have announced plans to increase orders of goods from India by 30 percent. They're visiting India this week, seeking to expand the company's foothold there (May 2005). Target is thinking about moving into an 800,000 square foot former Macy's store in Boston's Downtown Crossing neighborhood (May 2005). Wal-Mart is opening its first store in Beijing, where it plans to eventually open three discount stores and two Sam's Clubs (May 2005). A new Wal-Mart planned for Montcross, North Carolina will have "a suggestion of Gothic architecture", resembling neighboring Belmont Abbey (May 2005). Scripps Howard News Service's Bonnie Erbe reports that sprawl development costs communities more in services than it generates in revenue, citing studies from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, among others (May 2005). Businessworld magazine reports that Wal-Mart has had numerous meetings with Indian government officials recently, paving the way to the company's entry into India (June 2005). Escondido, California's city council has approved plans for construction of a 158,000 square foot Wal-Mart (June 2005). The City of Taunton, Massachusetts is considering suing neighboring Raynham over its decision to permit construction of a new Wal-Mart, citing likely traffic problems (June 2005). Best Buy plans to open a three-level, 29,000 square foot store on the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 44th Street in New York (June 2005). Wal-Mart has announced plans to roll out 250 Supercenters, 40 Sam's Clubs, 45 discount stores and 30 Neighborhood Markets in 2005, totaling about 55 million square feet of new retail space (June 2005). Aberdeen SD's city council has approved an ordinance limiting the amount of street frontage that can be used for commercial development along Highway 16, effectively blocking Wal-Mart from building a new supercenter there (June 2005). A big victory: Voters in San Luis Obispo CA have rejected a proposal to build Dalidio Ranch Marketplace, a massive shopping complex that would have dwarfed San Luis Obispo's historic and award-winning downtown in size and would almost certainly have caused its economic demise (June 2005). Meanwhile, over in the Central Valley, developers have filed plans to turn 130 acres of farmland into a 750,000 square foot shopping center, including big-box retailers, adding to the 200,000 square feet of retail space already there (June 2005). A Carnegie Mellon University student's website parodying Wal-Mart has been removed from his internet service provider's server after Wal-Mart pressured the company to do so (June 2005). A citizens group in Plano TX is filing an ethics complaint and considering a recall drive against the city's mayor over her handling of zoning approvals for a new Wal-Mart. The group says the mayor is "pro developer and anti homeowner" (May 2005). Lowe's has offered to contribute $1 million for open space preservation to Salt Lake City if the city closes two streets and an alley where the hardware superstore wants to build a new store (May 2005). Wal-Mart is opening a 150,000 square foot, three-story store in Richmond CA's Hilltop Mall, one of a small number of retail giants that usually opt for standalone stores that have recently opened stores in shopping malls (May 2005). The Center for Community and Corporate Ethics ran a full-page ad in the Chicago Tribune, accusing Wal-Mart of costing American taxpayers $1.6 billion annually (April 2005) The Washington, DC city council is considering a bill that would prohibit construction of big-box stores over 80,000 square feet if more than 15 percent of the proposed store will sell nontaxable items (like groceries) (April 2005). Legislators in South Carolina are working on a bill that would provide a 25 percent state tax credit to developers who rehabilitate or demolish vacant big box stores or strip shopping centers. In his new book "Built for Growth", former Starbuck's exec Arthur Rubinfeld takes on Wal-Mart. " "It is one thing in 1962 for Wal-Mart to bring inexpensive shopping to a rural town," he writes. "It is another thing 40 years later to bring visual blight to the open land next to a town or suburb. It is one thing to pay low salaries when you start in an impoverished region where other salaries are even lower. It is another 40 years later to be the largest company in the world and offer pay and benefits below the industry norm." Fayette, West Virginia's city council has voted to approve development of a new shopping mall with a Super Wal-Mart on the site of a Civil War battlefield. Voters in Bennington, Vermont rejected a proposed cap on the size of new retail stores built in the community. Madison, Wisconsin has a new ordinance regulating big-box store development. Julia Christensen, a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, spent last summer driving around the US with a videocamera, documenting what communities are doing with empty big box stores. In the event we forget why regional collaboration is so important... Metuchen, New Jersey is suing the town next door, Edison, over Edison's plans to build a new Wal-Mart right on the boundary between the two communities. Two Washington state communities - Tumwater and Yelm - have joined forces to fight two proposed Wal-Mart stores together. A last-minute amendment to the federal highway bill would give Wal-Mart $37 million to widen the road leading to the corporation's headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. The House of Representatives has already approved the bill, which now goes to the Senate for action. If you missed it before, you can hear Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" commentary on Wal-Mart here. Wal-Mart announces plans to build at least five new supercenters in Nevada Wal-Mart submits application for Gresham OR store without traffic study Wal-Mart avoids retail size limit by splitting a proposed store in Dunkirk, Maryland into two halves According to the April 2005 edition of The Shelby Report, Wal-Mart has now captured 35 percent of all grocery sales in Birmingham, Alabama. Wal-Mart denies report of free rent at Riverview (Mesa AZ) Candidates want Super Wal-Mart (Gainesville FL) Phone survey about Wal-Mart raises questions (Bennington VT) Residents oppose planned Wal-Mart (Chester PA)
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