Anti-Wal-Mart billboard at proposed store site torn down

[icymist]

Tuesday, June 15, 2004 · Last updated 7:08 a.m. PT

Anti-Wal-Mart billboard at proposed store site torn down

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAKEWOOD, Wash. -- A billboard erected by Wal-Mart opponents at the proposed store site in this Tacoma suburb has been torn down at the demand of the Bentonville, Ark., retailer.

The 5-by-11-foot sign proclaiming "Don't Wal-Mart Bridgeport. Not here!" on Bridgeport Way West was up for three days last week.

Members of the Bridgeport Way Community Association, which has fought the company's plan for a 150,000-square-foot superstore for two years, paid $370 for the advertising space near the Meadow Park Golf Course.

"We feel the people who travel this way have a right to know what's coming," said Matt Guss, an association member. "(Wal-Mart's) pockets are limitless and ours are shallow, so we're always looking to broaden our support base."

The billboard owner, Clear Channel Outdoor, a division of the entertainment corporation Clear Channel, took down the sign because it violated company policies because Wal-Mart owns the land, spokesman Chris Artman said.

More at this

[northzax]

1. and what's the problem?

it's standard that owners of the land that billboards rest on have veto power over the content of that billboard. what did they expect?

[Sean138]

2. I'm confused...

They have a fucking GOLF COURSE but they don't want a Wal-Mart because they're "poor"? They don't fool me...Wal-Mart hires minorities, and you know that any town with a golf course won't stand for that kind of opportunity. That's what their protest is about.

[DenverDem]

3. Horseshit.

The protest is about defiling the community with a giant mall in a box that will destroy the local mom and pop retailers and increase crime (as has been proven).

[fudge stripe cookays]

5. AND traffic problems.

Bravo to these residents, and fuck Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart is a boil on the butt of America, and anything anyone can do to defy their power and money warms my heart. Too bad this protest didn't go as far as it could.

[arwalden]

17. ;-)

(LOL... Still Giggling)

[Voltaire99]

26. Agreed.

But given its status as the nation's largest employer, it's gone a little past being "a boil on the butt of America."

We're talking Elephantiasis now.

[eyesroll]

4. Plenty of communities that have golf courses also have poor people

The city of Milwaukee owns a few, and nobody would say that there aren't poor people in Milwaukee. Racine, too. Often, the "haves" live a block away from the "have nots." (In Racine, I lived in a middle-class apartment complex, next door to subsidized housing and less than a mile from S.C. Johnson's family compound.)

Wal-Mart hires non-union, low-wage workers and puts local businesses that pay better out of business. Is making $6.75 an hour with no advancement potential and no benefits "opportunity?"

[Frances]

7. Didn't I read that 40% of Walmart workers' children are on

medicaid in Georgia because Walmart pays so poorly?

And aren't there many lawsuits against Walmart for such things as locking employees inside the store at night? Didn't one employee have a medical emergency and was unable to get out to go to the emergency room?

I thought these were some things I read about WalMart. Does anyone have a link to those stories?

[eyesroll]

9. Links

Workers Assail Night Lock-Ins by Wal-Mart
(archived from NYT)
http://www.dsausa.org/lowwage/walmart/2004/Workers%20Assail%20Night%20Lock-Ins.html

Wal-Mart:  Driving Down Standards in the Food Industry
http://www.teamster.org/00news/nr_WW_1.htm
>The majority of Wal-Mart employees, both full and part time, working year round qualify for federally-funded food stamps — paid for by taxpayers.

That Ain't Right: Wal-Mart Values
http://www.metrobeat.net/gbase/Expedite/Content?oid=oid%3A2663
>Jim Hightower reports that Wal-Mart actually eliminates three better paying jobs for every two jobs it creates by crushing local retailers and manufacturers.

[KansDem]

13. Al Franken talk about this on his "O'Franken Factor"

Last week, I believe...

He talk with someone in social services for a rural area who stated she saw a large number of people who worked for a local Wal-Mart applying for food stamps and Medicaid.

A sad development for the American worker, and sorry indictment of American corporations.

There should be stories similar to this one circulating somewhere on the Internet.

[saigon68]

19. You are right Walmart kids in Georgia receive state medical benefits

And there are like 30,000 of them

[phatkatt]

6. Yeah, it is weird to agree with the rich elite, isn't it?

Here in Huntsville, AL, in one of the most exclusive areas of teh 'burbs, the locals are fighting the building of a Wall Mart. Of course, they are doing it because they feel that Wall Mart (like almost everyone else) is beneath them and only low-income loser shop there.

[Frances]

11. I think people from all incomes will go to a Walmart if it is nearby

Walmarts don't hurt the rich; they hurt the middle class.

Walmarts force out the local stores owned by people who live in the community so these store owners lose their income.

The other way that Walmart hurts the middle class is that they pay their employees so poorly. Right now Safeway pays its employees a middle class wage. But if Safeway has to compete with Walmart, either Safeway will go out of business or it will have to reduce wages. (Grocery stores operate on a very low profit margin and cutting wages is one of the few ways they can save money)

If Walmart doesn't offer health insurance and it pays lower class wages, who do you think will have to pay for medical care for Walmart employees?

That's right--you and me, Mr. and Ms. Taxpayer. In other words, we taxpayers subsidize Walmart.

[benburch]

8. A golf course is not expensive!

If you have some land (and cities often have park land they were given ages ago) all you need is a little landscaping and some greenskeeping for a very basic golf course. I've seen some really small (the fairways crossed each other) 9 hole municipal courses where blue collar guys play golf with secondhand clubs and recycled balls.

[donco6]

10. That's a pretty gross non-sequitur

It doesn't even make sense.

The truth is, once Wal Mart enters the local economy, it drives out all other small businesses who don't have the buying power of the Walmonopoly.

Wal Mart purchases so much that they can actually close factories just by deciding not to purchase a manufactured item. In my opinion, that's not good for the US economy. It smacks of the same type of manipulations that Gould pulled back before antitrust laws were invented.

[arwalden]

18. My RV Dealer Confessed To Me That The Reason He Doesn't Sell

porta-potties and a wider selection of RV black-water chemicals is because Walmart sells them for LESS than his wholesale cost. He would do better to go buy in bulk at walmart... but instead he just redirects his customers there instead (and uses the shelf space for other items).

-- Allen

[playahata1]

24. As if "minorities" WANT to work for minimum wage and no benefits.

As if "minorities" want to work for Wally World in the first place.

Methinks people of color have better and higher aspirations than that.

[gulfcoastliberal]

12. Fuck Wal-Mart

I applaud any community that opposes this disgusting business for any reason. Remember in low-income Inglewood, CA they opposed a superstore and wal-mart went so far as to get a special ballot initiative - which they LOST. No one in their right mind wants a wal-mart in their neighborhood. Wal-mart is bad for American workers and bad for business.

[maxsolomon]

14. its like buying tv time to advocate NOT shopping

we have "free speech", but not in the realm of business. the one thing you can't say is "don't buy it".

'to save the economy, we must buy. buy anything" - dwight eisenhower

[Tommy_Douglas]

20. I happen to like that...

Anything that hurts Walmart is a good thing in my books.

[TO Kid]

15. Bet their competition paid for the billboard

In Canada it's SOP for the Hudson's Bay Company, the nation's oldest retailer, to finance groups who try to block Wal-Mart expansion.

[el_gato]

16. your claim is baseless

People all over the country are sick of Walmart.
They are also sick of the generic bullshit taking
over and destroying all the local character of their towns.

[TO Kid]

23. Not according to the courts

HBC has been ordered on several occasions to pay legal costs incurred by Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is not a big threat here (Loblaws and Canadian Tire have been operating in a similar fashion for more than two decades before Wal-Mart arrived), but HBC decided that instead of being competitive, it would be more cost-effective to filibuster the zoning process to delay new store openings by the competition.

[fudge stripe cookays]

21. Good for the Bay!

I have more respect for them now. Even though their wedding registry is prehistoric.

[progressivebydesign]

22. Okay.. some info on Lakewood/Bridgeport so you can be informed.

I see a lot of barbs tossed out there about the people of the Bridgeport/Lakewood area. I live about 14 miles from there.

Lakewood is a city below Tacoma. It borders or contains (not sure which) two military bases: McChord AFB, and Fort Lewis (Army). The demographics are extremely diverse. There are some areas, near Gravelly Lake, that are pretty affluent, with lovely old homes. Other areas are very much the opposite. There are a lot of military families, some low income housing, some really trashy retail. The downtown of Lakewood is very pretty and old fashioned. The City is trying desperately now to really get a cohesive look and feeling to the town. They are trying to consolidate the adult businesses (which appear to be necessary in miitary towns, I guess), into one area. They have built a very classy outdoor mall recently.

The Bridgeport area is rather nicely treed. It's a main thoroughfare. Except for a large, ugly Fred Meyer complex, it's mostly smaller shops and homes. I can see why they don't want the Walmart there. The town is trying to rebuild their image and consolidate their downtown.

I live in a nice little fishing village just over the bridge from Tacoma. This town is one of the only ones that successfully fought Walmart. This was several years ago... I only hope they don't try it again. They wanted to tear down a lovely old motel, hundreds of cedar trees, fill in a large duck and wildlife pond for parking.. etc. They have no conscience.

[Ruby Romaine]

25. there's a good series in about Wal-Mart in LA Times online

Special Three-Part Series: "The Wal-Mart Effect"
about how walmart is destroying the economy everywhere.
http://www.latimes.com