Wal-Mart fight heats up in California
While cities challenge expansion plans, the retail giant touts benefits.
from the June 19, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
In Long Beach, the fifth-largest city in the state, Wal-Mart reportedly spent $270,000 on a successful petition drive to put a measure on the ballot in 2008 that would allow big retailers to sell groceries. City leaders banned such sales last year. The city currently has several "regular" Wal-Marts.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Wal-Mart spent another $300,000 to support two imperiled pro-Wal-Mart council members in the L.A. suburb of Rosemead.
In the northern California town of Turlock, a ban sparked a Wal-Mart appeal to the California Supreme Court, which in 2006 declined to take any action.
In perhaps the most striking brouhaha of all, the tiny Bay Area city of Hercules is wrapped up in a court battle as it tries to take over a plot of land by eminent domain to keep it out of Wal-Mart's hands.
And in San Diego, an expensive fight looms, despite the city's business-friendly reputation.
Wal-Mart is "just so darned convenient, and stuff's so cheap," says Kris Nelson, owner of Bluestocking Books, a small independent bookstore. "There's nothing wrong with that, but the problem is when we pay for our goods to be cheaper and from elsewhere, our local economy doesn't get anything back."
Wal-Mart also comes under fire because of its opposition to unionization efforts and its treatment of employees.
However, not every big retailer is seen as bad news. "There's a reason there's not a Target Watch," says Nu Wexler of the national watchdog group Wal-Mart Watch. In fact, a loophole in the proposed San Diego restrictions allows membership stores like Costco to open huge stores while Wal-Mart cannot.
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