Sara Lin & Monte Morin write about a familiar topic - local opposition to Wal-Mart Supercenters:
A bid by the world's largest corporation to bypass uncooperative elected officials and take its aggressive expansion plans to voters failed Tuesday, as Inglewood residents overwhelmingly rejected Wal-Mart's proposal to build a colossal retail and grocery center without an environmental review or public hearings.Posted by Jim at April 7, 2004 01:24 PM | TrackBackWith all votes counted Tuesday evening, 4,575 Inglewood residents had voted in favor of Wal-Mart's plan, while 7,049 had voted against it
BLOGS by definition don't have local boundaries or reach, but for those of you reading this BLOG who are from the Madison area, there is the same issue brewing in modest Stoughton Wisc -- with apparently equally vocal sides both for and against the big box arriving to disrupt the bucolic pseudo-norwegian landscape. From what I hear, lawns are blanketed with political signs for and against the arrival of WalMart.
Incidentally, just got back from giving a talk in Fayetteville Arkansas at the Sam Walton SOB, (school of biz, that is). An exceptionally well-endowed school courtesy of Sam and family. Despite this fact, the faculty are wary of the shadow cast from Bentonville, and all tell some rather interesting stories about the company. Apparently (and shareholders probably applaud this) the low cost (cheap?) values run all the way to HQ with the world headquarters being a rather dumpy 70s- era place.
Prompts strong emotions whereever it may be.
Posted by: Mary Zellmer-Bruhn at April 10, 2004 08:36 PM