The City Council in Saline, Michigan voted unanimously last week to oppose a Wal-Mart supercenter. There’s just one small problem, a matter of geography. The
The Overton Park residential/commercial redevelopment project in Lubbock, Texas has been described as “the nation’s largest privately-funded revitalization project”, and residents in Lubbock were distressed
It’s getting harder and harder to build those Wal-Mart supercenters. Consider the case of Urbana, Illinois. We first wrote about Urbana in January, 2004, when
A group in Toronto, Canada, called the Davenport-Shaw Resident’s Association (DSRA) has written to all the Mayoral candidates in the city, outlining a 10 point
Almost everywhere Wal-Mart wants to go these days, the good corporate citizens run into people who don’t want a thing to do with them. Here’s
The “old barns and pastoral fields” of Lacey, New Jersey, are on the endangered list, as another Wal-Mart superstore bears down on a 200 year
The timing couldn’t have been worse for Wal-Mart. The country’s dominant retailer was drawing negative headlines across the country once again for racial discrimination in
Instead of advertising its everyday low prices, and instead of giving its workers a raise, the Wal-Mart corporation has chosen instead to spend hundreds of
Wal-Mart has run out of running room in Jacksonville, Florida. Residents on the southside of the city have handed Wal-Mart another defeat — but this
Home Depot over the past several years has hired the elderly and veterans to feed its expanding empire, as it displaces smaller competitors, while getting
Home Depot over the past several years has hired the elderly and veterans to feed its expanding empire, as it displaces smaller competitors, while getting
This story stinks, literally. Giant retail stores make lousy neighbors. Local officials can talk all they want about buffers, and berms and setbacks, but the
Construction at a Wal-Mart supercenter in Sweetwater, Texas suddenly came to a halt this past week when it was discovered that one of Wal-Mart’s contractors
After a year’s worth of rumors that Wal-Mart was coming, a sigh of relief greeted the news this week that the city of Crystal River,
As expected, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on September 18th terminated a bill that would have made big box retailers pay for economic impact studies of
According to an article posted on TheStreet.com, poor people are dampening our country’s economic recovery because they’re not spending as much as needed to keep
Residents in Hermantown, Minnesota have an armload of concerns about a proposed Wal-Mart supercenter, and have formed a new group to protect their interests. The
Angry protestors who have written to Wal-Mart in opposition to their construction of a superstore near the ancient pyramids at Teotihuacan, Mexico, 18 miles from
A planner from a small town in Michigan says that Wal-Mart is “reining in” the size of its superstores, and turning to smaller, more cost-efficient
The Associated Press reported this week that a death at Home Depot in 2000 has resulted in a second company having to pay the family
Thrilled residents of Denver, Colorado who helped push a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market out of their Elitch Gardens community, say they are now excited about the
Residents in Three Rivers, Michigan are on high alert, now that a Wal-Mart superstore proposal has surfaced in their midst. Here’s a report from the
Some residents of Great Britain have conducted an informal pricing survey involving Wal-Mart and its competitors that they say surprised them. Here’s their account of
It’s one thing to shop at Home Depot. It’s quite another to be their neighbor. Residents in Massena, New York, are learning that having Home
Residents on the north side of Denver, Colorado were thrilled to hear the news this week that Wal-Mart is shutting down plans to build a
Submit a Wal-Mart plan to local officials, and then stand back. That seems to be the reality facing the giant retailer these days. Dozens of
It took six hours, but at 1 pm, under cover of darkness, the Planning Commmission in American Canyon, California narrowly voted (3-2) to approve a
We have been following the case of Florence, South Carolina since February of 2003. In the lastest turn of events, a lawyer representing citizens has
It was reported this week that Wal-Mart is trying to put behind it one of its more embarassing legal problems — the use of illegal
The Globe & Mail reports this week from Montreal that the Labor Board in Quebec has rejected Wal-Mart’s challenge to the unionization of its workers
The best citizen’s quote of the month in a Wal-Mart protest comes from Deptford, New Jersey, where dozens of protesters braved rainy weather to picket
If at first you don’t succeed — try the other side of town. Residents in Middletown, Deleware beat off a Wal-Mart store two years ago
It took six hours, but at 1 pm, under cover of darkness, the Planning Commmission in American Canyon, California narrowly voted (3-2) to approve a
The Rosemead, California City Council ended nearly 10 months of controversy this week by voting to approve a Wal-Mart supercenter in this city of 53,000
The City Council in Desoto, Texas apparently had its mind made up, and didn’t want to be confused by the facts. The Council this week
According to today’s New York Times, Wal-Mart has admitted to a “management failure” by neglecting to get its side of the company’s story out to
The course of development never did run smooth — at least, for Wal-Mart that’s increasingly the case. What used to be a cut-and-dried three month
Yet another Wal-Mart project is heading to court, not to a ribbon-cutting. Citizens in Westbrook, Maine, have taken the world’s largest retailer to court, fighting
All it took was the shadow of a 150,000 s.f. Wal-Mart to kick the small town of Gunnison, Colorado into high gear. The Denver Post
Residents in the Mexican community of Teotihuacan, outside of Mexico City, are desperately trying to keep Wal-Mart from affecting an important cultural icon in their
Add one more lawsuit to Wal-Mart’s impressive legal wardrobe. The Gloucester County Times in southern New Jersey reports today that Rowan University is suing developers
Mokena, IL. Fresh from defeat in Chicago, Wal-Mart has more problems in Illinois. Local residents in the village of Mokena, Illinois this week didn’t warm
One of the major newspapers in North Carolina has editorialized against Wal-Mart as a hypocritical, predator company. In an August 27th editorial titled “Actions Speak
They all do it. All the retail giants try to sock local taxpayers for whatever tax incentives they can get. Why should Lowe’s be any
Wal-Mart’s plans to build a superstore on 240 acres of land in Mesa Grande, Arizona was greeting this week with grand gestures of ridicule. The
The strategies written here were produced by Sprawl-Busters in 2006 at the request of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), mainly for citizen groups that were fighting Walmart. But the tips for fighting unwanted development apply to any project—whether its fighting Dollar General, an Amazon warehouse, or a Home Depot.
Big projects, or small, these BATTLEMART TIPS will help you better understand what you are up against, and how to win your battle.