Planning Board Rejects Wal-Mart’s Faux “Village” Look
August 31, 2005
Wal-Mart lost its first key vote in Conover, North Carolina, when the Planning Board this week voted 6-4 against rezoning of land for a supercenter,
August 2005
People Hit Wal-Mart Worse Than Hurricane
August 31, 2005
It took an Act of God in New Orleans, Louisiana to do what neighborhood activists tried to do to Wal-Mart: shut it down. Reports out
Wal-Mart Sues City Over Rejection
August 30, 2005
Wal-Mart’s founder was very clear that if a community did not want a Wal-Mart for whatever reason, he did not want his company to go
Local Resident Willing To Stand In Front of Wal-Mart Bulldozers
August 30, 2005
The City Council in Austin, Minnesota ignored their local businesses and voted instead to rezone land for the world’s largest retailer. It’s not as if
Citizens Take Lowe’s To Court
August 30, 2005
Lowe’s may be improving home improvement, but residents in Sonora, California see the giant retailer’s proposed 112,000 s.f. store as no improvement at all to
There Is Life After Wal-Mart Is Defeated.
August 29, 2005
Just about a year ago, Sprawl-Busters wrote that Wal-Mart was giving up the battle in Mission, Kansas. On August, 28, 2004, we wrote, “Wal-Mart is
Anti-Wal-Mart Flags Hoisted High Over Township
August 29, 2005
The rain and a muddy farm field couldn’t keep Wal-Mart opponents away on August 27th, when anti-Wal-Mart banners were raised high over Portsmouth, Michigan, next
Home Depot Left Thirsting for Water
August 29, 2005
Home Depot has been hung out to dry, thanks to local activists in Lacey, New Jersey. If the giant retailer thought it was going to
Hunter College Report Says Wal-Mart Is An Economic Trojan Horse
August 26, 2005
A report released this past week by the Hunter College Center for Community Planning & Development, and the New York City Public Advocate, concludes that
Human Rights Commission Says Wal-Mart At Pyramids Illegal
August 26, 2005
Mexican activist Jaime Lagunez reports to Sprawl-Busters that Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission has declared the construction of Wal Mart at the Teotihuacan pyramid site
Mayor Denies It’s Wal-Mart
August 24, 2005
All it takes these days is the hot breath of a Wal-Mart to get a community up in arms. In Mill Creek, Washington, reports are
Wal-Mart Plans Distribution Center, Thanks Schwarzenegger.
August 23, 2005
To help feed its hopes for a superstore empire in California,Wal-Mart has announced this week that it is proposing a regional distribution center in Merced,
City Chooses A Park Instead Of A Wal-Mart
August 23, 2005
Chalk up the 7th. Wal-Mart defeat just in the past two weeks. The Gainesville City Commission voted 4-3 this week not to trade the 32
We Do Not Like You, Sam I Am.
August 20, 2005
Citizens in the village of Grafton, Wisconsin did a little retail research, and after visiting a Costco Warehouse Club, decided they wanted a Costco in
Alleged Shoplifter Dies In Wal-Mart Parking Lot.
August 20, 2005
Stacy Driver, 30, of Cleveland, Ohio, a master carpenter and the father of a two year old son, died on Sunday, August 7th. from a
City Council Passes Big Box Health Insurance Ordinance
August 20, 2005
This week the New York, New York City Council passed, on a vote of 46-1, a city ordinance that requires stores that sell groceries to
Wal-Mart Loses In Unanimous Decision
August 20, 2005
The final word will not be in until September, but this week Wal-Mart lost its first crucial vote in Avondale, Arizona. The Southwest Valley Republic
Overflow Of Anti-Wal-Mart Residents Forces Hearing Delay
August 19, 2005
Too many anti-Wal-Mart people showed up this week at the Harrisburg, North Carolina Town Hall. The overflow crowd of more than 120 people forced the
Wal-Mart Disappears From Plan
August 18, 2005
The incredible vanishing Wal-Mart is gone from Independence Township, Michigan, leaving not even a shadow behind. After citizens gained national attention on Sprawl-Busters for proposing
Residents Upset With Wal-Mart Plans, Despite Moss Color
August 18, 2005
Avondale, Arizona already has a Wal-Mart supercenter, but as in hundreds of other communities, the retailer is willing to cannibalize its existing stores to put
Traffic Issues Kill Wal-Mart Plans
August 17, 2005
In a press release dated August 17th, the City of Gresham, Oregon’s Community and Economic Development Department announced that the city has rejected a proposal
Wal-Mart Promises Bavarian-Looking Wal-Mart
August 17, 2005
The Saginaw News reported on August 15th that officials in Frankenmuth, Michigan, which celebrates its Bavarian heritage as a theme throughout the community, are being
State Hits Wal-Mart With $1.15 Million Environmental Fine
August 16, 2005
Connecticut’s Attorney General this week blamed Wal-Mart for showing “a pattern of national disregard” for environmental laws, and said the company’s environmental lawbreaking was a
Opponents Work to Stop Wal-Mart Bank
August 15, 2005
Here’s something you can take to the bank: the banking industry in America will suffer if the world’s largest retailer is allowed to cross the
Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, Home Depot, BJs Fined for Environmental Pollution
August 15, 2005
Four major big box chain stores in Massachusetts have been fined by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection for violating air quality and hazardous waste
Wal-Mart Accepts Another Defeat
August 12, 2005
On June 16, 2005, Sprawl-Busters reported that the Environmental Development Commission in St. Petersburg, Florida had voted 5-2 to reject Wal-Mart’s application for a special
Wal-Mart’s Dog & Pony Show Gets Sent To the Dogs
August 11, 2005
It definitely wasn’t the kind of reception that Wal-Mart wanted. The corporation lined up three venues this week in the community of Livonia, Michigan to
Traffic Congestion Puts Wal-Mart Plan In Jeopardy
August 10, 2005
Traffic tie-ups have tied up Wal-Mart’s plans to build a supercenter in Gresham, Oregon. City officials released a report recently that warned a superstore could
Wal-Mart Uses Computer Program To Lower Workers’ Hours If Sales Drop
August 10, 2005
According to a confidential Wal-Mart training memo for managers, the giant retailer instructs store managers to decrease the hours of its workers if sales projections
Five Years After Wal-Mart Came To Town
August 9, 2005
Sprawl-Busters reported on October 25, 2000, that Wal-Mart wanted to shut down its existing discount store in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and build a supercenter nearby.
Residents Organizing to Stop Wal-Mart
August 8, 2005
Once again, Wal-Mart has chosen a very small town with the wrong zoning, and is the process of pushing its way past local wishes. The
Home Depot Worker Finds Job Disappears
August 6, 2005
Good things happen when Home Depot comes to town. At least, that’s what the company says. But here’s a story that came into Sprawl-Busters about
Wal-Mart Finally Pulls Out of Town
August 6, 2005
In May of 2004, Sprawl-Busters carried a story about the community of Ellenwood, Georgia, which was organizing to fight off a Wal-Mart. That was 15
Wal-Mart Won’t Waste Calories Over Back-To-School Boycott
August 6, 2005
Shoppers across America are being asked to find someplace besides Wal-Mart to purchase their back-to-school supplies, in protest of the retailer’s violation of child labor
Residents Alarmed By Report Of Wal-Mart Interest
August 6, 2005
All it takes is the breath of a Wal-Mart development in Oregon to create a backdraft of community opposition. The retail giant has had tough
City Agrees to Hear Citizen’s Wal-Mart Complaints
August 6, 2005
More updates from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where residents have sent in this story to bring Sprawl-Busters up to date: “After a 7 month uphill battle,
Wal-Mart Blows Appeal For Wrong Postage
August 6, 2005
Wal-Mart must have gone “postal” this week, when its attorneys failed to properly notify defendents in a lawsuit because they used the wrong postage on
See No Wal-Mart, Speak No Wal-Mart
August 6, 2005
Residents in Yelm, Washington have to be careful what they say these days. They just might utter the banned words that strike fear into the
Cabela’s Big Box Wants $10 Million In Welfare Payments
August 6, 2005
The low price of big box stores keeps rising. This week, Cabela’s, which bills itself as the world’s largest outdoor outfitter, headquartered in Sidney, Nebraska,
Wal-Mart PR Guy Sent Packing
August 5, 2005
As a footnote to yesterday’s story about the citizen’s victory in Newport News, Virginia, over Wal-Mart, here’s a story sent to Sprawl-Busters about how the
Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe’s. You Name It.
August 5, 2005
Think your community is overrun with sprawl? The residents of Hadley, Massachusetts, which used to be a picturesque postcard farming community, has transformed itself over
Wal-Mart Energy Savings Called ‘Insignificant Greenwashing.’
August 4, 2005
Wal-Mart recently opened its “green” store in McKinney, Texas with a full-blown media effort to spin the company as an environmentally-friendly giant. Kevin Gainer, Managing
Citizens Force Wal-Mart To Withdraw Plan
August 4, 2005
It didn’t take long for the news in Newport News, Virginia to spread: Wal-Mart withdrew its plans today to build a superstore in this community
Residents Call Wetlands Home Depot ‘Ludicrous’
August 2, 2005
Residents in Lorain, Ohio think that Home Depot is all wet. The giant home improvement chain wants to locate a store on 63.5 acres of
Wal-Mart Developer Contributes to City Councilor
August 2, 2005
Residents in Albuquerque, New Mexico have been bought off with a few trees and design changes to a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter. But one City Councilor
Wal-Mart Drops Lawsuit Over Liquor License.
August 2, 2005
Residents in Macomb, Illinois are raising their glasses to Circuit Court Judge William Henderson, who dismissed the civil lawsuit that retail giant Wal-Mart filed against
After Defeat, Wal-Mart Is Back One Year Later
August 2, 2005
Last June, Sprawl-Busters narrated the story of Thornton, Colorado’s victory over a Wal-Mart rezoning. But like a weed with deep roots, Wal-Mart keeps coming up
Home Depot Gets Subpoena On Hazardous Waste
August 2, 2005
This week Home Depot got slapped with a grand jury subpoena, served up by the U.S. Attorney??s office in Los Angeles. The grand jury wants