PBS TV “STORE WARS” FILM TO AIR ON PBS
May 28, 2001
PBS- The film “Store Wars” will air on PBS stations on June 7th. The film, directed by Micha X.Peled, narrates the battle of a small
Al Norman
Shoplifter Killed at Wal-Mart
May 23, 2001
Most new Wal-Marts come fully equipped with interior and exterior cameras trained on the shopping floors and on the parking lot. Although no retailer likes
Wal-Mart Still A Loser
May 18, 2001
The ballots have been counted in “Question 300” — and Wal-Mart is still the big loser in Glendale, Arizona. Last December, Wal-Mart’s lawyer in Glendale,
Falling Merchandise Bills Get Hearing
May 17, 2001
On May 16, 2001, the Massachusetts General Court’s Committee on Commerce & Labor held hearings on legislation regarding “falling merchandise” at working warehouse stores. Here
Wal-Mart A “Likely Loser”
May 16, 2001
“At the end of the day,” former Wal-Mart CEO David Glass has said, “the only vote that really matters is the consumer’s.” At the end
Wal-Mart Audits 7,000 factories
May 13, 2001
On June 1, 2001, Wal-Mart stockholders will gather at Bud Walton Arena at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. On the agenda is a Shareholder’s
Wal-Mart Must Pay Vendor $51.5 Million
May 12, 2001
A report dated June 23, 2001 indicates that a state court jury in Missouri has awarded a vending-machine company $1.5 million in compensatory damages, and
Wal-Mart Puts Itself on the Ballot
May 7, 2001
On Tuesday, May 15th. voters in Glendale, Arizona will get the chance to overturn the wisdom of their own City Council, which voted to keep
Mayberry Beats the Lion
May 7, 2001
I’ve just returned from a one day visit to Mayberry, RFD. It was my first trip back to Mayberry since the early ’60s, when I
The Carnivorous Wal-Mart
May 6, 2001
Big box developers have never been shy about locating on environmentally sensitive land. In Pensacola, Florida, Wal-Mart has set its superstore heart on developing property
Home Depot Wants Special Zoning
May 6, 2001
Sprawl-busters in Talbot County Maryland are pushing for a voter referendum to block the development of a Home Depot and a Lowe’s on the outskirts
Memorial Day Boycott of CVS
May 6, 2001
At least nine communities in New York and Connecticut are organizing a Memorial Day weekend boycott of CVS drug stores to protest the company’s takover
Double decker Wal-Mart Gets Decked
April 28, 2001
Residents in Honolulu are cautiously optimistic today over a report in today’s Honolulu Advertiser that a planned “double-decker” Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club project is dead.
What’s Up Dock with Home Depot?
April 27, 2001
Get out your dictionary! According to sprawl-busters in Shrewsbury, MA, Home Depot is playing with words to try and gain special permit approval for a
Look Who’s Behind the Depot!
April 8, 2001
More than one million current and retired public employees in California are financially helping companies like Home Depot to bulldoze hundreds of communities and financially
Wal-Marsh Proposal Sinks
April 7, 2001
Could a rubber Wal-Mart float in a marsh? Citizens in Bangor, Maine may never find out if a “Wal-Marsh” would float in their city, because
Home Depot quits on home town plan
April 5, 2001
It’s official! Residents in Northwest Georgia are celebrating over the announcement yesterday that Home Depot will NOT be pursuing a store in the Howell Mill
June Referendum on Size Cap.
April 5, 2001
Voters in Belfast,Maine will get a chance to send a non-binding message to their City Council about the limits of sprawl in their city. This
Wal-Mart Expansion Get Nixed
April 3, 2001
E. Stanley Kroenke sits on the Board of Directors of Wal-Mart. A prolific developer of Wal-Marts under the name The Kroenke Group, one of his
EPA Sues Wal-Mart on Environment
April 1, 2001
The environment is very important to Wal-Mart. They discovered the environment as an issue 12 years ago. On their website, Wal-Mart says: “In 1989, Wal-Mart
City Sued Over Wal-Mart
March 30, 2001
Mason City, Iowa holds the Guinness Book record on number of times they have rejected a Wal-Mart. The city’s Planning & Zoning Commission has turned
Wal Mart Elementary School
March 25, 2001
No, Wal-Mart isn’t getting into the public school business — or is it? Residents in Lake in the Hills, Illinois, reported this week that their
Home Depot’s Race Woes
March 24, 2001
According to a fax alert from the National Home Center News, Home Depot has more racial dissention in its ranks. The NHCN reports that 18
Home Depot Pulls Out; Size Cap Passes
March 24, 2001
More than four months ago, Newsflash reported (see 11/3/2000 below) that Home Depot had been rejected by the Planning Board in Milford, Pennsylvania. At the
ABC’s 20/20 on Falling Merchandise
March 15, 2001
The top brass at Home Depot on Paces Ferry Road in Atlanta will be watching this Friday night to see how bad the damage is
Pro Wal-Mart Mayor Gets Dumped
March 14, 2001
It took about one year — but the voters of Glendora, California got their chance to deliver a message to incumbent Mayor Larry Glenn. We
Lowe’s Invades the Northeast
March 7, 2001
Now that Home Depot has hammered the “competition’ in the New England/Mid Atlantic region, and stores like Somerville Lumber, Grossman’s, HomeQuarters, Channel, and Rickel’s are
Wal-Mart Can’t Compete
March 6, 2001
It seems that Wal-Mart can dish it out — but not take it. A Wal-Mart discount store manager in Davenport, Iowa told city officials this
Impasse Stops Home Depot
March 1, 2001
“We had just reached an impasse,” the Home Depot spokesman told the Bonita (FL) Daily News, as their plans for a home improvement store flew
The End of Home Depot.
February 28, 2001
“It effectively puts an end to this project on this site,” said a Home Depot spokesman. He was referring to the unanimous decision of the
Picking the Bones of Montgomery Ward
February 28, 2001
Like savengers cleaning the bones of their kill, several discount chains are lining up to take over the stores of the recently deceased Montgomery Ward
State Supreme Court Upholds Limits On Size and Location of Superstores
February 24, 2001
A decision by the California Supreme Court two days ago in a 4 year old case has reinforced the right of cities and towns to
Website address
February 24, 2001
The story about Valdosta, GA below inadvertantly left out the website you can visit to find out more about citizen opposition to the filling of
Illegal Aliens Build Wal-Mart
February 23, 2001
Wal-Mart “associates” are known as “Walmartians”, but it was a different kind of alien that the INS found at the construction site for a Wal-Mart
Home Depots Saws Off Growth Plans
February 22, 2001
In the midst of gloomy financial news, along with the “retirement” of co-founder Arthur Blank, Home Depot announced this week that it was down-sizing its
Big Boxes Attract Big Rigs
February 19, 2001
Neighbors of the Home Depot in South Fort Worth, Texas feel like they are losing the Battle of the 18 Wheelers. According to the Fort
Home Depot Barraged By Opponents
February 17, 2001
Home Depot didn’t even get a chance to formally file their site plans before they ran into a “barrage of complaints” from residents in Naples,
War Against Home Depot
February 17, 2001
Home Depot wants to build a store on just under 10 acres of industrially zoned land in Plainview, Long Island. An “informational forum” held this
Lowering Lowe’s Credit Rating
February 15, 2001
The Chairman of Lowe’s has characterized the home improvement industry as a “two horse race” between his company and Home Depot. Lowe’s has indicated that
Home Depot’s Human Shield.
February 12, 2001
If consumers aren’t building enough houses, maybe its time for Home Depot to start building them. Citizens in Mountain View, California must have been amazed
Not a good, clean, solid plan.
February 12, 2001
Sprawl-Busters in Fort Atkinson, WI sent me the following report of their town’s struggles with a Wal-Mart: “After a newspaper article alerted our community to
Wal-Mart Voted Out.
February 8, 2001
The City Council in Overland Park, Kansas on Monday night, February 5th., became the 145th. community on my sprawl-busters list to reject a superstore. The
Wal-Mart Sues After Rejection
February 4, 2001
What part of “NO” don’t they understand? Sam Walton said Wal-Mart does not want to go where it is not wanted, but apparently a 5-2
More Crime At Big Boxes
February 3, 2001
Less than a month ago, on January 7th, 60 Minutes aired a piece on crime at Wal-Mart, and the company’s inability to “find” a crime
IKEA Stuffed Back in Their Box
February 3, 2001
Residents of New Rochelle, New York disassembled a large furniture-in-a-box retailer this week, and built instead a major victory against suburban retail sprawl when they
Towns Passes Size Cap, Depot Morphs
January 27, 2001
Here’s an update from the town of Easton, Maryland, from a sprawl-busters on the scene: “Home Depot attempted getting approval for a store in the
A Bad Penney Keeps Turning Down
January 27, 2001
Like a bad Penney that keeps turning down, a retailer reportedly the 5th. largest in the country has continued its trend of shutting down more
Home Depot Slowed Down
January 25, 2001
The headline in the Denver Post on January 24th. read:”Jeffco rejects Home Depot”. The County commissioners in Jefferson County Tuesday voted down a request by
Home Depot’s “Chaos in the Aisles”
January 21, 2001
Today’s Boston Globe carried a major news story about Sprawl-Busters legislation that would require stores like Home Depot and Wal-Mart to report incidents of injuries
Wal-Mart Second Kentucky Home
January 14, 2001
Another Kentucky town has dumped Wal-Mart! A couple of months ago Fort Worth rejected Wal-Mart, and now Henderson, Kentucky is added to the rejection list