An obscure war lasting more than two decades has pitted Big Box retailers like Lowe???s, Home Depot, Target and Wal-Mart against taxpayers in small towns
Wal-Mart is not opening many new stores this year, focusing instead on how to grow their online sales. But if things go the retailer???s way,
A developer wants to put a 203,750 s.f. Wal-Mart supercenter 1,700 feet from the Lower Macungie, PA Middle School, and a new road will run
wrk1/nomart Citizens in Lower Macungie Township are fighting a developer from Nashville, TN who wants to build a 200,000 s.f. Wal-Mart superstore. The “No-Mart Coalition”
Wal-Mart is counting on its workers literally ???to go the last mile??? for their company. Wal-Mart is enticing its workers on their was home from
For nearly 6 years, Wal-Mart has suffered through painful headline stories about it corrupt practices while seeking permit approvals for new store growth in Mexico,
An eastern Massachusetts developer has locals in the Western Mass city of Pittsfield eating out of his hand. Local opponents of the enormous 196,000 s.f.
The Matrix Development Group must have been displeased recently when another “group” of nearly 200 residents showed up in Lower Makefield, Pennsylvania to protest plans
The city of Tiffin, Ohio (pop 18,000) has a Wal-Mart problem. ???It is a problem, it has always been a problem with the big box
On December 3, 2006, Sprawl-Busters reported that a developer wanted to build a 228,000-s.f. Wal-Mart supercenter in Toms River, New Jersey. But the northern pine
A citizens group called the Mystic View Task Force has organized to stop suburban sprawl from encroaching on 145 acres of urban land by the
Since 2006, Sprawl-Busters has written 16 articles about Wal-Mart???s protracted effort to build a store in Atascadero, California. That all came to crashing end when
This month, Wal-Mart finally threw in the towel in Ballston, New York, Sprawl-Busters first learned of a Wal-Mart battle in the small town of Ballston
Wal-Mart has decided to take a pass on a project in El Paso. At the end of October, Wal-Mart told the city of El Paso,Texas
On December 1s, Brenda Rivers, a 59 year old black woman shopping at a Wal-Mart in Homewood, Alabama was handcuffed and detained for half an
Terri Saunders (not her real name), a Wal-Mart employee, was forcefully and brutally raped by her Wal-Mart supervisor while she was at work in the
“Homeowners want to live where they can get full services.” That’s one of the pleas made in a full page advertisement paid for in The
Wal-Mart has set aside $7.5 million to settle a lawsuit affecting roughly 1,100 of its gay and lesbian employees charging that the retailer denied health
Local residents report that the city of Norman, OK (pop) 90,000, which already has a ‘normal’ Wal-Mart, is slated to get two new Wal-Mart supercenters:
A Sprawl-Busters correspondent in Mountain View, California reports that Home Depot’s plans to open a store in Mountain View came to a sudden halt. “On
Wal-Mart ???stunned??? political leaders in Louisville, Kentucky On October 28th when it canceled plans for 154,000 s.f. superstore in the West End of the city
If you walk into any of the 4,132 Walmarts in America that sell groceries, you will find only 11 percent of its produce was grown
City officials were in a big rush to approve a rezoning for Home Depot, but two citizens have managed to slow the process down. Home
Another Rite Aid, Wrong Town story. Rite Aid already has a drugstore in this town, but they want to build a new store in their
The Mayor of New Milford, Connecticut is reacting this week to the decision of his Planning Commission to allow by a 3-2 vote to approve
City officials in Manchester, New Hampshire are dealing with heavy political congestion from city residents who are angry about the traffic created by a Wal-Mart
Sprawl-Busters has learned that an activist group based in Mexico, the National Front Against Wal-Mart, has asked Mexican Attorney General Arely Gomez Gonzalez, ???to start
Lawmakers in Allegany County, New York are getting desperate. According to the Olean Times Herald, the county lawmakers voted to adopt a non-binding resolution offering
The Joplin, Missouri Globe reports that one-third of the Wal-Mart stores across America are using a new ???restorative justice??? plan for shoplifters: if you???re a
What part of “NO” does the City Manager of Fort Walton Beach, Florida not understand? After Okaloosa County Commissioners said NO to a second Wal-Mart
According to an article in the Ceres (CA) Courier, City officials believe that the Citizens for Ceres, who have blocked a second Wal-Mart in this
Sprawl-Busters has been writing about a Wal-Mart battle in Ceres, California since 2007. A hearty group of local residents has held off the world???s largest
The Washington Post reports that Council members in Prince George???s County, Maryland voted on September 13th to shoot down a proposed expansion of an existing
Business Insider reports that Wal-Mart has just obtained a patent for a device called a ???motorized transport unit,??? a shopping cart with cameras, sensors and
Reporters for the Tampa Bay Times in Florida have found ???dozens of expired merchandise on the shelves at Wal-Mart stores in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.”
WUSA Channel 9 reports from Frederick, Maryland that a Wal-Mart superstore 5 years in the planning is now ???dead in the water.??? Wal-Mart has backed
A real estate consultant representing Wal-Mart is threatening homeowners in Crescent City, Florida that if they don’t sell an easement or right of way onto
A new report, “The Phony Philanthropy of the Wal-Mart Heirs,” issued this week by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and the worker’s group
How many Wal-Mart accountants does it take to sell a package of detergent? The answer apparently is: 7,000 more than yesterday. The Wall Street Journal
Sprawl-Busters is now posting almost daily updates on Twitter at this address: @SprawlBusters. In addition, longer posts can be found on Facebook almost daly, by
The Ohio Supreme Court, in a 5-2 decision on March 11 ruled that the village of Chardon’s zoning restriction against large businesses could stand. The
In a relatively quiet court filing on July 15th, 5 woman who sued Wal-Mart 15 years ago for sex discrimination in employment, ???reached a confidential
One vote on the Woolwich Township Council made all the difference in one of the community’s most devisive battles in recent history. Early in the
The Denver Business Journal reports this week that Wal-Mart has suddenly pulled the plug on its involvement in a redevelopment deal in Wheat Ridge, Colorado???likely
The Berkshire County community of Pittsfield in northwestern, Massachusetts (pop 43,303) has been targeted by the Wal-Mart corporation for a huge superstore to replace an
In September of 2007, Sprawl-Busters wrote the first of five stories about the village of Wellsville, New York???s battle against the adjacent Town of Wellsville
After two years of court battles, and vigorous community opposition, a Wal-Mart is being built in a small Michigan town that does not need the
According to ABC Eyewitness News in the historic community of Newburgh, Indiana (pop 2013: 3,313), plans for a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market created ???a firestorm of
A coalition of groups is calling upon the huge TIAA-CREF retirement fund to divest its shares in Wal-Mart stock, and other corporations that are “involved
Wal-Mart is a magnet for crime. New research published by the Tampa Bay Times reveals the stunning fact that in 2014, 53 Wal-Mart stores in
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.