According to Wal-Mart, their associates, otherwises known as “Walmartians”, are “empowered to make decisions, take risks, and yes, even make mistakes in the cause of
Residents of Middle Township, New Jersey learned this week that the Wal-Mart in their community wants to get bigger, by expanding its grocery square footage,
Leave it to Rite Aid to try and pave over Paradise. But that’s exactly what got the citizens of Paradise riled. Rite Aid, which likes
Wal-Mart had a special Christmas surprise for the tiny village of Glenwood, Illinois (pop. 9,045), which is located about 18 miles due south of Chicago.
“We’re not just opposing a Wal-Mart, we’re in the process of preventing the destruction of the community.” So says the former Mayor of Mt. Airy,
The small city of Rolling Meadows, Illinois is playing a game of musical retailers–a game which has no real winners. This community of 24,241 people
Shortly before Thanksgiving, Wal-Mart officials were caught off-guard when the Planning Board in Bowie, Maryland voted to oppose the retailer’s request for a “special exception”
Byram is a small community in Mississippi with only 11, 721 people. If anyone in Byram is addicted to cheap Chinese imports, there’s a Wal-Mart
The Mayor of Horn Lake, Mississippi, a suburb of Memphis, proudly posed before cameras this week with a grappling hook in his hand, next to
The media in Rock Hill, South Carolina describes neighbors as “cautiously optimistic” about a proposed Wal-Mart superstore in their backyards. But there was no optimism
Many residents in Accokeek, MD want to keep their community “open,green and rural.” That’s why the Moyaone Association of homeowners voted recently to oppose a
Tom Ryan, the Mayor of Blaine, Minnesota (pop. 59,412) is convinced that Wal-Mart is a good economic influence on his city. But even a strong
Is it possible to starve a Wal-Mart superstore? Residents in Tigard, Oregon, a small suburb of Portland, want to find out. After their City Council
Wal-Mart knows how to count to nine—and in Northbrook, Illinois, the math just didn’t add up for Wal-Mart. So on November 8th, the retailer officially
If you live in Rock Hill, South Carolina (pop. 68,094), you have no less than 8 Wal-Mart stores to shop at within 20 miles—including two
The tiny town of Oriental, North Carolina (pop 900) has 3 Wal-Mart superstores within 30 miles—the closest one being in Havelock, N.C. 18 miles away.
Sue Prent is one of the diehard activists in St. Albans, Vermont who fought the opening of a Wal-Mart in the town on the edge
Some towns have to beat a Wal-Mart more than once. The village of Tinley Park, Illinois defeated Wal-Mart in 2008, but the company did not
This week Sprawl-Busters received the following field report from Dr. Enrique Bonilla Rodriguez, the Founder and Coordinator of the National Front Against Walmart, based in
If Home Depot offered your community $1 million to take their store, would your town turn them down? That’s what they did in Reading, MA,
Democracy ain’t cheap in Whitehall, Michigan. One month ago, Sprawl-Busters was contacted by angry residents in Whitehall Township, Michigan. According to anti-Wal-Mart activists in Whitehall,
“We didn’t anticipate a negative vote.I really thought they would grant it.” That’s what the lawyer for the developer told reporters after Home Depot was
Not here, Planners tell Home Depot. That’s the headline in the Patriot Ledger newspaper. Planners voted 3-1 against a special zoning permit to allow a
Shoppers in Green Bay, Wisconsin who are addicted to cheap Chinese imports don’t have far to go to blow their paycheck. There are two Wal-Mart
It was short, controversial life for the Wal-Mart superstore in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Three months to the day. Back on June 18, 2013, Wal-Mart officially announced
It is the sweetest six words that any anti-Wal-Mart group can hear: “We have decided not to proceed with our involvement.” A Wal-Mart spokesman told
Walmart likes to say “our people make the difference.” Aubretia Maria Edick is one of those Walmart people who wants to ‘make a difference’ in
It turns out that free speech can be very expensive. Citizens in Whitehall Township, Michigan who want to exercise their First Amendment right to petition
After the city of Tigard, Oregon approved a Wal-Mart supertore, opponents did not go away. The group Tigard First announced this week a “new incarnation”
At a 2010 zoning hearing in Cibolo, Texas, one resident apparently showed up to express concern about the rezoning of land along Borgfield Road from
A deal approved in court this past week has ended the contentious battle in Bakersfield, California over a Wal-Mart supercenter that had to stop work
On July 25, 2013, Mayor Alex Morse of Holyoke, Massachustts held a press conference with neighborhood activists by his side, to announce his “firm opposition”
Wal-Mart faces many threats to its ongoing profitability. That’s why it employs two platoons worth of lobbyists, and spends millions of dollars annually to minimize
Home Depot threw its plans for Braintree, MA into reverse last week, and its local attorney says the company is not coming back. That was
Residents in Ceres, California have been boxing out a Wal-Mart superstore since 2007. This week, they won an important first-step victory in a court battle
Attention Home Depot shoppers: A group of 14 institutional investors in Home Depot has sponsored a shareholder’s resolution to be considered at the company’s 1998
New Berlin, Wisconsin is a city just west of Milwaukee with just under 40,000 people. It has a median household income that’s about 44% higher
Angry residents in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin want Wal-Mart to walk away from its plans to build a superstore in this small community of roughly 16,000 people.
A group of citizens in Fountain Hills, AZ, calling themselves the “Logical Land Use Committee” has formed around a referendum issue challenging the Town Council’s
The town square in Bentonville, Arkansas was filled with an estimated 2,000 people wearing yellow rain slickers that said “Wal-Mart — Not in My Neighborhood.”
In April of 2011, Sprawl-Busters reported that Wal-Mart’s legal team had drafted a 60 page zoning document that allowed it to build a huge superstore
Almost a month ago, Wal-Mart filed a zoning and subdivision application in the Village of Northbrook, Illinois according to memo from the Village Manager, who
For roughly 20 years, Wal-Mart has been imitating the citizen’s groups that have battled to keep the giant retailer from entering their town. One Wal-Mart
Just over two years ago I wrote a column on The Huffington Post which charged that giant retailers like Wal-Mart and Target were using mom
It’s been an inch-by-inch crawl for Wal-Mart in Ridgecrest, California, because the world’s largest retailer has been waiting years for public welfare to come through
A 19 year old mother got a taste of Wal-Mart bureaucracy in Fort Collins, Colorado on January 23rd when store officials told her to stop
About 4 weeks ago, the Oregonian newspaper carried a story that Wal-Mart had announced plans to open a 137,900 s.f. superstore in Tigard,Oregon by late
Residents in the small town of Maynard, Massachusetts (2010 pop. 10,106) have just over one month to try to derail a big box project that
This is literally an open and shut case. On July 7, 2012, Sprawl-Busters reported that Wal-Mart planned to construct a 185,706 s.f. superstore on 16.7
Two of the richest families on the planet — the Waltons and the Buffetts — have taken public welfare from taxpayers to help clean up
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.