Skip to content
  • (413) 834-4284
  • [email protected]
  • 21 Grinnell St, Greenfield, Massachusetts
Search
Close
Sprawl-busters
  • Home
  • About
  • Resources
    • Links
    • Books
    • Movies
    • Home Towns, Not Home Depot
    • The Case Against Sprawl
  • Victories
  • Blog
    • Share Your Battle
  • Contact
Menu
  • Home
  • About
  • Resources
    • Links
    • Books
    • Movies
    • Home Towns, Not Home Depot
    • The Case Against Sprawl
  • Victories
  • Blog
    • Share Your Battle
  • Contact
  • Uncategorized

New Wal-Mart Goes Up, Old Wal-Mart Demolished. No Economic Gain.

  • Al Norman
  • March 27, 2016
  • No Comments

This summer Wal-Mart will open up a new 112,000 s.f. superstore in Bennington,Vermont, a small community of 15,400 in the southwest corner of the state. The new store is right behind the existing 51,000 s.f. Wal-Mart, which will be torn down.

This is totally growth with no economic value.

The Bennington Banner newspaper admits that the new store ???faced many hurdles and opposition.??? Hearings under the state’s environmental protection Act 250 permit started in 2009 and lasted roughly three years. The developer had to fight two appeals to a storm water permit filed by the owners of the Mount Anthony Country Club.

In 2013, the company that owns the plaza where the Wal-Mart will sit placated town officials by offering $200,000 for economic development for Bennington’s downtown—which will suffer economic impacts on its retailers. The plaza owner also agreed to pay for improvements to the Walloomsac watershed. These ???improvement??? funds will be administered by the Citizens for a Greater Bennington, the group that opposed the project. So everyone has been paid off.

The developer will be paying for the roadwork to the site, including upgrades to a roundabout. A spokesman for the state said it was ???unique??? for a contractor to work on a road project for a private developer on a state highway. The new roundabout is only needed because of the size of the Wal-Mart, and the added traffic it needs to carry, and the state insisted that the developer pay for that cost.

In many states, local cities or towns will give developers tax breaks and subsidies to improve the infrastructure. But in Vermont they make the developer foot the bill, which is entirely appropriate given the financial benefits, which flow largely to the developer???s bottom line.

All this larger Wal-Mart adds compared to the old store layout is a grocery component, which will cut shares of the pie for the existing Price Chopper, Hannafords and Aldi???s.

For a town of less than 16,000 people, all these grocery stores are overkill—and a new Wal-Mart adds no new value to this historic community.

http://www.benningtonbanner.com/localnews/ci_29687111/wal-mart-opening-slated-late-summer

I spoke against this project many years ago. The first Wal-Mart at 51,000 s.f. was one of the largest retail buildings in this town’s history. It was completely incompatible with the historic downtown of this community. There was no market need to more than double the size of the Wal-Mart–it was just driven by personal greed, not consumer need.

When you add more grocery stores to a static population base, it does not make people buy more bananas. It’s just growth for its own sake.

To read more on this story:

http://www.benningtonbanner.com/localnews/ci_29687111/wal-mart-opening-slated-late-summer

This summer Wal-Mart will open up a new 112,000 s.f. superstore in Bennington,Vermont, a small community of 15,400 in the southwest corner of the state. The new store is right behind the existing 51,000 s.f. Wal-Mart, which will be torn down.

Like this article?

Share on facebook
Share on Facebook
Share on twitter
Share on Twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on Linkdin
Share on pinterest
Share on Pinterest
Al Norman

Al Norman

Al Norman first achieved national attention in October of 1993 when he successfully stopped Wal-Mart from locating in his hometown of Greenfield, Massachusetts. Almost 3 decades later they is still not Wal-Mart in Greenfield. Norman has appeared on 60 Minutes, was featured in three films, wrote 3 books about Wal-Mart, and gained widespread media attention from the Wall Street Journal to Fortune magazine. Al has traveled throughout the U.S., Barbados, Puerto Rico, Ireland, and Japan, helping dozens of local coalitions fight off unwanted sprawl development. 60 Minutes called Al “the guru of the anti-Wal-Mart movement.”

Leave a comment

Find Us

  • 21 Grinnell St, Greenfield, MA
  • (413) 834-4284
  • [email protected]

Helpful Links

  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
Menu
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

Recent Posts

CHRISTIAN SMALLS, FIRED AMZN WAREHOUSE WORKER, FILES RACE DISCRIMATION LAWSUIT. …

November 16, 2020

DUE TO THE SURGE IN CORONA CASES, WMT IS LIMITING SHOPPERS TO 5 PER 1,000 SF. A…

November 16, 2020

AMAZON RECENTLY ANNOUNCED FREE 1 HOUR GROCERY PICK UP FOR PRIME MEMBER ORDERS &g…

November 15, 2020

AFTER BEING REJECTED BY THE DEERFIELD, MA PLANNING BOARD, DOLLAR GENERAL APPEALS…

November 15, 2020

WILL TRUMP ALLOW ORACLE & WALMART TO INVEST IN TIK TOK? The deadline to ban …

November 14, 2020

AMAZON ACCUSED OF BREAKING ANTITRUST RULES IN EUROPE. “Data of 3rd-party sellers…

November 14, 2020

WALMART PET CARE NOW SELLING PET INSURANCE. My 3 year old mixed breed cat would …

November 13, 2020

WALMART’S GOING TO THE DOGS. 90 M OF ITS CUSTOMERS HAVE DOGS. You’d be Goofy not…

November 13, 2020

WALMART CASHIERS STILL LOOKING FOR A SEAT. They won a $65 M lawsuit in 2019, but…

November 12, 2020

4 DAYS BEFORE THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION,THE CO-FOUNDER OF HOME DEPOT SAID: “Pres…

November 12, 2020

Recent Tweets

Al Norman 10 hours ago

@stacyfmitchell The Left can embrace small biz—but an embrace requires 2 parties. A local funeral home director told me he follows Milton Friedman economics & believes “that govt. is best, which governs least.” Many local chambers of commerce still embrace Reaganomics.

Read More
Al Norman 13 hours ago

THIS IS THE UNEMPLOYMENT TRAINWRECK DONALD TRUMP LEAVES FOR JOE BIDEN: “Counting those driven out of the workforce entirely, seeing hours cuts, & misclassified as employed, the real number of casualties is closer to 26 M.” https://t.co/2L07MirJgq

Read More
Al Norman 14 hours ago

HEY, MR. TRUMP: GREETINGS FROM SPEAKER PELOSI’S OFFICE! They stole your election, so I’m stealing their podium. Want a statue for Mar-a-Lago? https://t.co/NfpEj1Zzxx

Read More

Ⓒ 2020 - All Rights Are Reserved

Design and Development by Just Peachy Web Design

Download Our Free Guide

Download our Free Guide

Learn How To Stop Big Box Stores And Fulfillment Warehouses In Your Community

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.