Every once in a while a citizen will report a big box defeat that slipped right by us. This happens all the time, given the level of national activity going on. But a resident of Wayne, New Jersey (which happens to be the home of Toys R Us) filed the following report: ” I spoke with you about a year ago about a huge Lowe’s Improvement store that was proposed for our town. Happy to report that in May of 2004, we won! Lowe’s and the developer withdrew there application. The town has put into it’s master plan limitations on size and use of buildings along the Route 23 corridor. A major bank in the Northern part of N.J. has purchased one of the buildings and is using it. We are still not sure of the 2nd building, put we are watching it very closely. I can not stress enough the importants of people getting involved and making a difference! They can stop these big developers and corporations from destroying towns and communities. People need to pool their resources… Ask and you shall receive. We raised over $20,000 towards fighting this, found an attorney that was just starting out and making a name for himself. People can help — they need to get involved…. please add us to your list of victories! We are still so proud of ourselves, even though we are not involved with anything at present, we all keep a watchful eye on our community. (and feel sorry for the poor town up the road that already has a Lowe’s and a Wal-Mart going in) as they complain about the additional traffic and increase in costs to the town.”
Many communities aren’t as familiar with Lowe’s as companies like Home Depot or Wal-Mart. Here’s an easy way to remember them: Home Depot is just Wal-Mart with a hammer. Lowe’s is just a blue Home Depot. You should do your best to avoid shopping at any of them. They all use the same development style to push themselves into towns. They often select inappropriately zoned land, and build stores that are inefficient, single-story, flat-roofed, dead pieces of architecture. We are pleased to add Wayne, New Jersey to the growing list of communities that nailed the lid on the likes of Lowe’s.
