Wal-Mart officials have blamed pesky local citizens and a County Commissioner for their embarrassing withdrawal of plans for a 130,000 s.f. superstore in East Orange County, Florida. The retailer sent a letter to County Commissioner Mildred Fernandez last week informing her that the company decided “not to proceed” with their store. Fernandez told the Orlando Sentinel there were two major reasons for the withdrawal: “Traffic and the fact that the store did not fit the character of the community.” Wal-Mart offered to make its fa??ade look like a collection of smaller businesses, but residents were not fooled by this skin-deep change. When faced with hundreds of opponents demanding that the project be scrubbed, Wal-Mart asked the county to hold off making a final vote, so the company could rework its plans before a scheduled December 6th. Commissioners meeting. But on November 15th, Wal-Mart threw in the towel.
Local residents remain vigilant in case Wal-Mart decides to return with a smaller store or a Neighborhood Market, but for now, citizens and local officials have slam-dunked the second Wal-Mart store this week. For other examples of Wal-Mart offering to change the “skin” of their store, search Newsflash by “fa??ade.”
