Wednesday, February 04, 2004
L.A. versus Wal-mart
In a show of hostility toward a company promising to bring hundreds of jobs and rock-bottom consumer prices to poor, blighted neighborhoods, the Los Angeles City Council this month may ban Wal-Mart from opening its popular "supercenters," sprawling new stores that sell discount groceries along with many other bargain goods.
No other city so big has ever taken on the retailer, which has been facing growing resistance in smaller communities around the country to both the size and the business tactics of its rapidly expanding chain of more than 2,900 stores.
And, unlike other places in conflict with Wal-Mart and other "big box" national retailers, Los Angeles is hardly trying to save its small-town charms. With nearly 4 million people and roads choked with traffic, it has none.
Rather, city leaders here say they fear the arrival of the retailer's biggest stores would drive down local wages, as rival businesses struggle to survive; wipe out more jobs than they create; and leave more residents without health insurance -- and with no choice but to use public hospitals and clinics that are already overrun by demand.
"They're a goliath, but we're a goliath, too -- and we want to send them a message," said Eric Garcetti, the Los Angeles councilman proposing the restrictions against the retailer, which appear to have strong council support. "We don't believe their business model is good for the kind of economic development that we want in the places where we need it most. And we want people to realize that the 10 cents they may save on a jar of pickles could mean paying another $5 in taxes for all the extra visits to local emergency rooms."
In recent years, Wal-Mart has encountered similar objections in communities from Atlanta to Albuquerque. But its plan to bring dozens of supercenters -- which are twice as large as its traditional stores -- for the first time to California is provoking a particularly strong backlash. The company, which is furious with the measures that some cities are crafting to block its expansion, is aggressively fighting back.
Because, as a corporation, Wal-mart thinks it has all the rights that people do. It even introduces its own ballot measures.
Thanks, Jason for the link.
posted by chris at 11:29 AM
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