Wal-Mart foes fight development nationwide

Allison Linn Senior writer • Profile • E-mail

Debbie Brinkman didn’t plan on being an anti-Wal-Mart activist. In fact, as a Republican, she felt it was “kind of against my politics to be fighting this.”

But when the Littleton, Colo., resident heard there were plans to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter across from a large and popular park — and within sight of her own front door — she felt she had little choice but to get involved. So Brinkman became one of the early members of Littleton Against Wal-Mart, fighting a store planned for the Denver suburb.

Her story isn’t unusual. Across the country, dozens of community efforts are emerging to block new Wal-Mart development, provoking drawn-out battles that have proven costly and time-consuming for the world's largest retailer and occasionally hindered its expansion plans.

But in some communities, the campaigns are also provoking internal squabbles, with community members divided over whether to welcome or spurn the big-box developments.

The reasons behind the efforts vary widely. Some activists, like Brinkman, say they don’t oppose Wal-Mart in general — they just don’t think Wal-Mart belongs in that particular spot in their community. Others, like Carole Heerman of Woodland, Wash., worry that a Wal-Mart will hurt the town’s other businesses, including her own. Still others, like Michael Funke of Bend, Ore., oppose Wal-Mart because they think its workers should get better wages and benefits.

Experts say the groups are having an impact. Retail analyst C. Britt Beemer said it may be only a few percent of people who boycott because of the negative publicity, but that could still be meaningful for a company beginning to struggle with potential limits to its domestic growth.

By one closely watched measure, same-store sales, Wal-Mart's U.S. growth was anemic last year. Sales at U.S. Wal-Mart stores open at least a year rose a meager 1.9 percent in the company’s latest fiscal year.

That’s not to mention the delays, added legal fees and other obstacles that come when Wal-Mart faces opposition to its development plans — even if the company ultimately succeeds in building the store.

“I’m sure these issues have hurt them all financially,” Beemer said. “In the last few years, it’s gotten to be a bloody mess out there.”

In fact, the Bentonville, Ark.-based company often does succeed in opening its doors despite community outcry. But opponents also have prevailed in efforts to hinder Wal-Mart development in some cities, such as the California communities of Long Beach, San Diego and Turlock, and areas in Florida.

In early March, city council members in Concord, Calif., turned down a project to build a Wal-Mart and other stores in a largely industrial area, citing traffic and environmental concerns. Kevin Loscotoff, Wal-Mart’s senior manager for public affairs in California, said the company is evaluating what to do next. A spokeswoman for the group that opposes the store, Allie Gramm, said she expects the fight to continue.

Company officials in both California and Florida insist the setbacks haven’t hindered the company’s overall growth plans in those states and say they continue to look for ways to draw shoppers from areas where they’ve had trouble building new stores.

In many cases, the battles can drag on for months or even years, proving costly and time-consuming for the opponents as well.

In Bend, Wal-Mart was denied an initial application for a Supercenter and lost subsequent appeals, but opponents expect the fight to continue. Wal-Mart spokeswoman Jennifer Holder said the company plans to submit a new application.

In Littleton, the city council narrowly approved Wal-Mart’s plans, but opponents are gathering signatures for a proposed referendum that would require the council to change its decision or leave it up to voters.

Gray McGinnis, Wal-Mart’s director of public affairs for the mountain region, said the company  plans to rally its supporters to turn out in favor of the Wal-Mart.

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