The Star-Banner recounts Wal-Mart's successful and not so successful attempts to enter urban areas.
The company has championed a series of voter initiatives in hopes of overturning local ordinances that block its expansion. In the San Francisco Bay area county of Contra Costa, Wal-Mart spent more than a half-million dollars to gather enough signatures to put a county ban on big-box stores before voters. They ultimately defeated the ban.MSNBC reprints the St. Paul Business Journal's notice that a Supercenter is finally opening up in the metro twin-cities area, and discusses the spread of supercenters:A Wal-Mart lawsuit was enough to prompt officials in nearby Alameda County to repeal a similar ban. And, most notably, voters in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood in April rejected a Wal-Mart ballot initiative that would have bypassed local government and allowed a Wal-Mart-anchored shopping center to be built.
Zoning and development approvals quietly slipped through the city planning process in Woodbury this spring. The project thus far has avoided the same scrutiny from the local grocery unions that helped derail Wal-Mart's first attempt to open a grocery store in the Twin Cities market in 1997, when it pulled back on plans to open Supercenters in Apple Valley and Brooklyn Park.The Centre Daily gives space to one Dennis M. Banks, who supports WM:At 206,919 square feet, the Woodbury Wal-Mart will be one of the largest stores of any kind in the Twin Cities. The center will include a 55,720-square-foot grocery, a drive-thru pharmacy, an outdoor garden center, an automobile service center and a gas station.
I thought I would write in to set the record straight.Here is a copy of the article Mr. Banks was rebutting.I know about Wal-Mart because I've worked full time for them for more than eight years. At our store, there are 240 employees and 80 percent work full time. I don't receive food stamps or need assistance for my family's medical expenses. I make a good living working for Wal-Mart.
I also receive raises each year, based on my performance. How many companies in State College give a 4 percent or 5 percent raise each year? We have 401(k) accounts, to which the company and I both contribute. We also have a company profit-sharing program for retirement to which the company is the sole contributor. Associates can buy Wal-Mart stock and the company adds 15 percent to the amount.
We also receive bonus checks yearly based on our store's profits. I have Geisinger health care, for which I pay a third of the premium. I'm told this is less than Geisinger employees pay.
I receive three weeks paid vacation a year and time that can be used as personal or sick leave.
Posted by Kevin on May, 29 2004 at 08:38 AM
