Monday, May 10, 2004
Southside Wal-Mart
As usual, something got me thinking.
In an ironic twist, the site of Wheland Foundry, closed after years of shoddy management and labor disputes leading to it's current demolition, is going to be the site of a new Wal-Mart. (TL knows people who know things.) It just seems like a metaphor for the damage they do to local business.
There was a lot of talk a few months ago about how Wal-Mart treats their workers, and their effect on small businesses is well documented. One example from the article above:
It seems to me that the ever-growing Wal-mart phenomenon is starting to shake folks up a little bit. Even here in Chattanooga there was a good deal of opposition to the latest Wal-Mart. Though it was mainly the Earth First crowd complaining about wetlands, the issue didn't begin to resonate until the effects on business became the focus.
In the Post article, though, we see that the "Not In My Backyard" tendencies of America can be used for good in some instances, too. Will it happen in Chattanooga?
In an ironic twist, the site of Wheland Foundry, closed after years of shoddy management and labor disputes leading to it's current demolition, is going to be the site of a new Wal-Mart. (TL knows people who know things.) It just seems like a metaphor for the damage they do to local business.
There was a lot of talk a few months ago about how Wal-Mart treats their workers, and their effect on small businesses is well documented. One example from the article above:
Andrew Stokes, manager of the Alvin B. Stokes general store -- which was established in 1946 by his grandfather -- sells everything from cast-iron skillets to saddles. "We think of ourselves as a store for the working man," Stokes said the other day, as he waited on a woman looking to buy a saddle.
Stokes said that salesmen who sell him his products have told him that he can expect a Wal-Mart superstore to cut into his gross revenue as much as 20 percent the first year it is open. But he still wants the store to come to town because, well, the residents need a big outlet like that.
It seems to me that the ever-growing Wal-mart phenomenon is starting to shake folks up a little bit. Even here in Chattanooga there was a good deal of opposition to the latest Wal-Mart. Though it was mainly the Earth First crowd complaining about wetlands, the issue didn't begin to resonate until the effects on business became the focus.
In the Post article, though, we see that the "Not In My Backyard" tendencies of America can be used for good in some instances, too. Will it happen in Chattanooga?
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