Gloversville shouldn’t roll out the red carpet for gigantic Wal-Mart
As a lifelong resident of this area, I understand the depressing economic conditions we have endured. If a Wal-Mart Supercenter is built in our community, none of that will change. If you are convinced for one minute that the Wal-Mart planning committee will not ask for subsidies and tax breaks, you are sadly mistaken. Wal-Mart has already cost New Yorkers about $65.5 million. The notion that Wal-Mart is acting in a surreptitious manner by adding thousands to the social services network is partially correct. Wal-Mart receives grants for job development from the government. Their employees have to resort to Medicaid and child health care programs to maintain adequate care for their families. [Wal-Mart CEO] H. Lee Scott himself was quoted as saying, “In some of our states the public (health care) program may actually be a better value — with relatively high income limits to qualify and low premiums.” I believe that as a community we can do better. I would rather see the grants invested in a new manufacturing firm; get them the money they need to build a skilled, well-paid work force which would enhance the quality of our citizens’ lives, as opposed to giving the money to Wal-Mart so wages and standard of living stay the same. We already have a Wal-Mart in our community and a good one. Wal-Mart will not go down the road to build another store. The proposed sites have already been selected, and this project has been in the works for some time. It is a process. To refuse the offer makes perfect sense. Please, let them go elsewhere. Wal-Mart is not economic development. MICHAEL YERINA
I’d like to comment on the Jan. 22 Gloversville Planning Board meeting. Wal-Mart had their representatives there expecting to get the DEIS (Draft Environmental Impact Statement) approved. As all eyes were focused on the board members, I was watching the Wal-Mart reps. After they gave a little speech, which told us nothing, I listened as the board chairman started pointing out problems with the DEIS. As he was speaking, I observed the Wal-Mart reps disrespectfully giving each other “here we go” eye rolls, cocky smirks and indiscreet whispers. They obviously thought that they were going to push this document through without any resistance. This is what they do; they bully their way in. I also watched as the few politicians that were there get up and leave when they weren’t hearing what they wanted to hear. This is what I’ve been trying to say. Wal-Mart’s M.O. [modus operandi] is to tell you what you want to hear. They don’t care about planning boards and such. This is just a small inconvenience to them. Once they’re in, they will do what they want anyway. They already have the politicians in their pocket. I’m pretty sure this project will get past any obstacles that arise. That’s what these Wal-Mart representatives get big money to do. Too bad: huge corporation from Arkansas wins, small town loses — again. The parade of senior citizens with the pro Wal-Mart stickers on their jackets was a nice touch, though. Free coffee and donuts? Just asking. BOB BORDIERI Sprakers
In the 2006 annual report to stockholders, CEO H. Lee Scott Jr. described Wal-Mart’s expansion plans for the coming year, and for years to come. He stated that Wal-Mart will be seeking to expand its national growth to 281 supercenters in 2008. However, in a press release dated October 2007, Wal-Mart has now scaled back its domestic agenda to a mere 195 supercenters in the United States — a 30 percent reduction in “segment expansion.” The focus will be to convert existing stores to supercenters and reduce the square footage of the proposed stores. Local opposition in towns across America has forced Wal-Mart to adapt this strategy to overcome newly implemented zoning restrictions at proposed locations. While Wal-Mart is reducing the rate of expansion on a national level, it is aggressively expanding its international market over the next three or four years: The expectation is 48 million to 50 million square feet of retail space added in the international market, namely China, Mexico and South America, with expected growth of 5 percent to 7 percent — depending which market analyst you prefer to follow. My question is: With the “international strategy” now in place to invest billions on foreign soil, how warm of a welcome should our towns and cities across America extend to a retailer whose focus for the next several years is foreign investing? And what about those cash-strapped cities and towns across America? Some of those municipalities that anticipated tax windfalls have received tax burdens and/or empty stores for their efforts. Wal-Mart has to perform for its investors, but at what cost? It may be a great feeling to walk out of Wal-Mart with your five-pound can of salted peanuts that you bought for $1.99, but who really paid the price for your “bargain?” Is it your school, city, county, or all of the above? Do we really need this in Fulton County? MICHAEL YERINA Gloversville
As if Wal-Mart weren’t bad enough, here come the superstores
Like a reptile crawling out of its skin, Wal-Mart has shed hundreds of stores to move on to bigger facilities [Jan. 7 Gazette]. Most of these relocations have been in towns where Wal-Mart shuts down a discount store to open up a larger supercenter a few miles, or even blocks, away. “As (Wal-Mart) rolls out new supercenter prototypes,” the company explains, “it must also fi nd uses for existing relocated stores after they are closed.” But often they sit like empty wind tunnels by the roadside. Don’t expect a long-term relationship with any superstore in your town. Wal-Mart arrives with its bags already packed. Does this sound familiar? Our local politicians seem to think they are going to save the town, when, in reality, just the opposite will occur. Wal-Mart is telling them what they want to hear and they are buying it. Purchasing from a superstore means you are depriving your community of support (through small business) of Little League baseball, parades, 4-H Club activities, scouting, adult sports leagues and other community activities often paid for or supported by local small businesses (but not superstores). The dimes, quarters and dollars you save at a superstore put the small competing stores (your neighbors, relatives and friends) out of business and deprive your community of what made it a community. This leaves you and your friends, relatives and community with a windowless big box surrounded by a vast parking lot, which at any time could be vacated when the superstore determines that it wants all of its customers within a 35-mile radius to shop at an even larger superstore. I urge you to get involved to put a stop to this Gloversville project.
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