Guest Post by Morbo
Wal-Mart is not only a bunch of union-busting right-wing creeps, they’re also bullies.
Case in point: Calvert County, Md., has a local ordinance limiting box stores to 75,000 square feet. Unable to get a waiver, Wal-Mart officials announced plans to build a store within the limits and erect a smaller one right next to it.
The stores would have had separate entrances and checkouts, thus technically meeting the requirements of the law.
Now wasn’t that clever? Wal-Mart would technically be abiding by the law but would get what it wanted in the end: A sprawling eyesore of titanic proportions. You could see the gang down in Bentonville rubbing their hands with glee as they put one over on the rubes.
It didn’t work out that way. Schoolyard bullies can be intimidating, but if enough kids join forces and work together, they can give the bully a thrashing he won’t forget. That’s what happened in Dunkirk. The community banded together and let Wal-Mart know, in no uncertain terms, that it did not appreciate the games the obnoxious retailer was playing.
The bullies from Bentonville blinked. The Washington Post reported that Wal-Mart now plans a single store of 74,998 square feet. Noted a company spokeswoman, “This is a direct response to community outcry.”
Other communities with similar curbs on box stores had been watching the Calvert County fight. Had Wal-Mart gotten away with it there, you can bet they would have taken the strategy nationwide.
“I’ve gotten calls across the country from people worried about what I call ‘the Dunkirk loophole,'” Al Norman of the group Sprawl-Busters, told The Post. “I’m glad Wal-Mart realizes it’s in their own political and financial interest not to play games with ordinances by trying to wordsmith their way around size caps.”
What’s especially satisfying about this incident is that Calvert County is not exactly a hotbed of liberals. It’s a typical far-outer suburb for the Washington, D.C., area. I’ve passed through the area several times and once had the misfortune of having my car break down in Dunkirk itself. One sees lots of pickup trucks and Confederate flags. Folks there like NASCAR and country music. It’s a safe bet that most voted for Bush. But they don’t like outsiders coming in, flouting local laws and telling them how things are going to be — even if those outsiders sell toilet paper real cheap.
Oh, I know — it’s a small win. After all, the end result is yet another gigantic, right-wing, union-busting Wal-Mart to curse our land. Still, I’ll take the victory. When you’re battling a Goliath like Wal-Mart, you learn to savor every little chink you put in its armor.