There was a one sheet insert in Fridays Adirondack Daily Enterprise called Home Town Gazzette. This is billed as an independent Editorial publication and the only clue to the publisher is an email address: slconcerns@yahoo.com.
There are basically five articles in the Gazette. The first is titled Area Shoppers Impressed with Variety, Value! "Under the leadership of a single volunteer, local resident Ms. Gloria Volz, area merchants were asked to complete lists of the kinds of merchandise they carry for their valued customers". The jist of the article is that Saranac Lake merchants indeed sell most of what you need to get by. A newly formed Local Merchants Association of the SL Chamber of Commerce plans to spread the word about the "friendliness, variety, and vitality of downtown businesses".
The second article is titled Wanted: Department Store, but what kind, where and how big? It asks do we want to look like "everytown USA" or preserve the towns unique character? It goes on to say that an informal Chamber of Commerce survey indicated a 65% preference for a store no larger than 60,000 sq ft.
The third article - Here's how you can participate. It basically calls for educating yourself about the issues from traffic to predatory pricing. I doubt very much that this will happen to any extent. People in SL that want a department store want Wal-Mart and the bigger the better. It doesn't really matter how many children are enslaved to make the products Wal-Mart sells.
The fourth article - A big box here -- What's the logic? A Wal-mart the size of the one proposed for SL would be almost 3 times the size of Price Chopper in LP and one-third bigger than the entire Ames shopping center that currently houses seven businesses.
The last article - Thinking outside the big box. A call for creative thinking, building on our strengths and self-sufficiency. "Encourage our area to put a moratorium on major development as a unified Town/Village Master Plan is created, and encourage planners to cap new store development at 40,000 sq ft - or new plaza development at 68,000 sq ft - a size limit used successfully in many communites our size". This is the same request being made by Sound Adirondack Growth.
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11 comments:
Give it a rest Pete! Apparently you don't have anything better to do with your time except research this issue and to rant and rave about Wal-Mart. Most of the hard working residents in this community and the surrounding area want a Wal-Mart here and it is the few "I know what's best for everyone in the village" individuals like yourself which are foaming at the mouth over this issue.
Get a Grip Pete - Don't be such a Big Baby!
Wal-Mart - Bring it On!
P.S. Since you are "moderating" this posting, I'm sure it will be censored - or is this against your Liberal beliefs.
Sorry the comment 'moderating' was on, that was an over sight. We certainly want everyone to be able to participate in discussions concerning this important issue.
The above comment from anonymous is a perfect example of what passes for an American patriotic citizen today. They can't discuss the issues so they name call and attack their opponent. Yes, of course many hard working residents in this community want Wal-Mart. Many hard working residents don't want Wal-Mart either. People like anonymous believe that the majority rules without any regard to the minority. Not very democratic in my mind. Nice thing about liberal beliefs is that they basically mean liberals are for equality in all things.
Being a liberal myself, I agree that liberals are supposed to stand for equality in all things. This would also entail being open-minded and non-judgmental. Definitely not what I've seen...
To the first anonymous blogger:
Ask yourself one question, one that I doubt you've ever bothered to ask: Why do you live here? Is it for the shopping? In other words, would you like to see Saranac Lake be just like every other town in the US: strip malls and low quality retailers too numerous to count? Or would you like to live in a place that is DIFFERENT and worth caring about?
See, I'm guessing that you've probably never lived anywhere else - that you are a born and bred Adirondacker. Well, guess what, you haven't seen anything. Try living in a $%^^hole like Albany for a while. A place with every goddamn chain store and restaurant you could ever want. And then see how much it sucks. I mean REALLY sucks. You can't buy what Saranac Lake has, neighbor - good people, a beautiful natural environment and a very promising future.
Bottom line: there are some things that are much more important than buying cheap underwear. If you can't see this, then I have nothing else to say. Good luck to you.
Also - and this goes to both pros and anti's - this has nothing to do with being liberal or conservative. Let's leave that dogmatism for the idiots in Washington to fight over.
I disagree that it has nothing to do with liberal or conservative, at least in my case. I sincerely believe in the capitalist system. I just believe that corporations have a moral duty to take care of their employees.
By labeling this a liberal or conservative issue, you immediately make it divisive. I'd rather see those who do not want a walmart focusing on what we (both pro's and anti's) have all have in common - that we live in SL - rather than our differences. I don't see this as an issue that has anything to do with being a liberal or conservative. You'll find that both liberals and conservatives want walmart and vice versa. You aren't doing anyone any good by making this an either-or argument and you certainly aren't winning anyone over from the pro side.
I agree that both liberals and conservatives have their reasons for being opposed to Wal-Mart. My reasons are generally those held by liberals, that is, corporations have an obligation to provide decent benefits to their employees. Generally conservatives believe that it every man (or woman) for themselves. My position, being Anti-Wal-Mart,is divisive. I can't help that. Those are my beliefs. Nor am I trying to 'win' anyone over. I've tried to provide good links to academic and government reports on Wal-Mart and links to interesting stories concerning Wal-Mart practices. I highly doubt that most Wal-Mart supporters care about those issues. They are concerned about one thing only and that is to buy cheap stuff.
I can't argue with that...its all about the cheap junk, isn't it?
I think you are providing a good thing here and I understand how one's ideologies play a big role in this whole debate.
If people could only realize how much they are putting on the line here. I guess that's too much to ask of those who only care about having instant access to cheap junk.
Hi there.
I don't know if the "Pete" referred to above is me (Peter Wilson here), if it is I assume the anonymous responder above is Thom Nast (pseudonym we've corresponded under), and it's likely that because this comment is being posted a couple of days late, you (Thom)(or anybody else for that matter) probably won't even be reading this.
Anyway, just in case it's directed to me, I'm not the blogger, moderator or anything else connected to this blog. I first heard about it yesterday (2/16), and last night heard that I might be suspected of authoring it.
Sorry, you'll have to look elsewhere.
To the Blogger: I agree with most of what I've read, thanks for getting the word out, and keep it up!
Thanks
Peter Wilson
a downtown SL merchant
and WalMart boycotter
Wal-Mart pays substandard wages so that their employees are forced to buy Wal-Marts cheap products. I think it's kinda like the way the old 'Company Stores' may have operated.
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