Wal-Mart is planning to build a new store in the Grand Rapids area. The new store will be located directly behind the existing Wal-Mart on Alpine Avenue. The store will be a “Wal-Mart Supercenter” which means it will offer groceries, a meat market, and other specialty departments such as a vision center and a pharmacy. Wal-Mart has begun emphasizing the “Supercenters” as a way to attract new customers and expand their market share, and indeed the 187,000 square foot stores (of which there were 1,914 in October 31, 2005) have decreased business at locally owned grocery stores while in many cases being funded by taxpayer subsidies.
In order to build the new store, which will replace the current one once construction is completed, Wal-Mart needs to first buy the property behind the current store and get the property rezoned from agricultural to commercial use. Wal-Mart will formally make the request for a zoning change tonight at the Alpine Township Hall. The Alpine Planning Commission meeting will take place at 7:00pm at 5255 Alpine Ave. NW in Comstock Park.
Last month, the first national poll on the public’s view of Wal-Mart found that 38% of United States citizens had an unfavorable opinion of Wal-Mart and that 56% of respondents agreed that while Wal-Mart does provide low prices, it is ultimately bad for America due to the high moral and economic cost associated with the company. Despite substantial holiday sales, there has been a considerable amount of negative press for Wal-Mart over the past few weeks with the company being ordered to pay $172 million for violating California labor laws, a criminal investigation of how it handled merchandise classified as hazardous waste, its destruction of a turtle habitat in south Florida, and a setback to Wal-Mart’s plan to form a bank.
