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I'm not from South Carolina but I am an American and as an American I, along with all of you have a responsibility to keep as much money in the hands of Americans as possible.
I know times are extremely difficult for many of us and money is difficult to come by but you have to attempt to at least support a locally owned business that ,when you spend that hard earned dollar, that it stays in your community.
Let's face it people Walmart is the home of low prices. I will fully agree with that statement, but they are the home of low prices at what cost to you and your family?
As prices on staples of existence continue to rise it seems only the smartest thing to do to do most if not all of your shopping at Walmart.
Walmart's history of employee abuse is enough to make any sane person cringe but the real danger is the staggering amount of Chinese made goods leaving the doors of Walmart in the hands of consumers each and every day.
Somewhere, somehow we lost our pride in America and ourselves.
It's a race to the bottom as millions have flocked to Walmart and continue to do so.
It's very difficult to get away from Chinese made products so perhaps we can look for a way to keep our money in the hands of a small business owner if we have to purchase a Chinese made product.
Instead of going to Walmart for that hardware item, go to a local Ace or Tru Value hardware store and purchase it there.
These hardware stores are privately owned and are aligned with a buying coop franchise.
If your budget is extremely tight, go and purchase one or two grocery items from your local IGA or other locally owned market and the rest at Walmart.
At least you are purchasing something from a local business instead of buying everything from Walmart.
I've been Walmart free for a little over six years.
I feel that buy spending my money in the local business community and the least amount as possible from corporations like Walmart I'm doing my part to help my country.
You may be able to purchase more with the same amount of money at Walmart but what is it really costing you? What is it costing all of us?
... been reading some of those links earlier in the thread, Julian?
Makes one pause for thought, huh?
But when all is said and done, the people voting for this will be paying attention to the folks in the area who THINK that Wally World has something better to offer; most folks haven't read the articles and essays you have, to be exposed to that "other side" of Walmart. There is a cost to all that facade of good stuff, but most people only see the lower price and not the long term effect.
Keep working to get the word out about this issue- it is important for people to understand.
We need to find out where the supportive facts are to back up these claims...do you know how to do that? It would be great to be able to show with verifiable data just how WM practices actually degrade a community economy, and then get that information to the community.
Just one person's opinion here, of course, but it does seem that there is a real smoke screen of information that WM projects
Nothing official happens until Sept 20, when the proposal is scheduled to go before the Planning Commission. After they hold their hearing(s), they will make recommendations to County Council, which is responsible for approval/denial. Other than that, just a bunch of letters to the editor, some for, some against, lots of emails floating around, etc. I suspect there are private, unofficial meetings going on, but nothing being said publically. Council members are saying very little. I contacted all seven by email, and received one response, which was noncommittal. Private groups are trying to organize opposition, not sure how well that's going. The Coastal Observer has an online version with the latest story.
Hi kids! Me again....with questions, of course.
So the Observer of 8/23 arrived yesterday and I am curious about something different in the application for development. Maybe those of you who are closer can help me with this.
Where does this additional square footage they now want to put in the project fit in? They've already tripled the building size usually allowed by skirting the set-back guidelines, and now they already want to "expand the shopping center's planned development" by nearly 47,000 sf!!?? Does this have the aroma of a skunk to anyone else?
So let's have a discussion about how this is being handled, ok?
We have an "unnamed client" wanting to make major changes to the codes/zoning along a major thoroughfare in a very small town. The developer of the property made the purchase somewhat surreptitiously before a planned public auction
of the site could occur, and is already-on behalf of an unnamed tenant-trying to get further changes in place. The client approached the developer a year before the sale occurred. Hmmm, does it sound to you like this is an -unnamed entity- that is concerned about the interests of the community at large? Sounds like a lot of back alley dealings to this kid.
I may be particularly sensitive to this aspect of the situation at the moment because of some articles and essays I've been reading in an attempt to understand how this "big box" takeover thing works. There is a lot of stuff out there- boy was I surprised at how much!- and there was a quote from an essay by a guy named Al Norman that really rang true with me after I read recent articles in the Observer and G'town Times. The article , by Doug Pibel, comes from a 1999 issue of Yes magazine. Titled "Stopping The Big Boxes", this article is talking about what it takes to get a community mobilized to fight against the building of a big box store and he is quoting Mr. Norman in reference to the importance of understanding the zoning rules. He says, " Wal-Mart likes to sneak into town. You won't see rezoning applications for Wal-Mart; you'll see a real estate developer seeking rezoning for an unnamed client. By the time Wal-Mart is visible, it's usually been around for months". It goes on to state that there have been times when land was being rezoned without the required public hearings, and refers to Ithaca, NY as an example. His point was that the enacting of codes to keep the big guys out is important. Unfortunately, it didn't work in PI's case as they found a loophole.
This is eerily familiar.... And given the date of the article, it sounds like business as usual. Is this a "Good Neighbor"??? I am thinking not.
I am going to take a closer look at an article I found titled " What Do We Know About Wal-Mart? An Overview of Facts and Studies for New Yorkers" which was written as an economic policy brief by 3 law students at the Brennan Center for Justice in 2005. My printer decided to take a powder after page 2, so I haven't read the whole thing yet, but even though this is for New Yorkers, the intent was to provide facts about the company so communitites could make informed policy decisions about economic development in their area. So far as I can tell, its one resource that is fact based and therefore won't require a lot of sifting through personal opinion, suppositions and politically driven diatribe. I suspect that someone who knows how could insert the appropriate data for SC and or Georgetown County and create a similar document for the situation at hand. ( That IS a hint for any of you numbers people out there)
Whether this "unnamed client" turns out to be Walmart or some other "big box" store, the less-than-forthright way they have conducted their business to date gives me reason for concern. Unfortunately the developer has the land now, but it seems to me that the community can still wage a good argument for NOT bringing such an out-of-proportion entity to this small village. With 2 Walmarts within 25 miles and other big boxes like Home Depot, Lowe's, Target, etc located within that same area, what good reason could there be for this action? That's enough cheap ( in all senses of the word) "stuff", traffic, concrete, congeston! Let's keep Pawleys Island as an oasis in all that confusion.
Has anyone tried to propose alternate uses for the site?
My apologies if the previous links have been posted already. I am popping in and out quickly and have not had a chance to catch up on the thread. (but I will )
Hi Everyone...been out of pocket and still getting oriented, but I have a question. I haven't seen any discussion of alternate uses for this property and wondered if any have been proposed. Do any of you know if suggestions have been made?
I don't expect that type of discussion. The developer who owns it is in business to make money, and he's found a big name client. County Council will either approve or disapprove. At least publicly, that will be the only question on the table. If it's disapproved, the developer will look for other clients to occupy the property. If he gets a good deal, he'll go after that. If he doesn't, he'll quit making payments, it will go back into foreclosure, and the banks will bite the bullet. This is the stereotypical commercial strip mall property. It's hard for me to see it being used for anything else.
When Lowes showed up several years ago with their big box proposal, there were a few pollyannaish suggestions that the county buy up the property and build a park. IMO, that's totally unrealistic for high-value commercial property on Hwy 17.
The big question is whether the developer and Walmart will be allowed to skirt the zoning restrictions that were put in place to prevent this, strictly on legal technicalities. In retrospect, the restrictions were very poorly written, but that easier to recognize after the fact.
As the Coastal Observer pointed out so well in last week's article, the final result will very likely lay in the hands of council members who represent districts far removed from PI. This was, in large part, also true when Lowe's came to town. The difference was then, we were represented by a well-respected county councilman who earned the respect and support of other council members. Today, we are represented by the invisible man.
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And given the date of the article, it sounds like business as usual. Is this a "Good Neighbor"??? I am thinking not.
(but I will 
)
