Fairhope, Alabama
FRED'S DEPARTMENT STORE
According to signs posted on doors today, the Fred's Super Store in the Eastern shore Shopping Center on Greeno Road has closed; the store had operated there since the 1980's according to neighbors.
The demise of locally-owned and smaller businesses was predicted in 2005 when Wal Mart was contemplating construction of its own super store on Hwy 181; independent bookstore owner Karin Wilson led the unsuccessful 'A Fair Hope of Success' and 'Chain Against Chains' effort to stop it:
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| Former Fred's Fairhope store |
FRED'S DEPARTMENT STORE
According to signs posted on doors today, the Fred's Super Store in the Eastern shore Shopping Center on Greeno Road has closed; the store had operated there since the 1980's according to neighbors.The demise of locally-owned and smaller businesses was predicted in 2005 when Wal Mart was contemplating construction of its own super store on Hwy 181; independent bookstore owner Karin Wilson led the unsuccessful 'A Fair Hope of Success' and 'Chain Against Chains' effort to stop it:
Page & Palette Owner Continues the Fight Against Wal-
Mart [4]
Fairhope, Alabama, a city of approximately 12,000 residents, is in the midst of an ongoing fight to keep big box retailers, including Wal-Mart, out of its surrounding area. This past August, a group of concerned citizens -- including bookseller Karin Wilson of Fairhope's Page & Palette bookstore -- formed "A Fair Hope of Success," to ensure the continued viability of Fairhope's downtown businesses. "A Fair Hope" formed in response to rumors of a Wal-Mart opening in the area. Recently, those rumors became fact when Wal-Mart applied for a permit to build a 204,000-square-foot supercenter just outside Fairhope's city limits.
According to the Mobile Register, Wal-Mart had announced that it had no intentions of opening in Fairhope in the near future. But Wilson wasn't surprised when the world's largest retailer applied for a building permit. She and "A Fair Hope" have been gearing up for just that since the summer. Wilson had already gathered over 2,000 signatures on a petition that cites the many ways in which mega-stores adversely affect the community, which she presented to Fairhope City Council in October.
The council, in turn, had accepted proposed zoning changes that would require developers to get approval from the County Commission before building anything other than one house per acre on the land in question. The project was then to have moved to the next step -- putting the proposal on the County Commission's next agenda.
Fairhope, Alabama, a city of approximately 12,000 residents, is in the midst of an ongoing fight to keep big box retailers, including Wal-Mart, out of its surrounding area. This past August, a group of concerned citizens -- including bookseller Karin Wilson of Fairhope's Page & Palette bookstore -- formed "A Fair Hope of Success," to ensure the continued viability of Fairhope's downtown businesses. "A Fair Hope" formed in response to rumors of a Wal-Mart opening in the area. Recently, those rumors became fact when Wal-Mart applied for a permit to build a 204,000-square-foot supercenter just outside Fairhope's city limits.
According to the Mobile Register, Wal-Mart had announced that it had no intentions of opening in Fairhope in the near future. But Wilson wasn't surprised when the world's largest retailer applied for a building permit. She and "A Fair Hope" have been gearing up for just that since the summer. Wilson had already gathered over 2,000 signatures on a petition that cites the many ways in which mega-stores adversely affect the community, which she presented to Fairhope City Council in October.
The council, in turn, had accepted proposed zoning changes that would require developers to get approval from the County Commission before building anything other than one house per acre on the land in question. The project was then to have moved to the next step -- putting the proposal on the County Commission's next agenda.
Comments
No turning back now.
Too bad. :(
the affect of other big boxes like Home Depot and Lowes are going to be just as bad.
"The Walmart Effect is a term used to refer to the economic impact felt by local businesses when a large company like Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) opens a location in the area. The Walmart Effect usually manifests itself by forcing smaller retail firms out of business and reducing wages for competitors' employees."