San Francisco doesn’t like big boxes:
City leaders banned large chain stores in North Beach and passed a measure that makes it difficult to open them along lower Divisadero Street. Last year, the Board of Supervisors essentially banned Wal-Mart from town by requiring large stores to obtain special permits to open shop and prohibited such stores in certain neighborhoods.
But now it’s warming up to Home Depot:
The city’s Planning Commission voted 4-2 early this morning — after an 8-1/2 hour meeting that began Thursday evening — to allow the retail giant to locate at the border of the Bernal Heights and Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhoods. In the end, the project would be downsized to 140,000 square feet from 153,000 square feet, and the home improvement giant would be required to make a number of other changes, including giving more money to affordable housing projects in the city and adding a pedestrian entrance to store grounds. Opponents say they may appeal the commission’s decision to the Board of Supervisors, which ultimately must approve the project.
Of course the Planning Commission gave Home Depot the nod only after a debate that lasted nearly 10 years. Whole article here. In related news, the biggest box is taking another shot at the New York market:
In the months since Wal-Mart’s hopes of building its first New York City store in Rego Park were dashed, the retailer has been stepping up efforts to win over politicians, community leaders and local media with an eye on future sites. Officials from Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart have met with borough presidents Helen Marshall of Queens, Marty Markowitz of Brooklyn and James Molinaro of Staten Island.
Article here; for more background, go here. See also this interesting development. In Nevada, an Indian tribe
is leasing [Indian] land to a property developer, who will sublet a 203,000-square-foot (18,800-square-meter) superstore to Wal-Mart in a long-term deal, perhaps to last 30 years, said Charles Rosenow, the director of the tribe’s economic development department.