"STORE of the COMMUNITY"

“STORE OF THE COMMUNITY”

In the ‘Stratford Wal-Mart Development Update’ flyer dated May 2005 under ‘The Facts’ you will find this statement:

“Wal-Mart hopes to create a Store of the Community with each location. Merchandise is chosen, people are hired, and buildings are designed to reflect customers, neighbors and the community on the whole.”

Let’s hold them to this statement. Let’s dream and visualize what a Wal-Mart that actually reflected the Community of Stratford would look like! Please add your ideas and comments.

In my opinion, Wal-Mart would first and foremost respect our City Council version of OPA 10 which protects our industrially zoned lands in the east end of the city and re-directs any new commercial developments that can’t be accommodated in the downtown core to the west end of the city where the city plans to grow in the future. This would give Stratford a ‘three node commercial structure’ where the downtown core remains central. Just as in the design of large commercial malls that have 2 large anchors stores at either end where the traffic pattern created benefits the smaller stores in the middle, the downtown would benefit and have some protection.

*Wal-Mart would use the architectural method of using an existing building façade to keep the architectural and historical integrity of Stratford. It would be a modest sized store.

*Wal-Mart would build a modest sized parking lot behind the building and hidden from the main thoroughfare and fill it with many trees and plants.

*Wal-Mart would use the most up to date environmental building methods including solar power.

*Wal-Mart would allow the employees to unionize at a Stratford store.

*Wal-Mart would not sell dangerous products.

*Wal-Mart should reimburse the citizens and City of Stratford for the legal costs incurred in defending Stratford’s Official Plan Amendment 10 at the OMB.

*Wal-Mart should donate some of the land they hold in the east end of the city to create community garden plots.

*Wal-Mart should not sell products from off shore sweat shops.

*Wal-Mart should find local suppliers and pay them a fair price.

WHAT IDEAS DO YOU HAVE?