On Sunday, the Sacramento Bee wrote with great bemusement: “Davis has become the only city in the nation to force Target to win ballot box approval before it can build.”
The crux of the article though is this statement towards the middle of the piece: “Davis’ great Target debate is a little hard for some Sacramento politicians to relate to. Big box stores are so common here that another Target hardly merits attention.”
And that is exactly at the heart of the debate–as they say, only in Davis is this such a big issue. Sacramento has tons and tons of Big Box stores. To some this is just a matter of Davis being a quirky, college town. Not surpringly, I disagree with this assessment. To me, I think cities like Sacramento have it wrong.
As I’ve suggested in several previous blog entries, there are many reasons to oppose stores like Target. We could start with the labor practices of Target itself, move to the sweat shops that produce its merchandise, and finish with environmental concerns. I do not understand why supposedly liberal Democratic politicians in Sacramento DO NOT CARE about these sorts of issues?
If we’re talking about conservatives towns in rural American, I can understand it, but why do liberal politicians not care about these kinds of issues?
Twenty-five years ago when I was growing up, my family drove across the country first one way and then the other. Each city had its own little stores and flavor. Eight years ago as an adult I drove across the country with a friend and all of that had changed. You see the same stores in the “same” towns all across the country. Only the names of the towns change. The stores remain the same. And that’s sad. Little mom and pop stores used to be the backbone of America, and now they are fighting for their lives against the big bad wolves in the form of Big Box Retail, Chain Restaurants, and other national chains that have sprung up everywhere. Davis is an Oasis from the monotony of chain stores. In ten years, we’ll hardly recognize it at this rate. Bigger, better, faster, cheaper.
Hey, there was a good letter to the editor last night in the Davis Enterprise responding to Mr. Rifkin’s column from last week.
Snap up some deodorant at Longs
Regarding “Sweet-smelling reasons to vote yes,” no wonder Rich Rifkin wants a Target in Davis. He doesn’t know where he can buy deodorant. Please let him know they sell it at Longs Drugs, and it is pretty cheap!
Kelly Safford
I guess we have to add deodorant to the socks and underwear list.
Signed sockless in Davis…
—Doug Paul Davis reporting
I spoke with a woman who had just arrived in Davis with her kids yesterday. She was raised in Davis and is now a single mom who has moved back to Davis from Billings,Montana after 20 yrs. She related passionately how
the local referendum to keep Wal-Mart out of Billings had failed and how in very short order, the entire Billings downtown dried up and blew away. I encouraged her to tell her story to her new neighbors. Big box retail is deadly to local retail business.
I spoke with a woman who had just arrived in Davis with her kids yesterday. She was raised in Davis and is now a single mom who has moved back to Davis from Billings,Montana after 20 yrs. She related passionately how
the local referendum to keep Wal-Mart out of Billings had failed and how in very short order, the entire Billings downtown dried up and blew away. I encouraged her to tell her story to her new neighbors. Big box retail is deadly to local retail business.
I spoke with a woman who had just arrived in Davis with her kids yesterday. She was raised in Davis and is now a single mom who has moved back to Davis from Billings,Montana after 20 yrs. She related passionately how
the local referendum to keep Wal-Mart out of Billings had failed and how in very short order, the entire Billings downtown dried up and blew away. I encouraged her to tell her story to her new neighbors. Big box retail is deadly to local retail business.
I spoke with a woman who had just arrived in Davis with her kids yesterday. She was raised in Davis and is now a single mom who has moved back to Davis from Billings,Montana after 20 yrs. She related passionately how
the local referendum to keep Wal-Mart out of Billings had failed and how in very short order, the entire Billings downtown dried up and blew away. I encouraged her to tell her story to her new neighbors. Big box retail is deadly to local retail business.
It’s good to see that the No on K folks are standing up for small businesses… such as the Longs Corporation.
I don’t know Kelly Safford. Never heard of her. She may be an intelligent person. But she got her facts wrong about her favorite giant drug store chain, Longs. They do not sell deodorant cheap. Rather, they rip off their customers.
Kelly wrote: “He doesn’t know where he can buy deodorant. Please let him know they sell it at Longs Drugs, and it is pretty cheap!”
Here’s a comparison of the everyday prices for a 3.25 oz. Mennen Speed Stick Regular Scent sold at Longs and sold at a big box store in Woodland:
Longs: $3.49
Big Box: $2.08
The last time I bought this product at the big box store it was on sale for $1.62. I’m sure Longs has sales, also. But it is incorrect to say that Longs sells merchandise that is “pretty cheap.”
It’s good to see that the No on K folks are standing up for small businesses… such as the Longs Corporation.
I don’t know Kelly Safford. Never heard of her. She may be an intelligent person. But she got her facts wrong about her favorite giant drug store chain, Longs. They do not sell deodorant cheap. Rather, they rip off their customers.
Kelly wrote: “He doesn’t know where he can buy deodorant. Please let him know they sell it at Longs Drugs, and it is pretty cheap!”
Here’s a comparison of the everyday prices for a 3.25 oz. Mennen Speed Stick Regular Scent sold at Longs and sold at a big box store in Woodland:
Longs: $3.49
Big Box: $2.08
The last time I bought this product at the big box store it was on sale for $1.62. I’m sure Longs has sales, also. But it is incorrect to say that Longs sells merchandise that is “pretty cheap.”
It’s good to see that the No on K folks are standing up for small businesses… such as the Longs Corporation.
I don’t know Kelly Safford. Never heard of her. She may be an intelligent person. But she got her facts wrong about her favorite giant drug store chain, Longs. They do not sell deodorant cheap. Rather, they rip off their customers.
Kelly wrote: “He doesn’t know where he can buy deodorant. Please let him know they sell it at Longs Drugs, and it is pretty cheap!”
Here’s a comparison of the everyday prices for a 3.25 oz. Mennen Speed Stick Regular Scent sold at Longs and sold at a big box store in Woodland:
Longs: $3.49
Big Box: $2.08
The last time I bought this product at the big box store it was on sale for $1.62. I’m sure Longs has sales, also. But it is incorrect to say that Longs sells merchandise that is “pretty cheap.”
It’s good to see that the No on K folks are standing up for small businesses… such as the Longs Corporation.
I don’t know Kelly Safford. Never heard of her. She may be an intelligent person. But she got her facts wrong about her favorite giant drug store chain, Longs. They do not sell deodorant cheap. Rather, they rip off their customers.
Kelly wrote: “He doesn’t know where he can buy deodorant. Please let him know they sell it at Longs Drugs, and it is pretty cheap!”
Here’s a comparison of the everyday prices for a 3.25 oz. Mennen Speed Stick Regular Scent sold at Longs and sold at a big box store in Woodland:
Longs: $3.49
Big Box: $2.08
The last time I bought this product at the big box store it was on sale for $1.62. I’m sure Longs has sales, also. But it is incorrect to say that Longs sells merchandise that is “pretty cheap.”
The question is then: is it worth having a Target here in order to buy slightly cheaper deodorant? That said, I think Doug gets it right–this issue is about what you think the social responsibility of mega-corporations should be, and if a small liberal town like Davis can’t impose some sort of regulation, the rest of the country has no hope.
The question is then: is it worth having a Target here in order to buy slightly cheaper deodorant? That said, I think Doug gets it right–this issue is about what you think the social responsibility of mega-corporations should be, and if a small liberal town like Davis can’t impose some sort of regulation, the rest of the country has no hope.
The question is then: is it worth having a Target here in order to buy slightly cheaper deodorant? That said, I think Doug gets it right–this issue is about what you think the social responsibility of mega-corporations should be, and if a small liberal town like Davis can’t impose some sort of regulation, the rest of the country has no hope.
The question is then: is it worth having a Target here in order to buy slightly cheaper deodorant? That said, I think Doug gets it right–this issue is about what you think the social responsibility of mega-corporations should be, and if a small liberal town like Davis can’t impose some sort of regulation, the rest of the country has no hope.
Anyone who is interested can go to the city of Davis website to see what our city attorney said about the ordinance that councilman Heystek proposed on Sept. 19th. Harriet Styner stated that while she was not able to fully research this plan( as the council majority had refused to authorize city staff to look into this at its Aug. 1 meeting), her firm was currently defending this very same legal question for the city of Emeryville and that she and her partner think that they will prevail. Councilman Souza’s ranting about “not passing constitutional muster” (read off prepared talking points that the Target legal team ,no doubt, put together)were left hanging out there as Souza wiped the egg of his face.
Anyone who is interested can go to the city of Davis website to see what our city attorney said about the ordinance that councilman Heystek proposed on Sept. 19th. Harriet Styner stated that while she was not able to fully research this plan( as the council majority had refused to authorize city staff to look into this at its Aug. 1 meeting), her firm was currently defending this very same legal question for the city of Emeryville and that she and her partner think that they will prevail. Councilman Souza’s ranting about “not passing constitutional muster” (read off prepared talking points that the Target legal team ,no doubt, put together)were left hanging out there as Souza wiped the egg of his face.
Anyone who is interested can go to the city of Davis website to see what our city attorney said about the ordinance that councilman Heystek proposed on Sept. 19th. Harriet Styner stated that while she was not able to fully research this plan( as the council majority had refused to authorize city staff to look into this at its Aug. 1 meeting), her firm was currently defending this very same legal question for the city of Emeryville and that she and her partner think that they will prevail. Councilman Souza’s ranting about “not passing constitutional muster” (read off prepared talking points that the Target legal team ,no doubt, put together)were left hanging out there as Souza wiped the egg of his face.
Anyone who is interested can go to the city of Davis website to see what our city attorney said about the ordinance that councilman Heystek proposed on Sept. 19th. Harriet Styner stated that while she was not able to fully research this plan( as the council majority had refused to authorize city staff to look into this at its Aug. 1 meeting), her firm was currently defending this very same legal question for the city of Emeryville and that she and her partner think that they will prevail. Councilman Souza’s ranting about “not passing constitutional muster” (read off prepared talking points that the Target legal team ,no doubt, put together)were left hanging out there as Souza wiped the egg of his face.