Wal Mart

[PoorGuy]

Do any of you live on or near South East Marine Drive? I live 3 minutes away up the hill on Kerr St and SE Marine Dr. Traffic is absolutely horrible when it hits 2:30 PM. If this was successful and both Wal Mart and Canadian Tire were built, you're going to have added people of south Vancouver driving down Victoria, Fraser, Main, Cambie, Elliot, Ross, Argyle, and streets west of Knight St Bridge to get to those stores.

Even though I agree this was a political decision that had no bearing on the merits of a greener Wal Mart, as a nearby resident of this major arterial road, I would vote no.

 

[Herb_The_Perb]

Do any of you live on or near South East Marine Drive? I live 3 minutes away up the hill on Kerr St and SE Marine Dr. Traffic is absolutely horrible when it hits 2:30 PM.

Yup -- when I've gone to see Sally in your neigborhood, I've been late both times because of terrible traffic. I've allowed plenty of time, and tried two different routes, and avoided the northbound (1 lane) Massey tunnel, all to no avail.

 

[smackyo]

i used to live in a small town in northern ontario, now last christmas was my first visit back in three years. that town got a walmart some 10 years ago and let me tell you it happens slowly but surely. that walmart has turned my once nice quaint little northern town into a shell of its former self from what i can remember.

almost all the stores in the mall have shut down as well as downtown with the exception of a music store, sporting goods and a zellars as well as a few other straglers. it was christmas and that mall was dead, it used to be packed. i was driving with my friend and suggested we go to the mall and he said why walmart is way better.

anyway my point is, is that it basically destroyed almost all viable small business in that town, and yeah it brought jobs all paying minimum wage, like thats going to help anyone get a head of the game. shit man walmart employees can't even afford to buy from walmart even with a company discount.

 

[The Lizard King]

Fuck Wal-Mart. They're a blight on the earth and, along with McDonald's, should be destroyed.

No kidding...and they should take Microsoft with them. Louis and Campbell are both idiots, especially Campbell. He should be bitch-slapped along with his Translink cronies. What a fucking joke that is.

 

[dexi]

environmentally-friendly big box stores

 

[FuZzYknUckLeS]

dexi,
they're gonna keep building them regardless of their environmental impact. environmentally-friendly in this case would be more in comparison to currently built and operational megastores. the lesser of 2 evils really. they would simply do less damage than current designs. the good in this is that every store designed as a 'green' building, as this one was, would reduce the environmental impact versus the current designs being erected around the globe. it all adds up. it would be a start, and would hopefully set a precedent for future developments. if one ever gets built...
obviously, as is the case here, not building it at all is the most environmentally-friendly option.

 

[wolverine]

They can build a Wal-Mart out of solar-powered goose shit for all they want. But the real environmental impact is that they build them as big-box stores that begat more big-box stores in its vicinity. Then you end up with something like South Edmonton Common, where you have to drive from one store to another. At least with a mall, you park once and walk around. And they encourage bulk buying...which means that even if you only live a cum squirt away, you still drive there so you can haul away all your purchases. Plus, Wal-Mart stores tend to favor the outer edges of cities, which in turn contributes to more urban sprawl.

 

[maxx50]

It's a nice day in the country

I could care a f#*k what goes on in Vancouver .... here on the island where i Live ..just down the street ...we got Cosco ..home depoe . winners stapals ..future Shop ....and it goes on and o n ..all set to the back drop of forest covered hills ..and eagles flying on high. ....... If it was not for all these stores .... where would any body be working in this town . So we could enjoy all the rest..... maybe we could all be pimps and whores..and just catter to the tourest......Thats the way it is in old Vic.

 

[Herb_The_Perb]

the good in this is that every store designed as a 'green' building, as this one was, would reduce the environmental impact versus the current designs being erected around the globe. it all adds up. it would be a start, and would hopefully set a precedent for future developments. if one ever gets built...
obviously, as is the case here, not building it at all is the most environmentally-friendly option.

I severely doubt that this would have been a true prototype.
More likely it was meant to be a trophy building in a hip city -- window dressing.

Meanwhile, does anyone know who the world-class architect for this building was --
Rem Koolhaas?
Frank Gehry?
Santiago Calatrava?
Tadao Ando?
Norman Foster?
Daniel Liebeskind?
Thom Mayne?
Richard Meier?
Frank Lloyd Wright?
Andrea Palladio?

 

[Herb_The_Perb]

They can build a Wal-Mart out of solar-powered goose shit for all they want. But the real environmental impact is that they build them as big-box stores that begat more big-box stores in its vicinity. ... Plus, Wal-Mart stores tend to favor the outer edges of cities, which in turn contributes to more urban sprawl.

Also, they manufacture their goods in third-world countries halfway around the world, and ship them all that distance to the point of sale (like Ikea, another huge-box retailer.) Not a lot of energy efficiency there.

 

[FuZzYknUckLeS]

Meanwhile, does anyone know who the world-class architect for this building was --

scroll back in the thread Herb, I answer you yesterday on this...

 

[FuZzYknUckLeS]

Well, I guess the 'new' City Council felt differently. There is life after death!

Big box retail on Marine is alive.

 

[gravitas]

Fuck Wal-Mart. They're a blight on the earth and, along with McDonald's, should be destroyed.

Oldfart, Location: Metrotown
So living in metrotown where do you do your shopping?

I dislike Wal Mart and refuse to shop there because half of the top ten richest people in the US are from the Walton family which started Wal-Mart.

Damn successful people piss me off

Instead of Wal-Mart, I go to Zellers. At least the employees are unionized there.

Lets all hold hands and sing kumbaya while we take our fifth coffee break of the day and bitch and moan about how evil out employer is.

We buy shit from them......

So is it the consumers fault or Wal-Marts?

I refuse to darken the doors of a Wal-Mart unless absolutely necessary. I buy my......from the...London Drugs

Sam Walton bad, Tong Louie good?

 

[PoorGuy]

"The land west of Manitoba street will be reserved for cultural and community use, such as recreational facilities, because of its proximity to a new Cambie Street Skytrain station."

Bahahaha fuck that. It's more like "we are imposing a zoning line straight down Ontario Street so that the fair citizens of the "west side" of Vancouver won't be subject to the forlorn sight of big box retailers. Let's keep the "value" stuff on the "east side". Oh nooooo we mustn't compete with south Granville and spoil Marpole! Let's put it in the "immigrant" communities of Main, Fraser, and Victoria!


Just a tab bitter.

 

[bernini]

Good for Vancouver for pushing Wal-Mart out. Its great! I think it shows that this part of the world is serious about demanding environmental and social responsibility. Which I believe it does. Good for us and especially good for the residents and business' within a 5-10 km radius, that's for sure.

 

[wolverine]

Sam Walton bad, Tong Louie good?

I have no idea who he is, but because you are questioning my preference of London Drugs over Wal-Mart, at least London Drugs is Canadian. I will always choose to shop at Canuck retailers instead of the American discount behemoth that's trying to kill them.

 

[Hardatwork]

Good for Vancouver for pushing Wal-Mart out. Its great! I think it shows that this part of the world is serious about demanding environmental and social responsibility. Which I believe it does. Good for us and especially good for the residents and business' within a 5-10 km radius, that's for sure.

Ummm, I think you missed the point of reviving this year old thread. The new Vancouver City Council has voted in favour of allowing big box stores like Walmart. Personally I don't see what the big deal was about allowing big box stores into an area that already has a very large, very ugly Superstore in the locale...

From CKNW...

VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) - Southeast Marine Drive is open for big-box stores thanks to a late night Council vote which could open the door for Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire.

Six NPA votes, including Mayor Sam Sullivan helped pass a motion which allows large-format retail on Southeast Marine Drive between Main and Yukon streets.

Despite mostly mixed opinions on the issue, NPA Councillor Peter Ladner says he thinks the neighborhood wants big-box stores, "To the east of Manitoba, we would allow the highway oriented retail in consideration of what I beleive is the neighborhood's desire for more large-format retail and choice."

Ladner says he expects both Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire to apply for development permits.

The land west of Manitoba street will be reserved for cultural and community use, such as recreational facilities, because of its proximity to a new Cambie Street Skytrain station.

 

[Maury Beniowski]

Good for Vancouver for pushing Wal-Mart out. Its great! I think it shows that this part of the world is serious about demanding environmental and social responsibility. Which I believe it does. Good for us and especially good for the residents and business' within a 5-10 km radius, that's for sure.

Bernini, large monolithic corporations think in terms of decades, unlike us commoners who can barely think past our next paycheque. They'll just lie in wait until a friendlier Council regains the reins of power. Wal-Mart who will surely outlive us, will have its way eventually, whether now or after we pass on. I'm reminded of the outcry against BC Hydro when their expansionist days were clipped in the 1980s. Slowly but surely, the advantages of hydroelectric power has now almost drowned out the cries of aging environmentalists in these times of increasing power usage brought on by a growing consumer appetite for big screen TVs and computer technology proliferation.

Sam Walton bad, Tong Louie good?

Tong's been dead for quite a few years now. Brandt is at the helm of the Louie empire today, with his brother Kurt in charge of LD operations.

Tong, the son of Hak Yat did however direct the quantum leap in the family's growth into LD and IGA from its humbler beginnings at HY Louie...

 

[lovinithard]

It's a crying shame. Well, the city has got what it citizens voted for: a pro-big business council that will always go for the money.

Vancouver has now started down the road that most had thought we had avoided by fighting those battles that our forefathers (and mothers) undertook against the freeway pushers of the 60s and 70s.

Vancouver will soon lose it's crown as one of the most livable cities in the world. What with Port Mann II, and now this car orientated development on Marine Drive, we'll soon be re-christening the city as LA North.

 

[gravitas]

Tong's been dead for quite a few years now.

So is Sam Walton

My point of raising the london drugs example is the number of similarities with wal mart:
-very diverse product mix
-value conscious pricing
-high percentage of private branded sku's & off shore manufacturing
-extremely aggressive purchasing
-view IT as a core business competency which helps to drive strong supply chain management
-community and philanthropic
-highly visible and long term ceo
-centralized control
-opposed to unionization
-close board of directors and senior management often consisting of family members
-founder viewed as figure head (while Mr. Louie wasn't technically the founder of London Drugs he was responsible for its current business model)

The key difference, aside from the obvious being size, is that wal mart is publicly traded where london drugs is privately owned.


You'll really impress me if you can tell me what "33", "66" and ''77" are in reference to