Page & Palette Owner Continues the Fight Against Wal-Mart

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.

However, responding to other residents who expressed opposition to implementing county zoning regulations on land bordering Fairhope's city limits, County Commission Chairman Ed Bishop halted consideration of the plan, according to the Mobile Register. Bishop explained, "I just think there needs to be a little bit more time for people to understand that the county is not trying to ramrod this on them," according to the Register. He added, "There just needs to be more talk."

While the zoning process was halted, Wal-Mart submitted its application for the permit. Responding to this development, "A Fair Hope" and Wilson are ramping up their efforts. The current plan is for members of "A Fair Hope" to visit the district where the proposed Wal-Mart is to be built, as well as those surrounding it, to obtain enough signatures to require a referendum.

Wilson and others have expressed their thoughts about the community's future development in letters to the editors of local newspapers. In a letter featured on the store's website, Wilson said, "County officials, please note that another reason this is detrimental for our community is because when local businesses lose money, so does Fairhope. Like I put in every one of my newsletters, local businesses support the local economy. Studies have shown, for every $100 spent in their stores, local businesses give back to the local community anywhere between $73 - $88, chains only $20 - $43." [See Civic Economics' Andersonville Study and "Economic Impact Analysis -- A Case Study: Local Merchants vs. Chain Retailers."]

"Nothing's a done deal yet," said Wilson about Wal-Mart's opening. "We only need about 400 signatures [to force the referendum]. We've definitely just begun." --Karen Schechner