Posted on 23-7-2003

SprawlMart - No Thanks

Note: PlaNet TV's programme `Down By Store' will be available online next
week at www.pl.net click on PTV in index.

Warren Snow was recently interviewed by The Bay News who are concerned at
the prospect of Big Box retail coming to their town. Below is a copy of
the transcript of the interview for your information. Sarah Roberts,
Envision New Zealand, PO Box 33 239, Takapuna, Auckland. Ph: 09 489 2129
Email: mailbox@envision-nz.com

Questions as follows:

(1) You have been very critical of the impact major retailers like The
Warehouse have on small communities--what do you mean?

I am critical of major retailers like The Warehouse because they sell
themselves on a single proposition - lowest price. To achieve that low
price, they compete unfairly with small retailers, who don't have the
buying clout that they do. I'd be perfectly happy with chain stores in
towns if they were to come in and assess what a fair size would be that the
community can handle. There's nothing wrong with chain stores, they've
been around for a long time, small towns have historically had a good mix
of good large retail chains and smaller local stores. It's when it gets
out of balance that concerns me. When you put a 10m2 (100,000 sq ft) store
into a small regional town or city - there is no way the local businesses
can support that. All around NZ, hundreds of small retailers who have
served their communities well have gone out of business. The Warehouse
talks about sustainability - this is absolutely unsustainable.

(2) You claim businesses like The Warehouse actually reduce consumer
choice--why and how?

Businesses like The Warehouse reduce consumer choice, because once they've
put a local retailer out of business, they determine what consumers will
buy. They won't buy for the local area, off a KeriKeri manufacturer,
clothing, toys or whatever. Their policy is to buy for the whole country.
A small manufacturer may only want to supply three local stores, when they
go out of business The Warehouse buying preferences are what the community
has to live with. And as everybody knows, invariably, to keep the price
down, they reduce the quality. Some people want to buy a fitted suit ­
once all the menswear stores are gone that option is gone ­ some people
like to shop at a locally owned jeweller who knows them and their needs ­
now that The Warehouse is including jewellery in their stores it will
impact on choice. In some towns there is virtually no option for most goods
but to go to the Warehouse or a similar chain store. There are now 45 empty
stores in Invercargill ­ that’s what I mean by loss of choice. Another
example is progressive enterprises, going to reduce their number of lines
from 40,000 to around 25,000 - they are making these decisions for all of
us because it
means less transactions for them ­ but also less choice for us.

(3) You say local communities should be determining the mix of retailing in
their own townships--how could they successfully achieve that?

Local communities should have the right to make decisions about the mix of
retailing in their township. For example, a number of other countries have
now put size caps on chain stores. A 1,000 to 2,000 sqm2 Warehouse in
Kerikeri would possibly be sustainable - personally I doubt it, but the
community should have the right to make that assessment for themselves.
Everybody in Kerikeri wants the local retailers to survive, but the reality
is that they won't if The Warehouse comes to town. The Warehouse has
shown, that it does not care about local main street or local
retailers. In fact, The Warehouse style of business is known, as "category
killer", because one by one they pick off categories and kill them. They
are about to kill off the jewellers of NZ. They won't kill them all, but
they will kill probably a third or even a half of them. They get all
those businesses for free, just as the three shoe shops in Kaitaia closed
when The Warehouse came. They didn't buy those businesses - they got them
for free. So in the end, the only place to buy a pair of shoes is either
The Warehouse or Farmers. New Zealand should take the lead from other
countries that have seen the devastation from uncontrolled big box retail ­
they want everything and won’t stop until they control every last bit of
your community’s retail spend.Who knows what they will get into next? In
Dunedin they have a travel agency in their new mega store. In some places
you might as well rename The Warehouse and call it town ­ because that’s
what it’s replacing.

(4)The Far North is economically depressed: How do you balance the need for
public access to cheaper goods with your earlier criticisms?

This is a very good question. The reality is, The Warehouse, causes
further economic depression. They don't use the local lawyer, they don't
use the local accountant, they don't hire the local plumber, they don't
even get local builders to build the buildings. They purchase the absolute
minimum from the Far North. Local retailers employ local accountants,
lawyers, plumbers, builders, sign writers, window dressers and so
on. These people are able to create jobs for their children. When they
all go out of business, you're reduced to low waged people working in a big
barn who aren't able to contribute in the same way to their community. It
has been shown that small stores, create three times the local economic
value than large super stores. They also create three times the jobs. The
other thing is, that traditionally, big box retailers contribute far less
in rates to the local community than the small retailers. When the small
retailers go broke, they can't contribute either, property prices in the
main street go down and the rates have to be captured from
householders. All in all, this means that we're paying for the cheapest
price, through loss of jobs and wages, loss of small businesses and loss of
rates to the community. It's all part of the global, industrial system
which is corporatising communities. If you don't want your community to be
further economically depressed, than don't have mega chain stores! The
lowest prices are often the most expensive!

(5) You helped Warehouse founder Stephen Tindall establish The Tindall
Foundation. You managed it for five years before leaving, saying you were
disillusioned--what were you unhappy with?

I was disillusioned that The Warehouse was touting itself as a sustainable
company and I had helped them to understand this process, but I found that
The Warehouse was not prepared to address true sustainability. They talk
about zero waste in their stores, but they don't talk about the vast amount
of waste that goes in shopping bags that end up in landfill caused by the
reduced quality of products that make them not last as long. They talk
about the need for businesses to employ more young people and yet they
congratulate stores for reducing the number of people that are employed and
at reducing the cost of employment as a percentage of turnover. They play
communities off each other to get the best deals on land usage and so that
they get stores built to the best advantage. It's all very well to run an
unsustainable company, but to claim the mantle of sustainability at the
same time, was beyond the pale for me, and I was not prepared to carry on
distributing Stephen Tindall's private funds when the source of the funds
was causing so much damage to communities and the environment. Not to
mention, the estimated 80% of their products that are made in conditions we
would not tolerate New Zealander's to work under. As soon as The Warehouse
walks the talk I’ll be the first to congratulate them ­ but until them I’ll
remain a sceptical critic for piggy backing on the green movement for profit.

(6)Okay, having said all of the above, why has The Warehouse been so
successful?

The Warehouse has been so successful, because they have created what they
call a "formula". Low cost stores in low cost locations selling, low
quality products, made in inhumane conditions and by turning their back on
NZ manufacturers and turning their backs, as small retailers in towns have
gone broke. They have damaged NZ economies to a point where people are
forced into shopping at their stores. The formula works, but it's not
sustainable, and in my view it's not ethical. There are bumper stickers
with The Tindall Foundation and TWL logos that say "THE BEST THING YOU CAN
SPEND IS TIME WITH YOUR CHILDREN" I ask you how can this be anything but
PR when families with small businesses have to stay open 7 days for often
half the turnover to compete? How can it be genuine when they encourage
more and more consumerism and 7 day shopping. One woman who works at the
Warehouse with a small family said that she and her family were like “ships
in the night”

Finally, I'd like to quote Al Norman, a man who runs "Sprawlbusters" in
America. This is what he says: "The impact of superchains and big boxes
represent the death of retail competition at a local level. They also
represent terrible land use policy and a great big shove into
suburbanisation for many small communities." Al Norman is featured in many
documentaries about big boxes and chains on communities and he is America's
leading anti-big box, anti- Wal Mart, anti sprawl activist. He goes on to
say that; “The impact of these stores goes way beyond mere shopping
patterns. They change how we experience our home towns, they squander land
for no useful purpose and they bring no added value, economically to a
community. In America, Wal-Mart is the merchant of mediocrity, the triumph
of corporate culture over the individual and the lowering of community of
aspirations. One nation, one store for all. I have found no redeeming
value of Sprawlmarts or their associated pseudonyms. They say they bring
bargains for the masses, but Wal-Mart does not sell quality of life on any
shelf and once they take it away from you, they can sell it back at any
price”.