the fine arts theater and wpvm are having two benefit screenings of wal-mart: the high cost of low price, the latest documentary film by robert greenwald (outfoxed: rupert murdoch's war on journalism, uncovered: the war in iraq), this coming sunday @ 1:00 pm & 7:00 pm.
this film is already stirring up a ton of controversy - you can read more about that at the movie's web site. in the meantime, this could be one of your only chances to see this film on a big screen. plus all of the benefit's proceeds go directly to wpvm, so you're supporting true, grassroots, local media as well.
(hey, at the very least it's something to do before the lcd soundsystem show @ the peel sunday night!)
10 comments:
I haven't seen the movie but I can tell by viewing the trialer that I support it. I worked at a Wal-Mart in Georgia for a while and I can tell you from that experince that I am willing to bet that Wal-Mart is one of the most corrupt companies in America, and I will definitly never work at one again. Wont even shop there really anymore unless its a last option.
I don't shop there either. Though I saw that the front page headline in today's Citizen-Times proclaimed that Wal-Mart now wants to open a West Asheville location.
Oh Hell no.
Thanks for the info, Syntax.
WHAT! You're kidding, right? West Asheville location? Where?
Here's the link to the story
AC-T: "Discount giant Wal-Mart Stores wants to put what would be its second Asheville Supercenter store just west of the Lowe’s home improvement warehouse on Smoky Park Highway in West Asheville.
The proposal for a 184,000-square-foot store could be the subject of one of the first major development votes taken by a new City Council after a fall campaign in which growth issues were prominent."
heh... i liked this quote:
“Boy, that’d be nice to have a Wal-Mart right there,” said West Asheville resident Bea Coates.
why am i picturing west asheville resident bea coates being handed a large sack of money by a wal-mart official after saying that to a c-t reporter?
that's just sad. but this will be an excellent test of how the new city council really feels about growth issues.
I think it's a pretty good location for a big box like Wally World. There's already a ginormous Lowe's, a hugetastic Home Depot, and a bigger'n'Jeebus Ingles out that way. There are few smaller businesses and most of the residential development is set off of Smokey Park Highway on side/back roads.
The Walmart at the Bleachery site was a very bad idea. I hate that giant footprint so near the river. I hate the way it permanently alters the surrounding neighborhoods, and I hate how unsightly the damned thing is to anyone driving in on I-240.
I haven't yet seen the proposed placement of the new one, but I could see it working.
I'm no fan of WalMart. I think their business practices are fundamentally anti-worker, anti-minority, anti-woman, and anti-american. But I think they have a right to practice business as they see fit within the law. It's up to consumers to starve them into changing their ways and city councils to regulate their growth to limit damage to other businesses and neighborhoods in the areas they'd like to grow into.
i would hate to see a west asheville walmart hurt the already struggling businessses on haywood and patton.
Which businesses do you think it would hurt?
i think a super walmart would put a hurting on most of the local grocery stores - of which there are like 7 in west asheville - they really just can't compete with fresh fruits and vegetable prices that walmart can muster.
i think a super walmart would hurt the many autoparts stores in westasheville, as well as any independent music stores, paint stores, furniture sellers.
thats just off the top of my head, id have to walk through super walmart and drive down west asheville's main thoroughfares to really comment.
i really don't see the opening of a wal-mart supercenter really affecting the business of any of our local indie music stores, as they all specialize in types of music that wal-mart doesn't carry - punk, reggae, underground hip-hop, doom metal, experimental electronica, dance singles, limited vinyl releases...
and furniture? there are only so many ready-to-assemble pressboard bookshelves and crappy futons one can buy before they're ready to invest in good, sturdy, heirloom-quality pieces. i think the local furniture stores are safe as well.
i agree that everything else will probably be affected, though...
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