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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I imagine someone telling Dave he can't expand Paradise
Ridge CDs, and I don't like it. </FONT><FONT face=Arial>But the obvious
analogy to Wal-Mart that you are trying to make is not a clean one, in my
opinion, Donovan, though I do agree with some of what you write.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>First, I wouldn't be the least bit concerned about people
telling me where they thought I should shop. I kept buying grapes, even
though the Farm Workers were trying to organize a boycott. I listen to the
reasons for not shopping at Wal-Mart, and I agree with some of them, but I still
shop at Wal-Mart on rare occasions. I try to patronize other places, and I
always try Tri-State or Spence's, first, because I think it is important to
patronize local businesses to help assure that more money stays in the
community. But I admit it, my razor blades come from Wal-Mart when I don't
have a Costco run in the offing.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>People may still shop at Wal-Mart, as they
could at any other store that is operating here. I don't begrudge
others the opportunity to shop at Wal-Mart, and I agree with the free market
advocates and the need for business opportunities in our community, and so I
agree with the right to expand when it comports with good planning and the
law. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>But if Dave were in the mood to expand Paradise Ridge, by
buying up one of his neighbors on Third Street in the heart of downtown, where
retail sales are the dominant and preferred activity according to our zoning
code and comprehensive plan, anybody arguing against that expansion would have
worthless arguments, and the expansion would be approved. That is where
your analogy falls apart, unless you were contemplating plunking the CD store in
an area where it was not allowed -- in which case I would likely not
support that location despite my affection for the business.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I think that what many fail to recognize is that there are
too kinds of Wal-Mart opponents out there in our community right now:
those who abhor Wal-Mart and would deny its entry anywhere, and those who
question the planning that went into this particular expansion effort. I
am on record as being in the latter category. If I can find the reasons
that I submitted to the P&Z public hearing, I will forward them to the
list. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Briefly, I believe that the proposed extensive commercial
motor business designation of the Thompson property is poor planning. Such
developments should have occurred between downtown and the state line, as the
comprehensive plan dictated, had not the lack of vision by prior councils
allowed most of that property along A street to become apartments, contrary to
the comprehensive plan. Such a plan would still allow us to shop and draw
us through downtown, making it more likely that our lovely downtown is a
convenient stop along the way. There is still opportunity for expanded
commercial development in the area from behind the mall to the state line,
as was proposed at the same council meeting last June when the Thompson
project first surfaced. Equally and maybe more important given
greater availability, there is a much more obvious existing site than the
Thompson property for such extensive commercial developments at the north and
south ends of town along Highway 95, a far better traffic corridor. The
Thompson property ought, in my opinion, to be primarily residential (as it was
designated in the comp plan until a bad planning decision by the prior council
last June) and not destroy the ambience of the existing owners to the east and
across the street on Ridge. Finally, we ought to be saving the west end of
the Thompson property for future expansion of higher paying businesses than a
shopping center; we ought to allow Alturas that room to expand, while fostering
a pro-business attitude and encouraging businesses that pay at least living
wages to locate here.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Now at the risk of being a little windy here, and if you
are not already snoozing, there is a third category of Wal-Mart opponent, in my
opinion and of which I am also a member, and it relates to limited opportunities
for shopping in Moscow, the almighty mantra of "market choice." I
mentioned this on the list a while back and it engendered little
discussion. I expected to hear a rebuttal from Jeff Harkins who is the
most fervent free marketer on the list and my compatriot on the LEDC, and
he said he was working on it, but I seem to have missed it.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>The "more market choice" category that I just
mentioned might at first blush appear to support letting anyone expand and
enter, and see what happens, the classic laissez faire free market
approach. But what I am contemplating is something different.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>It seems to me that we are a very small community with a
relatively limited amount of disposable income to spend in (and therefore
support) the local stores of all types. Wal-Mart offers one kind of
shopping venue, and a Super Wal-Mart would admittedly offer more (if
perhaps of the same lower quality) and the most significant addition
might be food. There is already a Wal-Mart here. There are four
grocery stores, the Co-op on the high end, Winco on the low end (offering
similar pricing to Wal-Mart from what I understand) and Rosauer's and Safeway in
between. There will soon be a Super Wal-Mart a mere ten miles away in
Pullman. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>The market choice that I am talking about is more choices
for us. Why a Wal-Mart which we already have? Why not something
else, so our consumer choices are enhanced more than by the expansion of the
existing low-end product line at Wal-Mart? Why not have our city and
economic development and business supporters work on attracting an alternative
to Wal-Mart, so that our limited choices are not so likely to become primarily
Wal-Mart? Why not work harder to attract something more interesting and
beneficial to consumer choice? Why let Wal-Mart pre-empt the market and
fill it up in the predatory fashion that it appears to be following with two
supercenters within 10 miles? Why are we only talking about the
choices that the entrepreneurs choose to offer and not the choices that we
consumers would like to see? We could work toward educating other
entrepreneurs and attracting them instead, and if we put in place rules that
applied to all and some chose to play where Wal-Mart didn't, why wouldn't we be
better off by having more varied choices?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Perhaps most significant to my "more consumer choices"
angle, why let a 200,000 square foot store come in and soak up the available
dollars in this very small community and make it less likely for other more
varied folks to enter our market? Why isn't 100,000 square feet enough in
this little community? A size cap would allow us more choices. I
have a good friend on the Chamber Board (who would probably prefer to
remain nameless) and he likes to talk about how students often have the most
disposable dollars to spend, despite their low income, and that we ought to be
able to market Moscow and interest someone other than Wal-Mart to enter our
community. If we are to have big boxes in our community, why not be
pro-active and get us more real choice for Moscow's consumers, rather than more
of the Wal-Mart we already have? </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Several of my MCA Board buddies who oppose Wal-Mart
and big boxes in general characterize this as the "pig in silk pajamas"
argument, because I do believe that large stores ought to be allowed, but play
nice and look nice, whereas these others oppose them on general
principles. I don't want large stores to just make the
"great big sucking noise" Ross Perot once described, though he was talking about
jobs going to Mexico and I am talking about more of our dollars going to
Bentonville Arkansas. If we are to have out-of-town chains, I would
much prefer to have a Costco that pays living wages than a Wal-Mart that does
not, even if lots of those dollars spent go to Seattle. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Lest someone misconstrue this, I don't believe we can
choose one retailer over the other on the whim of the Council. We
need rules that are applied fairly to all retailers and then we need to apply
the rules fairly, but I do believe we can encourage better and more varied
consumer choices through thoughtful legislating and pro-active and creative
economic development efforts.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Putting a halt to an ill-conceived project buys us the
time to do things better the next time, to have a good plan in place, and
to be ready for things instead of just reacting to the next request on a
developer's wish list.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Bruce Livingston</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=donovanjarnold2005@yahoo.com
href="mailto:donovanjarnold2005@yahoo.com">Donovan Arnold</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=jeanlivingston@turbonet.com
href="mailto:jeanlivingston@turbonet.com">Bruce and Jean Livingston</A> ; <A
title=vision2020@moscow.com href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">Vision
2020</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, March 03, 2006 11:08
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Vision2020] Goodnight
Goody, Goodnight Ridge</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT><FONT face=Arial></FONT><FONT
face=Arial></FONT><FONT face=Arial></FONT><FONT face=Arial></FONT><FONT
face=Arial></FONT><FONT face=Arial></FONT><FONT face=Arial></FONT><BR></DIV>"I
am flabbergasted to hear Sam Goody compared favorably by anyone to
<BR>Paradise Ridge. I find that Paradise Ridge is extremely competitive
<BR>price-wise with Hasting's, not to mention Sam Goody."-Bruce
Livingston<BR><BR>Apparently, enough people are in agreement with you, since
SM is going out of business and Paradise Ridge is still here. Isn't free
enterprise great? <BR><BR>Now image Bruce, is someone wanted to stop Paradise
Ridge from expanding to provide you with better products and service but
others that did not shop there were disagreement with you, opposed the
expansion, and telling you to go to Sam Goody
instead.<BR><BR>_DJA<BR><BR><BR><B><I>Bruce and Jean Livingston
<jeanlivingston@turbonet.com></I></B> wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid">I
am flabbergasted to hear Sam Goody compared favorably by anyone to
<BR>Paradise Ridge. I find that Paradise Ridge is extremely competitive
<BR>price-wise with Hasting's, not to mention Sam Goody. And the one thing
that <BR>you get from Paradise Ridge that you do not get anywhere else, at
least to <BR>the level that you receive from Dave at Paradise Ridge, is
SERVICE. If he <BR>doesn't have it, he finds it, and the ordering process
with Paradise Ridge <BR>is far easier than any other store in
town.<BR><BR>Bruce Livingston<BR><BR>----- Original Message ----- <BR>From:
"Art Deco" <DECO @moscow.com=""><BR>To: "Vision 2020" <VISION2020
@moscow.com=""><BR>Sent: Friday, March 03, 2006 11:02 AM<BR>Subject: Re:
[Vision2020] Goodnight Goody, Goodnight Ridge<BR><BR><BR>> Music Lovers,
Economists, and Absolute Monists,<BR>><BR>> The following words
appeared in the letter below written by Jay Feldman <BR>> and<BR>>
posted by Tom Hansen:<BR>><BR>> "Ross tells us there is just such a
store in Moscow, Paradise Ridge <BR>> Records,<BR>> but he is
unwilling to patronize it because its prices are higher than the<BR>>
defunct Goody."<BR>><BR>> I believe the assumption in this quote is
wrong. My experience has been<BR>> that Sam Goody had the highest CD
prices on the Palouse by a considerable<BR>> margin except for advertised
specials, some of the prices of these <BR>> specials<BR>> were still
higher than Paradise Ridge CDs' prices.<BR>><BR>> For example, I
recently bought Moonlight Serenade by Carly Simon (a<BR>> collection of
really old tunes for really old people like myself, done <BR>>
quite<BR>> tastefully). The album comes with a disc which is a CD on one
side and a<BR>> DVD on the other. It was priced at $19.98 at Sam Goody
and $16.98<BR>> elsewhere. When I shopped at Paradise Ridge CDs, I found
their prices<BR>> competitive -- many were below list. Discussions with
others lead me to<BR>> believe that they found prices highest by far at
Sam Goody also.<BR>><BR>> Sam Goody at the PEM is closing in part
because of corporate problems, <BR>> part<BR>> of which may be related
to their pricing strategies. The local Sam Goody<BR>> also had other
problems, some not fit for discussion on this list.<BR>><BR>><BR>>
For those keeping track:<BR>><BR>> There are seven, soon to be eight
vacancies at the PEM:<BR>><BR>> 1. Army Recruiters<BR>> 2. Marine
Recruiters<BR>> 3. Optometrist Office<BR>> 4. Chocolaut<BR>> 5.
Flower Shop<BR>> 6. Subway<BR>> 7. Market Place Gifts<BR>> 8. Sam
Goody<BR>><BR>> There are persistent rumors that one quite large
retailer is seriously<BR>> considering leaving.<BR>><BR>>
Questions:<BR>><BR>> 1. Where is the PEM in its life cycle?<BR>> 2.
Did the redecoration at the PEM with the oodles of light fixtures <BR>>
that<BR>> makes one think that they are in the midst of an extensive,
well organized<BR>> invasion of flying saucers help or hinder the effort
to attract more<BR>> customers?<BR>> 3. Did the
stinginess/anti-community attitude of the PEM management in<BR>>
eliminating the bus stop help or hinder the volume of business?<BR>> 4.
If the vacancies at the PEM are an indication in some way of <BR>>
problems<BR>> of some kind with the local economy, how does this reflect
on plans for <BR>> the<BR>> big jesus shopping mall planned for just
over the state line?<BR>> 5. Does the PEM vacancy rate have anything to
do with the WalMart or <BR>> the<BR>> two proposed WalMart Super
Centers?<BR>> 6. What, if anything, could the PEM management do to
increase the <BR>> general<BR>> volume of business?<BR>><BR>> Of
course, question 3 above is quite biasly stated; however, I think
some<BR>> community reflection on these questions would be helpful in
examining and<BR>> shaping some community values.<BR>><BR>><BR>>
Quite sadly, a downtown store which we patronized very happily, is soon
to<BR>> go out of business. Although they carried a really excellent line
of<BR>> products, gave excellent customer service, were very product
<BR>> knowledgeable,<BR>> and had an extremely liberal return policy,
they are being squeezed by the<BR>> internet. This is what happens:
People come in and look at the<BR>> merchandise, get detailed
information, ask technical questions, examine<BR>> closely /try on the
products, then they order the products over the<BR>>
internet.<BR>><BR>> For many items we buy locally, we do just the
opposite. We research using<BR>> the internet, then buy or special order
the products locally. Local<BR>> merchants contribute and support many
diverse community activities --<BR>> internet etailers do not. Etailers
generally do not collect Idaho sales <BR>> tax<BR>>
either.<BR>><BR>> Are any list members are concerned about the health
of several local<BR>> business who face heavy competition from the
internet?<BR>><BR>><BR>> Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<BR>>
deco@moscow.com<BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>> ----- Original Message -----
<BR>> From: "Tom Hansen" <THANSEN @moscow.com=""><BR>> To: "Moscow
Vision 2020" <VISION2020 @moscow.com=""><BR>> Sent: Friday, March 03,
2006 6:57 AM<BR>> Subject: [Vision2020] Goodnight Goody, Goodnight
Ridge<BR>><BR>><BR>>> >From today's (March 3, 2006) UI
Argonaut with a special thanks to Jay<BR>>>
Feldman.<BR>>><BR>>>
----------------------------------------------------------------<BR>>><BR>>>
Goodnight Goody, goodnight Ridge<BR>>><BR>>> Dear
Editor,<BR>>><BR>>> Am I the only one that noticed the irony in
the placement of the column<BR>>> "Death of a pop supercenter" next to
the anti-Superwalmart editorial?<BR>>> The writer, Jon Ross, laments
that Sam Goody is going out of business<BR>>> nationwide (including
Moscow) while he dreams of an indie-esque record <BR>>>
store<BR>>> in Moscow to replace it. Oddly though, Ross tells us there
is just such a<BR>>> store in Moscow, Paradise Ridge Records, but he
is unwilling to patronize <BR>>> it<BR>>> because its prices are
higher than the defunct Goody.<BR>>><BR>>> Well, as consumers,
we can't have it both ways. We can't have quality<BR>>> independent
stores that pay more into the local tax base, offer <BR>>>
personalized<BR>>> service, a greater selection, a professional staff
that is paid a living<BR>>> wage, along with, as the writer expects,
"cheap music." Yet, we expect to<BR>>> because Wal-Mart has responded
to our deep desire for the lowest price by<BR>>> setting us on a race
to the bottom where every store must match its <BR>>>
prices<BR>>> regardless of what that store might offer its patrons and
its community.<BR>>><BR>>> Unfortunately, in America, price has
become the sole factor in deciding<BR>>> which stores we frequent. As
the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart can<BR>>> offer the lowest
prices possible but at a high cost to communities like<BR>>> Moscow.
Shoppers have come to assume the Wal-Mart price is the proper <BR>>>
market<BR>>> price and the Wal-Mart price thus is the price we should
expect to pay.<BR>>> Because of such a mentality, shoppers - including
Ross, at his own <BR>>> admission<BR>>> - will not pay more than
this false standard. As a result, when forced to<BR>>> compete with a
Super Wal-Mart, small independent stores, like many in<BR>>> Moscow,
go out of business and small towns are left with the impersonal,<BR>>>
poor selection, tax-base draining, Super Wal-Marts, just the position
<BR>>> Ross<BR>>> laments.<BR>>><BR>>> Certainly
paying a bit extra is difficult for many, and luckily we have <BR>>>
the<BR>>> independent chain WinCo to provide us with groceries that
beat any Super<BR>>> Wal-Mart's prices and an existing Wal-Mart for
those who wish to shop <BR>>> there.<BR>>> What we don't need is
a Wal-Mart Supercenter that will reinforce this<BR>>> "lowest price at
any cost" mentality.<BR>>><BR>>> Ross laments not having a
quality, all-music store in Moscow, when in <BR>>> fact<BR>>> we
do have one. Ross needs to do what so many of us need to do, overcome
<BR>>> our<BR>>> addiction to low price and support the local
businesses whose tax <BR>>> revenues<BR>>> support
us.<BR>>><BR>>> Jay P. Feldman<BR>>> Department of
philosophy<BR>>><BR>>>
---------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>>><BR>>>
Seeya round town, Moscow.<BR>>><BR>>> Tom Hansen<BR>>>
Moscow, Idaho<BR>>><BR>>><BR>>>
**************************************************************<BR>>><BR>>>
"A bad cause will ever be supported by bad means and bad
men."<BR>>><BR>>> - Thomas Paine (English Writer,
1737-1809)<BR>>><BR>>>
**************************************************************<BR>>><BR>>><BR>>><BR>>>
_____________________________________________________<BR>>> List
services made available by First Step Internet,<BR>>> serving the
communities of the Palouse since 1994.<BR>>>
http://www.fsr.net<BR>>> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>>>
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_____________________________________________________<BR>> List services
made available by First Step Internet, serving the <BR>> communities of
the Palouse since 1994. http://www.fsr.net <BR>>
mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>>
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<BR><BR>_____________________________________________________<BR>List
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