Me and my homies gonna put a beat down on Wal-Mart! (McCandless Township: cinema, university)

[lifepgh2op]

This whole battle between Citizens of McCandless and Walmart, from start to finish, was absolutely ridiculous. What a waste of time and money by McCandless, Walmart, and Giant Eagle. Moon tried to fight off their Walmart for years and it finally opened a few weeks ago. It's very nice in both look and layout compared to most Walmarts and I assume the McCandless one would have been the same. Now, McCandless will just have a plot of retail wasteland. GE is cutting employees and jobs, while raising prices, so that they can afford to purchase land to block competition. Foolish. I hope Kroger buys them out and flips all their stores to Kroger.

[Retiredcoach]

Originally Posted by lifepgh2op

This whole battle between Citizens of McCandless and Walmart, from start to finish, was absolutely ridiculous. What a waste of time and money by McCandless, Walmart, and Giant Eagle. Moon tried to fight off their Walmart for years and it finally opened a few weeks ago. It's very nice in both look and layout compared to most Walmarts and I assume the McCandless one would have been the same. Now, McCandless will just have a plot of retail wasteland. GE is cutting employees and jobs, while raising prices, so that they can afford to purchase land to block competition. Foolish. I hope Kroger buys them out and flips all their stores to Kroger.

I live about two miles from what would have been the McCandless Walmart. The proposed Walmart may have brought more low paying jobs to the region, demolished outdated buildings (including the Trader Horn/Brewery Outlet stores forced to close...80? jobs already lost) with their option-to-buy, and provided the community with additional tax revenues. The Citizens Of McCandless organized themselves to inform the community, that despite the misleading benefits of having the proposed Walmart being built, there were overriding detriments to the plan. The bottom line is that the construction of the McCandless Walmart on Blazier Drive was far more detrimental to the residential and commercial entities than beneficial. The overriding conclusion is that the quality of life, anticipated for those living and working in/near McCandless Township, will be able to be better sustained without Walmart as a neighbor.

[DaisyDaisy]

Originally Posted by Retiredcoach

I live about two miles from what would have been the McCandless Walmart. The proposed Walmart may have brought more low paying jobs to the region, demolished outdated buildings (including the Trader Horn/Brewery Outlet stores forced to close...80? jobs already lost) with their option-to-buy, and provided the community with additional tax revenues. The Citizens Of McCandless organized themselves to inform the community, that despite the misleading benefits of having the proposed Walmart being built, there were overriding detriments to the plan. The bottom line is that the construction of the McCandless Walmart on Blazier Drive was far more detrimental to the residential and commercial entities than beneficial. The overriding conclusion is that the quality of life, anticipated for those living and working in/near McCandless Township, will be able to be better sustained without Walmart as a neighbor.

Agree. Plus Wal-Mart's MO is often to build a store, then a few years later, abandon that one and build a super walmart nearby.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by Retiredcoach

I live about two miles from what would have been the McCandless Walmart. The proposed Walmart may have brought more low paying jobs to the region, demolished outdated buildings (including the Trader Horn/Brewery Outlet stores forced to close...80? jobs already lost) with their option-to-buy, and provided the community with additional tax revenues. The Citizens Of McCandless organized themselves to inform the community, that despite the misleading benefits of having the proposed Walmart being built, there were overriding detriments to the plan. The bottom line is that the construction of the McCandless Walmart on Blazier Drive was far more detrimental to the residential and commercial entities than beneficial. The overriding conclusion is that the quality of life, anticipated for those living and working in/near McCandless Township, will be able to be better sustained without Walmart as a neighbor.

Copy that. For me, the increased traffic through North Park was the reason I opposed it. Guess I won't have to move to Soulless Cranberry after all.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by lifepgh2op

This whole battle between Citizens of McCandless and Walmart, from start to finish, was absolutely ridiculous. What a waste of time and money by McCandless, Walmart, and Giant Eagle. Moon tried to fight off their Walmart for years and it finally opened a few weeks ago. It's very nice in both look and layout compared to most Walmarts and I assume the McCandless one would have been the same. Now, McCandless will just have a plot of retail wasteland. GE is cutting employees and jobs, while raising prices, so that they can afford to purchase land to block competition. Foolish. I hope Kroger buys them out and flips all their stores to Kroger.

Who knows, if GE hadn't blocked it, Wal-Mart may have forced GE to close that store LAYING off their underpaid employees.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by Copanut

Copy that. For me, the increased traffic through North Park was the reason I opposed it. Guess I won't have to move to Soulless Cranberry after all.

Good thing. We have Target, WalMart, 2 Giant Eagles, etc... The crime and abandoned buildings is "ridiculously" overwhelming.

[Enough_Already]

Giant Eagle has the highest prices of any other store in the area. This move by them is to keep Wal-Mart out of that area so they can maintain the market power to continue these high prices. It is the people in the area who are spending millions more for groceries than they need to.

Why is it that media outlets like the Post-Gazette don't ever do stories about how much more expensive Giant Eagle is and how the Fuelperks do not even come close to making up the difference? Could it be the local media has been "bought" by the large Giant Eagle advertising budget?

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by Enough_Already

Giant Eagle has the highest prices of any other store in the area. This move by them is to keep Wal-Mart out of that area so they can maintain the market power to continue these high prices. It is the people in the area who are spending millions more for groceries than they need to.

Why is it that media outlets like the Post-Gazette don't ever do stories about how much more expensive Giant Eagle is and how the Fuelperks do not even come close to making up the difference? Could it be the local media has been "bought" by the large Giant Eagle advertising budget?

Winner.

[DaisyDaisy]

Originally Posted by Enough_Already

Giant Eagle has the highest prices of any other store in the area. This move by them is to keep Wal-Mart out of that area so they can maintain the market power to continue these high prices. It is the people in the area who are spending millions more for groceries than they need to.

Why is it that media outlets like the Post-Gazette don't ever do stories about how much more expensive Giant Eagle is and how the Fuelperks do not even come close to making up the difference? Could it be the local media has been "bought" by the large Giant Eagle advertising budget?

Having worked with professionals on the reporting and advertising sides of media, I'd say that doesn't occur. They are separate areas. Not to say there may be some "gentleperson's" agreement with somewhere specific but overall this isn't common.

And agree, GE prices are high.

[Enough_Already]

Originally Posted by DaisyDaisy

Having worked with professionals on the reporting and advertising sides of media, I'd say that doesn't occur. They are separate areas. Not to say there may be some "gentleperson's" agreement with somewhere specific but overall this isn't common.

And agree, GE prices are high.

The price difference between Giant Eagle and the other grocery stores in the area is obvious. It is even more striking when Walmart is included in the comparison. I find it more than just coincidence that none of the local media outlets report on this. It only takes elementary school math to see how local residents are spending hundreds of millions more than they could be spending if they switched from Giant Eagle.

I'm sorry, but I do believe there is a reason why this comparison story is never done.