Wednesday, August 12, 2009

South Siders want Wal-Mart boost

Sun-Times, letters to the editor:
As a resident of the 6th Ward, I find Ald. Freddrenna Lyle's reasoning for opposing a Wal-Mart on the South Side to be hypocritical.

In Mary Mitchell's column [Aug. 4], Lyle says she opposes Wal-Mart because she is worried the big-box retailer will hurt other area businesses. That doesn't seem to stop her from singing the praises of the big-box Target on 87th Street and the economic revitalization it brought to the neighborhood! A big-box store is a big-box store.

She also said she is worried about black-owned businesses being driven out of business.

Why? I don't think Wal-Mart will have beautiful hats like Sconi on 75th Street or delicious home cooking like Army and Lou's, Captain's Hard Time Dining and Izola's. I've never been to a Wal-Mart that sells the unique clothing some of our boutiques do.

Is she talking about the 200+ fast food joints, beauty supply stores, nail shops and 24/7 liquor stores in our community? Not only do we not need another 24-hour food or liquor store, but the last time I checked, these stores were not owned by black folk. We don't shop for our groceries and produce at the "dollar stores" that Lyle is so determined to protect.

And it's not like we don't shop at Wal-Mart because it's not here. We just head to the suburbs because we don't have one.

Our community understands the benefits of a big-box store. We want jobs and more retailers. The sooner Lyle faces these facts and starts listening to her constituents, the better.

Cecilia Peeler,
Park Manor
Hey, that lady e-mailed us a while back!

Found this as another tweet from Vote4Chatham!

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