GILROY
– Two of America’s hugest retailers, covering a few dozen acres
of
”
Garlic Town
”
commercial space in the southeast section of the city, could be
vying for Gilroy shopping dollars as early as next year.
GILROY – Two of America’s hugest retailers, covering a few dozen acres of “Garlic Town” commercial space in the southeast section of the city, could be vying for Gilroy shopping dollars as early as next year.
With a March 1 Costco grand opening approaching, San Francisco-based developers have submitted a plan to move a supersized version of Wal-Mart into the ever-budding retail complex off Pacheco Pass, on Camino Arroyo and Renz Lane.
Despite city enthusiasm over the shopping center project that could one day generate $400 million in sales tax – with 1 percent of those funds funneling directly into city coffers – local union leaders are stepping into the fray by opposing Wal-Mart’s plans.
“Adding a grocery store doesn’t even increase the sales tax the community will enjoy,” said Local 428 spokesman Ron Lind. “It just takes the tax that stores like PW and Nob Hill would have generated and shifts it over to Wal-Mart.”
On March 6, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 428 will picket the existing Wal-Mart at 7900 Arroyo Circle with a coalition of laborers, environmental activists and community leaders that could number in the hundreds, the union says. The picketers will protest Wal-Mart’s decision to eventually close its existing facility in order to open up, as early as next year, a supersized version of the store which will not use union labor.
At 220,000 square feet, the Wal-Mart Supercenter would be nearly 100,000 square feet larger than the existing store and would include a grocery store.
“If you allow this, you’re replacing one big-box store with another bigger-box store that will destroy middle-class jobs with benefits,” Lind said. “We’re talking about the most-sued company in America that even encourages its employees to seek county health-care coverage – which means you and I pay their bills.”
Wal-Mart representatives did not return several phone calls before press time. The company historically defends its impact on a community, saying their stores offer consumers low-price choices. Company officials have also said they offer competitive wages, retirement benefits, profit-sharing plans and health insurance.
Wal-Mart and the developer, San Francisco-based Newman Development Group, have submitted a second set of plans for the nearly 20-acre parcel at the northeast corner of Camino Arroyo near Renz Lane. The new store would neighbor Costco, the warehouse-style supermarket which opens March 1, and Lowe’s, a home improvement store currently under construction.
The Wal-Mart Supercenter would include a tire and lube center, optometry office, photo lab, pharmacy and a full-scale grocery store with bakery and deli departments. It is the grocery store element of the project that annoys union workers most.
Mayor Tom Springer was not available for comment Thursday, but in recent weeks has given mixed reviews toward a potential Wal-Mart move. According to Springer, city officials figure that Wal-Mart in its existing location and a new retailer near Costco would optimize tax revenue for Gilroy.
“We’re happy with Wal-Mart where it is now,” Springer said last month.
Springer said City Council would not give economic incentives to Wal-Mart as it does for entirely new Gilroy retailers. Typically, the city waives the fees for three years on newly constructed retail stores in lieu of sales tax revenue.
Union protests of new grocery stores are nothing new for Gilroy. City Planner Melissa Durkin said 10 years ago the UFCW opposed a large-scale grocery store plotted for First Street and Wren Avenue near the existing Blockbuster video store.
The union opposed the potential for non-union labor at the supermarket, but the project never moved forward due to economic reasons, Durkin said.
“The plan died because of market factors – it didn’t really have to do with the protesting,” she said.
Wal-Mart shouldn’t have market problems even during these economically rough times, says Bill Lindsteadt, the executive director of the Gilroy Economic Development Corporation.
“Gilroy is fast becoming a regional shopping center, which is a natural because of all the crossroads that lead in and out of here,” Lindsteadt said.
When the Pacheco Pass shopping center is built out, according to Lindsteadt, it will include – in addition to Wal-Mart, Costco and Lowe’s – a Super Target, Kohl’s department store, Pier 1, Ross clothing store, Dress Barn, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Michael’s craft store, Barnes & Noble Booksellers and more.
“And the list goes on,” Lindsteadt said.
Lindsteadt said he does not believe the abundance of stores is overkill for “Garlic Town’s” population of roughly 43,000.
“Right now our folks are traveling out of the area to take advantage of these stores,” Lindsteadt said.
As for the Wal-Mart Supercenter plans, city planners are requiring the developer pay for a $3,800 traffic impact study.
City Traffic Engineer Kristi Abrams said Wal-Mart Supercenter will sit in an area that was zoned for shopping centers with multiple stores. In theory, traffic could increase on bordering roads since motorists would have to drive to another location to access the other stores.
Since an expanded, multi-faceted Wal-Mart would function as a one-stop-shop for many motorists, traffic on nearby roads may not be affected, Abrams said.
The city has also asked Wal-Mart to redo several elements in its existing plans, which they say is typical for large-scale projects.
Wal-Mart is being asked to increase its planned amount of landscaping, improve the aesthetics of the exterior design and change some of the designs for outside signs.
