The Morning News

Wal-Mart is trying a new approach in a Maryland town to get around ordinances that regulate store sizes.

According to Wal-Mart spokeswoman Mia Masten, this is the first time the company would build two side-by-side stores in response to size restrictions. It is a tactic Wal-Mart is likely to consider in other areas, she said.

"As these big-box bills come up, all retailers will just have to be flexible," Masten said. "In this case, we developed a model that allowed us to reach our customers."

Dunkirk is in Calvert County, which passed an ordinance in August limiting the size of commercial retail buildings to 75,000 square feet. Wal-Mart normally builds stores that range from at least 100,000 square feet to more than 200,000 square feet for Supercenters.

Total square footage of the two stores exceeds Dunkirk's size limit by 30 percent -- something that hasn't been lost on county officials. A few believe Wal-Mart has violated the spirit of the ordinance, if not the letter.

"That's correct," said Greg Bowen, who heads the county planning office. He said the proposal is on hold while the commissioners consider the matter. 

"It's not on hold indefinitely. The county commission has asked the planning commission to defer action until they have a chance to look into (the proposal)," he said.

Wal-Mart has faced increasing opposition in areas where it is trying to expand, with some cities going so far as to pass ordinances limiting the size of big-box retail stores.

In response, Wal-Mart has come up with creative ways to get around the ordinances by either proposing stores just under the size limit or going to court and even voters to challenge the rules. 

"It almost points out the futility of municipalities developing ordinances and laws that restrict the size of stores," Kenneth E. Stone, professor emeritus of economics at Iowa State University, who has studied the company for 20 years, told the Washington Post. "There's always a way around them, and an outfit as big and smart as Wal-Mart will think of a way."

Copyright © 2005, The Morning News; a Stephens Media publication.

http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2005/03/11/business/01wmstores.txt

Wal-Mart tries new size tactic

The Associated Press

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) - Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, is employing a new tactic to get around a Maryland town ordinance that limits store sizes -- build two outlets right next to each other.

Signaling what could be a new approach to getting around such restrictions, Wal-Mart will build adjacent stores in Dunkirk, Md., with one outlet being constructed so that it will be just under the 75,000 square-foot limit allowed by a Calvert County ordinance.

It is the first time Wal-Mart has considered such a measure, said Mia Masten, a Wal-Mart Stores spokeswoman.