Walmart plans to turn the vacant Circuit City store on Mystic Avenue (above) into a Walmart Neighborhood Market, like this one (below) in Kansas.

Neighborhood Market grocery store planned for Assembly Square

By Elizabeth Sheeran

A coalition of labor, small business, and other community groups have banded together to do something about Walmart’s plans to open a grocery store in Somerville. But they are not sure what that “something” should be.

The Somerville Coalition for a Responsible Walmart began to take shape after the retail giant first signaled its intent to convert the former Circuit City store on Mystic Avenue into a Walmart Neighborhood Market. The smaller format store – about one fifth the size of a typical Walmart big box superstore – will sell mainly groceries and pharmacy items, and will be the first of its kind for Walmart in Massachusetts.

The Coalition held a community meeting on November 16, to share information and discuss alternatives, and it was clear from the start that Walmart did not have many fans in the room, if any. The audience broke into spontaneous applause when speaker Maureen Barillaro of Somerville Climate Action said, “Perhaps the biggest difference Walmart can make in Somerville is by not coming here at all.”

Barillaro was one of a panel of speakers who together raised a long list of concerns about Walmart’s business practices, including low wages and limited benefits for workers, and charges of predatory pricing to drive local competitors out of business. Joe Grafton of Somerville Local First said independent studies have found Walmart takes three jobs out of the local economy for every two jobs it creates, and one fourth of surrounding businesses closed down after one Walmart store opened in Chicago.

But the panelists were mostly preaching to the already converted, since no one at the meeting showed any inkling of support for Walmart. The real question on the floor was about what strategy to pursue.

Grafton said “no” campaigns, to keep Walmart from opening at all, have usually not succeeded. He proposed that the Coalition push instead for covenants to be attached to the zoning variance that Walmart needs before it can open a food store on the Circuit City site.

But few residents at the meeting were interested in negotiating agreements with Walmart. “I don’t think you can negotiate in good faith with Walmart. They’re against every value this community stands for,” said Barbara Steiner.

Wig Zamore suggested focusing on general standards or zoning requirements that would apply to the entire Assembly Square district, making them more enforceable than anything directed solely at Walmart.

And many in the room were not ready to give up on the idea of keeping Walmart out of Somerville altogether. “I don’t think we could ever attach enough conditions to satisfy this community. Let’s be real. We don’t want this company in our town,” said Rand Wilson.

Mark Niedergang, a school committee member who attended as a private resident, said if any city can successfully oppose Walmart, it would be Somerville. “I actually think we have a shot at beating this in Somerville. I think we can mobilize the labor constituency and the progressive constituency, and I think that would have a huge impact on the elected officials,” said Niedergang.

Mayor Joseph Curtatone was not at the meeting, but said he has met with Walmart representatives about their plans, and the prospect of a grocery store at the Circuit City site is a good fit with long-term plans for development in the area.

“It’s our goal through Shape Up Somerville that every neighborhood has access to good, wholesome, nutritious food at an attractive price. In Assembly Square, we’ve always envisioned a more urban style market,” said Curtatone.

The Mayor said the goal in bringing new businesses to Somerville is to create jobs for Somerville residents and increase commercial property tax revenues. He said he wants Walmart to be proactive about addressing concerns about their employment practices, but the retailer will be treated no differently than any other company.

“All decisions have to be made within the parameters of our local zoning ordinances, regardless of who the operator is. We’re not allowed to make decisions based on whether or not we agree or disagree with their business practices,” said Curtatone. “We’ll evaluate any proposal strictly on its merits. That’s all we can do. That’s all the law allows us to do.”

Walmart spokesperson Steve Restivo said the company was in the process of completing its due diligence on the site and hopes to submit an application for the zoning variance early in 2012, and to open in Somerville in 2013. He indicated surprise that simply “changing the name on the building from Circuit City to Walmart” had generated such initial opposition.

Restivo said Walmart’s wages, benefits and policies were competitive with other retailers, particularly compared with grocery chains in Massachusetts. He pointed to studies refuting claims that Walmart has a negative impact on jobs and economic activity. “Anyone who’s walked around that neighborhood knows the positive impact we’ve had on the West Side of Chicago,” he said, referring to the Chicago case.

But Grafton, of Somerville Local First, said such counter-arguments are the product of Walmart’s well-funded public relations machine, and pro-Walmart studies are often funded by the company itself.

Reflecting on the community meeting, Grafton said, “What we heard was that there was no one in the room who wanted Walmart in the community, and the majority of people in the room wanted us to oppose Walmart outright. There really seemed to be very little faith that negotiating would work or that Walmart would live up to an agreement if there was one.”

Going forward, Grafton said the Coalition would “keep reaching out to the community to get a more representative view of what the community wants, and to make sure that everyone is educated about what it would mean to have them here.”

Walmart’s Restivo said ultimately it will be up to consumers to decide whether or not Walmart is a good fit for Somerville.

“On the day the store opens, there will be thousands of Somerville residents lining up to shop. And their voice will never have been taken into account in the process leading up to the opening, because they’re not going to go to meetings or write a letter to the editor. They’ll vote with their feet and their pocketbooks,” said Restivo.

For more about the Somerville Coalition for a Responsible Walmart, go to www.somervillelocalfirst.org. For more about Walmart’s plans for Somerville, go to www.walmartmassachusetts.com/new-projects/somerville