Walmart easily received approval for four new big box stores in Washington, D.C. With so much opposition elsewhere, why the open arms in the Beltway?
Reporter Lydia DePillis writes that D.C. politicians "...treated anti-Walmart activism more like an annoying distraction than an opportunity to score populist points."
DePillis has behind-the-scenes insight into Walmart's process of wooing cities into approving their projects. For example:
"In the middle of last year, Walmart held a couple of focus groups at THEARC in Congress Heights, paying selected residents $100 and a boxed dinner to participate. According to Ward 8 community activist Phil Pannell, who was asked to take part, the subject was 'economic development.' But all the questions had to do with Walmart."
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