It s a natural and understandable thought, but just plain wrong. In actual fact, conserving the marsh makes much better economic sense than building a superstore. It will keep taxes lower, help preserve existing Bangor businesses and the jobs they provide, and help Bangor to realize the economic advantages of enhancing its unique sense of place. Wal-Marts don t enhance the local economy. In community after community, from California to Iowa, Illinois, New York, Vermont and Massachusetts, studies have found that Wal-Marts have been like cowbirds in community economic life.
Cowbirds don t build nests.
They lay eggs in smaller birds nests, eggs that hatch chicks that grow faster and take food from the beaks of the host parents, whose own chicks then die. Like cowbird chicks, Wal-Marts often leave the nest once they have depleted its resources. Wal-Mart is the largest producer of empty retail stores in America. As of February 1999 it had left 333 empty buildings spread across 31 states. Wal-Marts do not bring a substantial net increase of jobs.