Fighting the “good fight” sometimes means knowing when to negotiate the resolution of a single unwinnable battle in order to strengthen your position for the overall war.

The Vermont Natural Resource Council (VNRC) has agreed to not oppose the Derby Wal-Mart.  In return, they have obtained significant concessions and set important new precedent that recognizes the impact Walmart has, not just on the immediate local economy, but also on other communities throughout the market area.

VNRC recently agreed to not oppose the construction of a Wal-Mart store in Derby in exchange for a moratorium on construction of any Wal-Mart stores in Vermont until at least 2020. The deal also assures that the Shumlin administration will support an additional $500,000 in tax credits – that will leverage even more investment from the private sector – annually for the Vermont Downtown program. This will strengthen city and town centers.

In addition to the moratorium, the developer will provide $200,000 to support downtowns and village centers in Orleans County, in addition to the $600,000 pledged to Newport City. The developer also agreed to design the new store in order to reduce the amount of stormwater discharge to below the levels existing at the undeveloped site today.

With the Governor having, once again, thrown his influence behind Walmart, and with some other inauspicious developments, location of the store became inevitable.  

The VNRC saw an opportunity to gain some economic reinforcement for the traditional downtowns of Orleans County;  and at the same time, extract reassurances that Vermont will not be targeted for new stores by the retail giant for a period of seven years.  This wise decision will allow the VNRC to spare its resources for other important work.

“Litigation against large interests like Wal-Mart is time consuming and very costly,” said Brian Shupe, VNRC’s executive director. “We saw this agreement as a good way to avoid future litigation while at the same time bolstering downtowns.”

Time is, after all, one of the best levelers of retail behemoths.  The Wal-Mart model is already looking a little shopworn.  It’s hold on top dog status has eroded steadily over recent years; and it has been forced to look for major growth opportunities somewhere other than in the U.S.

The rise of internet shopping is upsetting the brick-and mortar model that big box retailers used to think was the secret to mega profits.  There have been  persistent rumors that many of Wal-Mart’s stores will ultimately become little more than warehouse depots from which to fulfill internet orders.  

There has already been a move away from Wal-Mart’s “supercenter” template to much smaller, more efficiently stocked and managed operations located in city centers.  Even Wal-Mart recognizes that its cash-strapped shoppers are getting tired of having to put gas in their cars just to go shopping.

We had hoped in St. Albans that the inevitable collapse of the big box retail model would happen soon enough to stop JL Davis from decimating prime agricultural land in order to build his temple of consumerism.  No doubt, concerned folks over in  Derby had similar hopes;  but sadly, time ran out for us both.  

Thanks to the VNRC though, the downtown of Newport, like that of St. Albans City, will have real economic help to strengthen its prospects in the face of Walmart; and the remainder of Walmart-free Vermont can look forward to seven years of peace and quiet during which it can marshall the necessary resources to keep Walmart’s predation of our local economies in check.

Maybe the clock will run out on Wa-Mart’s market powers before the seven years elapses.

My advice to the despondent in Derby is that they do as we are doing here in St. Albans.  We’re keeping a bead on Wal-Mart’s behavior in the community and will take every opportunity to share that as broadly as possible.  

When that Walmart sign truck starts rolling up and down the street past the local pharmacies, offering incentives to move your prescriptions to Wal-Mart (as it did in St. Albans as soon as the doors opened on the new store) take a few pictures and share them with your local papers.

Make a list of all the stores that have been serving the practical needs of the local community for years.  I’m talking about the local pharmacies, groceries, clothing stores, toy and book stores, hardware and appliance stores and any general merchandise options that have hung on over the years despite the hot breath of Walmart creeping up behind them.  

If St. Albans is anything to go by, they will soon be replaced by a fleet of gift shops, galleries, bars, antique and second hand stores…all very nice, of and by themselves, but far from the practical substance of a “traditional” downtown.

We’ve already got our list of those stores still in existence when Wal-Mart opened its doors in St. Albans; and we will be treating their survival as a bellwether of Mr. Davis’s claim of no negative impacts from the largest Walmart to be located in Vermont.  

We will be making a point of sharing updates on their status with Governor Shumlin, as well as the wider Wal-Mart Watch-ing world.