Something There Is That Doesn't Like a Wal-Mart

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is at it again, declaring the entire state of Vermont "endangered" by Wal-Mart. The Green Mountain state has four of the discount superstores now, with seven (count 'em) planned for the coming year.

From a NY Times account via the Houston Chronicle:

The National Trust for Historic Preservation put Vermont on its list of endangered places back in 1993, [Trust president] Richard Moe said, even when there were no Wal-Marts there. But there were already several other so-called "big box stores" that were threatening its character.

"Back then, Vermont was the only state without a Wal-Mart," a news release for the Trust said. "Today, it has four—and it now faces an invasion of behemoth stores that could destroy much of what makes Vermont Vermont."

Moe said that the Trust was listing Vermont and its threat from Wal-Mart "to stimulate a debate in Vermont and throughout the country."

Actually, it'd be more accurate to say the Trust is trying to keep alive a debate it lost a long time ago. Read the whole Chronicle piece and then check out this story I wrote, which quotes Moe, on the same topic in 1995. The only thing that has changed for him is the year.