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The proliferation of Family
Dollar and other low-end retail stores continues not only
unabated in the Toledo’s inner city, but also speeds along
with the endorsement and apparent cooperation of City of
Toledo officials. Yet, these stores and their “predatory”
practices are a bad deal for the poor and communities of
color they tend to target for saturation.
Fortunately, stores like
Family Dollar are meeting resistance nationally and in
Toledo.
At a recent neighborhood
meeting at Mott Library regarding a proposed retail store to
be built at the corner of Dorr Street and Smead Avenue,
representatives from Family Dollar never even bothered to
show up, leaving a young representative from the developer
who was unable to answer the community’s most pressing
questions.
The fact that Family Dollar
would disrespect the community by not showing up, in itself,
gives me reason to pause. Sending an unknowledgeable
representative from the development company puzzles me. With
existing Family Dollar stores down the street at Dorr and
Collingwood and around the corner at Bancroft and Upton
causes me to sit down and think. The almost outright
advocacy by the City of Toledo on behalf of Family Dollar
makes my breathing shallow and causes me to snort in anger.
Why?
Because it tells me just what
people think of inner city residents, people of color, the
un-privileged and their representatives. And because there
comes a time when we, as people of color, need to take a
stand for our community and tell people Hell No!
Do you think that you can
come into the inner city unprepared except to ram an
already-made behind closed door deal that is harmful to a
community of color? Hell No!
Do you think that we cannot
read? Do you think that we are too lazy to do our own
research? Hell no!
Do you think that the
citizens of Dorr Street spent all of that time, money and
effort convening community meetings to revitalize the Dorr
Street corridor and not even read the Dorr Street Vision and
plan? Hell No!
Do you think that Center of
Hope Church, LMHA, The Toledo Urban Federal Credit Union,
Toledo CDC, the African American Legacy Project and others
like the Junction Avenue coalition went through all of the
hard work, difficult economic times and aggravating
opposition from both friends and foes to see it all go for
naught without even a fight? Nope.
We are all working to restore
a sense of pride in this historic neighborhood that has
meant much to the indigenous Toledo black community. I am
certain, that Family Dollar is not a worthy centerpiece for
this effort. Am I supposed to be impressed because you want
to build a $1 million DOLLAR STORE in my neighborhood? Hell
No!
It’s a matter of more than
just a dollar or dollars. It’s also a matter of sense.
What are the facts about
Family Dollar and why are communities all over the nation
fighting the proliferation of these stores (check out
Atlanta)?
The proliferation of these
stores can cause a host of negative consequences affecting
the environment, community character and fiscal health of
the neighborhood such as:
·
Decrease of property values
including the Brownstones Condos that LMHA has invested in
across the street from the proposed new Family Dollar store.
·
Increased traffic and
congestion providing a safety risk to those leaving church
services at the two churches across the street from the
store and neighborhood residents.
·
Erosion of the “branding” or
cultural character of a revitalized Dorr Street.
·
Foreclosure of opportunities
for a diversity of other business types. Businesses are
likely to close and seldom move in once Family Dollar
arrives. (Think Ashley Stewart Clothing at Dorr/Collingwood,
now closed)
·
The new jobs promised are
actually a shell game that siphons jobs off from existing or
other local retailers who either close or have to lay off
their employees who typically make less money at Family
Dollar.
·
The Family Dollar business
model seldom, if ever, uses union labor in construction jobs
or in the manufacturing of the items they sell. In fact, the
resulting impact on jobs, wages, and other community
businesses is typically negative in chain retailers like
Family Dollar.
·
No long-term commitment to
the communities they operate in.
What should we do?
First, require an INDEPENDENT
assessment that measures the impact on the environment,
economics and character of the community along with how the
proposed development aligns with the Dorr Street Vision so
that we can make an informed decision. This type
study will bring the hidden costs and consequences of the
project into open view. These are measures that the City of
Toledo’s municipal code requires to be considered also,
despite the denial of city of Toledo principal planner Tom
Gibbons.
Secondly, the community
should demand that the city adopt and enact planning
policies, such as environmental and economic standards that
support and encourage local, minority or other businesses,
which enhance rather than degrade neighborhood residential
and business districts.
Finally, the city must
embrace “Smart Planning and Development” that increases the
number of net jobs and real wages in our community rather
than the kind of development like Family Dollar, which keeps
individuals and communities mired in poverty as they haul
off the profits back to their home in North Carolina.
Until there is smarter
planning and development and an assessment of harm to the
community, there should be a moratorium on the construction
of Family Dollar and other stores of this type.
It’s a bad deal for the
community and not worth the hidden costs or consequences.
And, most importantly, it just doesn’t make sense to build
another dollar store in the inner city.
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, D.Min, at
drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org
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