Developers using social media to fight opponents

is an AP story that happened to run in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Obviously, using any and all techniques at your disposal is what any type of advocate does. The article mentions one particular social media initiative that has generated developer response, Don't Big Box Carytown, in Richmond, Virginia.

Note that I have written about Carytown in the past and I consider it one of the best traditional commercial districts between Philadelphia and Richmond (it trumps most traditional shopping districts in the DC region, although Alexandria and 14th Street do better with furnishings).

The Carytown anti-development initiative is interesting, because it is against the entry of a Whole Foods Market, which most every neighborhood seems to want (along with Starbucks and/or a Trader Joes).

A Whole Foods Market attracts thousands of customers each day, building the kind of customer traffic that most commercial districts seemingly desire.

It's also interesting because just yesterday Suzanne and I were talking about commercial district revitalization issues, and I mentioned how it took me a few years (about five) to get a more nuanced understanding of how the right kind of chains can be included within traditional districts in ways that are sensitive to the district and help the district succeed. Although Kennedy Smith, the former director the National Main Street Center, points out that in thriving districts, chains don't number more than 20% of the total stores.

This is because these stores are well known, get advertising and other marketing support, draw in customers who in turn shop in other stores in the commercial district, and the chain stores can help to round out and extend the mix of stores in the district.

Other articles:

-- "Carytown Meeting Regarding Big Box Store: All signs point to Whole Foods replacing old Verizon building" (WTVR-TV, CBS6)

-- Carytown business community thinks outside the box" from Richmond BizSense

-- "Carytown group neutral on Verizon building" from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, about the Carytown Merchants Association not taking a position on the project, other than stating that land use proposals should be congruent with the master plan for the area

People might point to this discussion and ask "why aren't you supportive of a Walmart on Georgia Avenue when you are saying that people in Carytown ought to be happy to get a Whole Foods Supermarket? Aren't you being hypocritical?"

There is a big difference.

First and foremost, the Carytown commercial district is thriving, but even so, all traditional commercial districts need to continue to refresh and keep current what they offer. The customer demographic of Carytown jibes well with a Whole Foods supermarket (plus there are already two large grocery stores there, a Kroger and a Ukrops-Martins, as well as the Ellwood Thompson Local Market, a natural foods store which is stoking the opposition--this company is supposed to open a store in Columbia Heights, but it appears as if it may not according to the Washington City Paper and other media).

It's the classic argument of how an "anchor" store in a commercial district attracts customers who in turn shop in the rest of the district.

The issue with the Walmart on Georgia Avenue in DC is that it won't be integrated into the urban fabric in a manner that complements and strengthens the other retail on Georgia Avenue.

Not to mention the Walmart business model which is not supportive of the anchor store concept. Walmart's business model intends to capture up to 100% of the customer dollar, leaving no room for spending at other stores. Sure, they are doing marketing support programs for local retail in urban areas, to reduce the level of opposition to their entry, but their business model remains unchanged.

I saw an article about how Walmart is reaching out to their vendors to do joint purchasing, in order to reduce production costs. If Walmart were to make their buying and operating systems available to local commercial districts as part of the "community benefits" package of their entry, maybe I'd feel differently about their entry--which I am resigned to by the way, I just want their entry to be way better managed, so that the Georgia Avenue commercial district is strengthened, not weakened further.