Wal-Mart Abandons Mega-store Format

In a dramatic switch in corporate culture, Wal-Mart announces plans to be a good neighbor as it competes in local communities: "Wal-Mart, the big box retailer that altered the face of America with its supersized discount stores, now wants to restore a sense of place to thousands of communities... The Arkansas-based retail giant also announced it would favor local manufacturers over national distributors, and that it is looking into establishing local farmers markets featuring locally-grown produce outside its thousands of North American stores... "We're tired of being on the wrong side of the community-building equation," he added, noting that he believes the firm's bottom line can take a back seat to broader community [regional] goals." [ Editor's note: This is one of several humorous articles in the Project for Public Spaces Aprril 1 "Fsking Places" issue. The full set of articles are available here: http://www.pps.org/info/newsletter/April_First_2004/ ]