The Town That Beat Wal-Mart

"In the Chestertown of today...residents fought fiercely for more than a decade to prevent the world's largest retailer from opening a store bigger than their entire downtown. Fending off Wal-Mart took on the emotions associated with foiling the British centuries before -- even though the proposed store was to be a mile from the historic district and just outside town limits. The marathon battle made enemies of neighbors, damaged political reputations, and exposed gaps between rich and poor, old and young, black and white, newcomers and longtime families. The arguments were about many things -- jobs, traffic, cheap goods, local businesses -- but the case against Wal-Mart was in the end about a community's right to preserve what it saw as its essential character."

Thanks to Chris Steins