Wal-Mart keeps up expansion drive: opposition couldn't halt plans for a supercenter in Rosemead.

They didn't get to be No. 1 by quitting.

After labor and community activists made a wreck of plans to build a supercenter in Inglewood, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. picked up the pieces and took them to Rosemead.

There, the world's largest retailer cultivated support among City' Council members and created political cover for them by pointing out the economic benefits that a store would bring to the San Gabriel Valley city, while raising doubts about the motives of project opponents.

The result: Despite a parade of opposition and threats of recalls, the five-member Rosemead City Council voted unanimously to approve a Wal-Mart Supercenter on 24 acres at the corners of Rush Street and Walnut Grove Avenue. Plans call for a traditional Wal-Mart to be built first, with a 24-hour supermarket-sized grocery store to come as soon as 2007.

Opposition: Couldn't block Wal-Mart from council OK.

"We've known for some time that the majority of the council was supportive," said Bob McAdam, a spokesman for Wal-Mart. "So we've been encouraging our supporters to communicate with the council. I think that is what the City Council is reacting to, frankly."

Wal-Mart countered a signature drive by opponents of the store with one of its own. Opponents got 4,200 signatures versus 2,000 for the store's supporters. But proponents said they had more registered voters on their petition. (The City Clerk's office did not conduct an official check.)

Opponents concede they now have an uphill battle in trying to block the new store. In Rosemead, Wal-Mart didn't make the mistake of challenging city officials with a referendum, a public-relations blunder that ignited opposition in Inglewood.

"Wal-Mart overreached," said Roxana Tynan, director of accountable development for the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, the labor-linked group that spearheaded the drive against the Inglewood Wal-Mart.

She said that with a staff of 20 and limited resources, LAANE has to choose its battles, and Rosemead has not been one of them.

"We are not the 500-pound gorilla," Tynan said. "And part of the problem is that some of the activists are from San Gabriel, which doesn't have a voice in this decision."

(In neighboring San Gabriel, residents fought off several attempts in the late 1990s to build a city-backed Wal-Mart on San Gabriel Boulevard. Opposition there jelled around the city's efforts to clear ground for the store through the use of eminent domain, closing the San Gabriel Nursery, a longtime fixture in the community.)

Rosemead also proved to be friendlier turf for Wal-Mart than either San Gabriel or Inglewood. The question of whether the store's perceived benefits (low prices) outweighed its drawbacks (damage to the local business fabric and loss of jobs) was answered differently--or differently enough to blunt the opposition.

In Inglewood, the anti-Wal-Mart campaign focused on how a supercenter might threaten higher-paying jobs. There are two Vons, one Ralphs and one Food 4 Less in that city, each with a unionized work force.

In Rosemead, east of downtown Los Angeles, traditional supermarkets abandoned the area. Ralphs closed its location on Valley Boulevard in August, and all that remains are smaller independents. Of those, only Beaches offers mainstream grocery shopping. Del Mar Supermarket and 99 Ranch cater to Asian customers, while Big Saver is geared toward Hispanics. (Rosemead is dominated by ethnic Asians and Hispanics.)

Wal-Mart conducted a study that showed Rosemead's 53,505 residents already spend $30 million annually at Wal-Mart stores in nearby Baldwin Park, City of Industry, Duarte and Pico Rivera. The company tabulated credit card and debit card receipts with Rosemead ZIP codes.

The argument resonated with residents such as Jean Hall of the pro-WM-Mart group, Putting Rosemead in a Desirable Environment.

"I've lived here for 47 years and I've seen the economy come and go," Hall said. "I do not have an American market in my community. I go to other communities and there goes my tax revenue that should be here in my own community."

Rosemead officials estimate that the operation will generate as much as $60 million annually in sales, bringing in $400,000 to $600,000 in sales tax revenues. (Most foods are not taxed.)

The projected addition of 350 jobs for the general merchandise front, plus another 150 to 200 when the grocery store is built, generated further interest in a community with a median household income of $36,181, according to the 2000 Census, and an August unemployment rate of 7.1 percent, compared with a statewide rate of 5.8 percent.

University of California, Berkeley, researcher Ken Jacobs, who found Wal-Mart workers average $10.37 per hour statewide versus an average of $14.82 for other large retailers, acknowledged that low- and moderate-income shoppers will ,save a buck before worrying about someone else's pay and health care benefits.

"If we are going to see a change, it will be less on the level of consumer choice and more on the level of public policy," Jacobs said.

Wal-Mart plans to build a 230,000-square-foot facility on land it purchased in 2000 from Southern California Edison, which operates its facility on the northeast and northwest comers of the intersection. But the location is also adjacent to a residential community.

Residents opposed against the store mainly on the basis of the additional noise that would be brought by traffic and construction, and pollution created by the estimated 15,000 to 20,000 vehicles trips the store would draw each day.

"We're not fighting Wal-Mart and its bad reputation," said Larry Bevington, chairman of Save our Community, a 40-member residents' group fighting the project. "Our problem is location, with all the smog and traffic."

Opponents plan to continue their campaign. One option would be a referendum vote that would not only overturn the council's decision, but give residents final say on the project.

"I don't feel like we are a minority," said Rose Marie Gonzalez, a member of Save Our Community. "There are quite a few people who are against it but they didn't speak up because they were not informed about it. Now they are. We're getting more every day."

Wal-Mart officials say they're prepared.

"We're not assuming the opposition is going away," said McAdam. "We're expecting them to take whatever measures they can to stop the project."

Elsewhere, opposition to Wal-Mart remains strong.

Last July, the West Covina City Council and the city's Community Development Commission approved a a Home Depot and Winco Foods on a 43-acre parcel at Azusa Avenue and Amar Road after blocking attempts by Wal-Mart to build a supercenter there.

And the L.A. City Council passed an ordinance that forces any big-box retailer to conduct a study to determine whether it would have a negative impact to the area.