Teays Valley Residents Seek Apology from Walmart for Misleading Statements about Proposed Store
Planned Meeting Outside Community Is Also an Issue
TEAYS VALLEY, W.Va., April 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Residents of the Teays Valley area of West Virginia's Putnam County are calling on Walmart to apologize for issuing misleading statements about the Walmart Neighborhood Market proposed to be built along Teays Valley Road and for choosing a location outside the community to explain the company's plans.
Teays Valley resident Jennifer Martone has sent a letter to Doug McMillon, president and chief executive officer of Walmart's parent company, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., to request the apology. The letter specifically complains that Walmart spokesman Bill Wertz has been telling the news media, including WCHS-TV and WVAH-TV, that the proposed store would be just "slightly larger" than what currently is allowed by zoning in the area. Zoning would permit a store of up to 5,000 square feet, but the proposed store would be more than 42,000 square feet and also have a huge gas station.
"That would not be a small store," Martone wrote. "It would change the nature of the neighborhood and cause a massive increase in traffic on an already-congested roadway."
The proposed store would be close to the median size of grocery stores in the United States. According to the Food Marketing Institute, the median size for an American grocery store in 2013 was 46,500 square feet.
Residents also are upset that Walmart has scheduled a public meeting Thursday evening to discuss issues regarding the store not in Teays Valley but several miles away in Hurricane, which already has a Walmart Supercenter.
"It's clear that Walmart does not understand this community geographically, nor does it appreciate the community's quality of life," Martone wrote. "We welcome a civil discussion of the issues related to the proposed store, but you should apologize to Teays Valley residents for trying to mislead them about the true size of the store and for not holding a meeting in the community that would be affected by it."
SOURCE Teays Valley Residents
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