BY ALLISON FASHEK, Times of Northwest Indiana
afashek@nwitimes.com
CROWN POINT | In the corner of Donna McKinney's quaint, country shop window in downtown Crown Point, a handmade sign reads like a battle cry.
McKinney, owner of The Front Gate, and other local merchants have put up "No Wal-Mart" posters, and begun gathering signatures from customers and residents who don't want to see the big box retailer come to the community.
She's planning to bring the petition to a Plan Commission meeting this month, when the panel will debate ordinances that could make it difficult for stores 75,000 square feet and up to develop in Crown Point.
In recent weeks, City Council members and Mayor Dan Klein have spoken out against a developer's proposal to bring a Wal-Mart to the intersection of Interstate 65 and U.S. 231. But given the retailer's size and resources, storeowners are worried.
"It's a family oriented type of downtown and that's how I think it should stay," McKinney said. "The city needs to take two steps backwards. In some ways I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle."
According to Wal-Mart, a recent independent study shows the store saved each American household on average $2,329 in 2004, and had a net positive economic impact in the form of a .9 percent increase in real wages and the creation of 210,000 jobs nationwide.
McKinney, however, said she saw Wal-Mart's impact in her hometown of Gallipolis, Ohio, where a 15-year-old quilt shop was forced to close shortly after the retailer opened. She doesn't want to see that happen in Crown Point. Wal-Marts, she said, also "sometimes bring more undesirables to shop."
Just a few stores down, Melinda Lijana, owner of Birds of a Feather, said a nearby Wal-Mart would hurt her sales of seed, bird feeders and bird baths. Unless people are looking for an upscale product, they'll go to a big box, she said.
Lijana moved her store from Merrillville Road to the square earlier this year to grow business. When the local group the Stewards of the Square put on an exhibit of decorated bulldogs this summer, Lijana noticed more people coming to Crown Point to walk around and shop. If Wal-Mart comes to Crown Point, businesses could be hurt and the downtown atmosphere could suffer, she said.
Liz Messing, owner of The Artful Garden on Indiana Avenue, said she'd rather see something more upscale come to Crown Point, like a Crate and Barrel or a Pottery Barn.
City Council member Carol Drasga, R-at large, also a member of the Stewards, said small business owners are unifying because they're worried about the devastation of the downtown. Big box stores such as Wal-Mart don't give anything to the community but take disposable income, she said.
The situation is creating a turning point for the city, Messing said.
"I just think that right now we have to decide what we want our town to be and what we want in our town," she said.