Sprawl Crawl

Author: Mary Lane and Derek Schlickeisen

Middlebury's diverse student population finds in its quaint college town something which is becoming increasingly rare in the 50 states and more than 40 countries its students are from: a respite from the sprawl of globalized chain stores. As unique as the town of Middlebury is, though, it is not guaranteed to stay that way, as witnessed by the recent attempts by Starbucks and Staples to open stores. Whether seen as a potential benefit to Middlebury residents or a potential death to her local business charm, the issue remains a persistent topic in the mind of students faculty and town residents.

Possibility of chain stores sparks differing opinions among residents

Just two months ago, news happening off campus trickled into the College and galvanized talks among students. With Carol's Hungry Mind Café potentially trekking towards its demise and the likelihood of Starbucks, Staples and possibly Wal-Mart near the College, students, faculty and Vermont residents have felt tension rising between local businesses and big chain malls within Addison County.

In February 2007, both Starbucks and Staples were planning to build a new store in The Centre shopping plaza off Route 7 where TJ Maxx and Hannaford are currently located. These proposals caused a stir in town, with petitions to ban these stores springing up in various locations such as Carol's Hungry Mind and Main St. Stationery. Eventually, after a year of petitioning and town meetings, residents were able to push Starbucks into announcing this past January that it would not come to Middlebury. However, Staples is still considering a Middlebury location.

For those who support big shopping malls, the benefits of a larger variety of products for cheaper prices and new jobs that could potentially boost the town's economy.

"We are able to provide what consumers want in a grocery store," said Shaw's service desk administration Randy Garrows of the chain. "We provide more variety of food and convenience due to our location."

While there is concern that chains would become a potential threat to local businesses in town by taking over the market, administratiors at Hannaford's disagreed. "We do not think Hannaford's is potentially putting aside locally run grocery stores," said Brian Jackson, Hannaford's associate manager. "Every store still has the opportunity to thrive."

An even deeper concern is how large malls would take away a sense of community within Middlebury. "I think it is a sense of pride for the state to be culturally self-sufficient and just rely on local businesses," said a Middlebury Union High School senior. "I think this is deeply rooted in the Vermont culture."

Many Middlebury residents feel that while big businesses would isolate themselves from the community, local shops are more likely to be part of the town and its organizations.

"I once received a very bad impression of a big shopping center ruining a nearby town," said Professor of Mathematics Priscilla Bremser. "I remember seeing an old Wal-Mart beside a town. The old Wal-Mart has been abandoned and immediately right next to it, there was another, bigger Wal-mart. But the sad thing was how the company just left that old Wal-mart to rot right next to town instead of taking care of it and taking it down. Local businesses tend to be more concerned about the community than big chain shops. Just look at the back of the Relay for Life T-shirts and see how many community businesses support it."

Some Middlebury students do not see the necessity of having a Starbucks or a Staples in town when many of their products can already be purchased through local businesses. "I think I would probably not even shop at Starbucks or at Staples when I can get a cup of coffee in the dining halls or the library cafe and buy notebooks and pens conveniently at the College's Book Store," said Ilisa Goodman '09.5.

Other students are up for it. "I think that if we have a Starbucks here, students would not have to make it a day event and drive all the way to Burlington to have a cup of coffee," said Michael Crittell '11.
Reporting by Nicole Lam


Town center battles Route 7 sprawl

The contrast is vivid - historic storefronts and family-owned businesses on the one hand, and immediately recognizable corporate logos and sprawling parking lots on the other.

Yet there is more to the conflict between the downtown's business center surronding Main Street and its emerging competitor along Route 7­ - one represents a past defined by Vermont's landscape of compact villages, while the other,­­ according to some developers' vision, offers a response to modern commercial realities.

"It's very polarized," explained Christian A. Johnson Professor of Art and Architecture Glenn Andres. "Those who prioritize economic development above all feel that those who want to stress the values of village life are old-fashioned and unrealistic. They call them elitists or dreamers."

Recent years have brought the attempted addition to the town's landscape of "big box" stores that have become symbols of modern commercial sprawl - this February, the development firm Myron Hunt Associates put forward a proposal to construct a Staples along Route 7, and Wal-Mart has been trying for years for permission to build one of its superstores in Addison County.

The trend across the state, according to Andres, is alarming, and the consequences are potentially severe. Wal-Mart recently won its battle against community activists in St. Albans to construct a superstore there, adding to its fleet of four centers across the state (its largest, in Williston, sprawls over 100,000 square feet). In part as a result of the "big box" development issue, the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2004 placed Vermont on its listing of endangered sites - the first time an entire state has made the list.

"Vermont has a remarkable small-scale urbanism with really compact villages," said Andres, who also serves on the town's Design Advisory Committee, comprised of both architects and active town residents. "The 20th century diffused some of them, but the pattern primarily remains dense villages surrounded by open countryside. Today, with the greater environmental concern, there's been a renewed push to locate close to home in town centers. But the reality is that stores like Staples and Wal-Mart don't want to locate there."

Beyond the town's historic landscape, the impact of Wal-Mart-style development would hit the pocketbooks of those residents who make their living through small businesses. According to Wal-Mart's own analysis, in order for a store built in Addison County to be profitable, it would have to take in nearly 80 percent of all retail dollars spent in the county. For its part, the proposed Staples presents a direct challenge to Main Street Stationery, which cannot place the same bulk and specialty orders for merchandise that its chain competitor can.

"Everything would go," said Andres. "I've seen it happen. The downtown areas of small towns where this happens are completely dead. It's T-shirt shops, tattoo parlors and empty store fronts. Wal-Mart comes in and there's this empty sucking sound. Properties downtown are rendered almost worthless."

Unlike St. Albans, however, the town of Middlebury has an ally in the College. While the administration has no explicit stance on chain development in Addison County, its pattern of investment in the town and the spending habits of its students, parents and faculty support the small businesses in opposition to the potential box stores.

"Those stores are largely geared towards the kind of population the College brings to the community," said Andres. "The College is also now taking an active role in supporting planning measures that emphasize the village - things like the bridge project and support of the Town Hall Th
eater. These are very important for the life of the village."

Yet that support only goes so far: the town's anti-development organizers, most if not all of them volunteers, are on their own in the fight against sprawling development. Their position was bolstered with the 2002 passage by the Vermont legislature of a bill offering tax incentives for business owners to renovate historic buildings rather than building anew, but Andres and his colleagues worry that the resources of multi-national corporations like Wal-Mart may prove too much.

"The problem is, if Wal-Mart thinks it's economically feasible, they get their lawyers in there and keep pounding away," he said. "And volunteer groups and communities get worn down­- they can wear out anybody. So yes, I'm concerned."
Reporting by Derek Schilckeinsen