San Francisco, CA : Teddy Bear Films Oley, PA : Distributed by Bullfrog Films, c2001.
Added to CLICnet on 03/29/2014

Check CLICnet for availability
Notes:

• DVD-R NTSC all regions 4:3 full screen Dolby digital 2.0.
• This is a recorded DVD and may not play on all DVD players or drives.
• Voice over narration, Charles Halpern.
• Associate producer, Monica Z. Lam camera, Allen Moore editor, Ken Schneider composer, Pete Sears wholesale/retail advisor, Larry Hott.
• Originally produced as a documentary film in 2001 for broadcast on PBS.
• Study guide available online at: http://www.pbs.org/storewars/teachers.html.
• For grade 7 and up.
• Store Wars follows the one-year conflict that polarizes Ashland, Virginia, population 7,200, when Wal-Mart decides it wants to build a megastore there. The ensuing debate pits neighbor against neighbor in a battle as protracted and bitter as those fought in the Old West between ranchers and farmers over land-use issues. The struggle between conflicting versions of the American dream has on one side those who want to preserve their seemingly idyllic small-town way of life versus those who believe in the positive economic benefits Wal-Mart promises. This truly American story is about the right of a community to determine its own future: Which values are most important? Who gets to decide?
• In the U.S., Wal-Mart opens a new mega-store every two business days. Explores the impact of discount chain stores on American society and its values, and examines a local democracy in action — how one community reaches a difficult decision. Follows events in Ashland, Va., over a one-year period, from the first stormy public hearing that galvanizes residents’ opposition until the Town Council takes a final vote on the proposed Wal-Mart Store. Arguments for the store and against it are articulated and hotly debated. Includes comments from the mayor, Town Council members who will eventually make the decision, Wal-Mart representatives, and citizens who organize to block the store. Intended to offer a critical view of the Big Box industry as a whole, and to present all viewpoints on this controversial issue
• Winner, 2001 Golden Gate Award, Bay Area Film & Video – Documentary, San Francisco International Film Festival.

Subjects:

• Wal-Mart (Firm)
• Industries — Social aspects — United States — Case studies.
• Discount houses (Retail trade) — United States — Case studies.
• Retail trade — United States — Case studies.
• Small business — United States — Case studies.
• Ashland (Va.) — Politics and government.
• Documentary television programs. lcgft
• Nonfiction television programs. lcgft

Requested by Ohlander, D