Managers say they seek peace with the neighborhood's merchants -- and vow not to undercut them on Middle Eastern specialties. But
some experts and observers say Wal-Mart's well-planned launch in
Dearborn is bound to shake up the buying and selling in a community
that has long supported its own. Southeastern Michigan is home to an
estimated 300,000 people who trace their roots to the Middle East.
"I have not heard of anything this tailored. It's inspiring
to me as a shareholder," said Patricia Edwards, portfolio manager and
retail analyst in the Seattle office of San Francisco-based investment
manager Wentworth, Hauser & Violich, which has 537,000 shares of
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. stock.
The Dearborn store also sells Arabic music and plans to
offer Muslim greeting cards. But the modifications go beyond
merchandise: It has 35 employees who speak Arabic -- noted in Arabic
script on their badges. The store also has hired a local Arab-American
educator to teach the staff cultural sensitivity.
From KOMO TV
And this was from a one of the comments sent in about what happened in Tacoma:
" I was with the Support the Troops people today. What a
pathetic turnout the anti-military protesters had. They at best had 50
people, all college age punks, probably from Evergreen State Col the
most liberal campus on the west coast. The Support the Troops side had
at least 3 or 4 times their number, including about 25-30 of the
coolest leather clad bikers I ever saw. At The mall it was business as
usual, full of shoppers stimulating the economy with their hard earned
dollars. If the protesters goal was to interrupt commerce, they failed
miserably. They also failed to shut down the recruiting office. The
office they were in front of was closed anyway. The Army recruiter
around the corner of the building was open for business, and even gave
out donuts and coffee for the Support the Troops people. And for the
military being ordered to stay away? No Way! There were many many young
men walking around with military haircuts, many of who walked over and
thanked us for what we were doing, several even staying with us. Many
more of their families honked as they drove by our line of flags. And
the Police did a fantastic job keeping the ant-war goons confined to a
small area near the recruiting station, making sure they could not
block access to the opened office or cross onto Mall property. My
message the anti-military punks is this: Tacoma is a Military town, and
damn proud of them. Go protest some place else you losers.
Be sure to watch the King5 video on the link. The news did a fair job,
except when they said there was no real difference between the two
groups - That was BS. Few of them looked like normal decent people.
Many went for the anarchist look, with scarves over their faces and
black hooded sweater shirts, that sort of thing."
