Shaw's supermarkets and the city of Lebanon are at loggerheads after Shaw's closed Lebanon's only downtown grocery store. Until recently, the store had been owned by a small regional chain called Butson's. The Lebanon city council voted to boycott Shaw's and some local residents are angry at what they see as Shaw's heavy-handed attitude.
NHPR's Josh Rogers has more.
Shaw?s says it hopes another grocery store will open in the former Butson?s location?That move comes in the wake of a heated and public exchange between the grocery chain and Lebanon city officials ??..According to Lebanon Mayor Ralph Akins?..the bottom line is that Shaw?s is being a bad neighbor??..
?For a corporation like Shaw?s to come in and take a vital element of community life really hurts our city and their motive was simply to make a bigger profit than they are making now.?
On a recent evening 20 or so local citizens echoed that view. They?ve begun holding pickets outside Shaw?s two stores in West Lebanon??..
Amb??chants
?Don?t heed the corporate greed??.Join the cause don?t shop at Shaw?s?..?
Ruth Emery, a long-time Butson?s shopper who works at a Lebanon social services agency has spearheaded the direct actions against Shaw?s??..Emery sees having a grocery store in the city center as crucial to the Lebanon?s overall economic well-being??She also insists without a downtown store?.. the city?s most vulnerable people ?..will suffer.
?The Rogers house??the senior housing complex is right across the park??but it?s not just seniors?.it?s single mothers with strollers and kids?..and many families in Lebanon don?t have cars?..and frankly?..driving out here is pretty crazy??as anyone can see.?
For their part, Shaw?s officials say protesters are jumping the gun??.And they accuse city leaders of inciting the public without reason. Company spokesman Terry Donilon adds that if the mayor and city council want to find a bad neighbor??.they might look in a mirror.
?There are people in public capacity in Lebanon who are having knee-jerk reactions??.and it does not create a good environment for any company?.and that?s the shame of it?? anybody who is thinking about doing business in Lebanon would have second thoughts after seeing this display.?
But to the locals concerned about the fate of their downtown store???it?s Shaw?s that has created the bad atmosphere?.Even so, Ruth Emery and other protestors say it would not take much on the part of Shaw?s to regain their trust.
?Their silence is what has us here today??they need to make a public announcement?And if they do will be back to thank them?..yeah?.will be right back to thank them??.the same folks??I?ll reapply for my shaw?s card?.will get our cards back too.?
Shaw?s officials say they will announce their plans for the Lebanon Butson?s in a matter of weeks??.But if the words of company spokesman Terry Donilan are any guide??further talk between locals and Shaw?s is unlikely.
?I?m gonna tell you right now that we haven?t had one discussion with them?and they?ve exhibited absolutely no willingness to have any type of discussion on these matters?..so we?ll do what we?ve got to do?.and at the end of the day the people of Lebanon?..will be well served and hopefully happy with what we are able to figure out for that site.?
The loss of a grocery story might not seem like the stuff of protest, but in Lebanon it has taken on the tones of a plant closure. Whether that was inevitable is unclear, but the situation leaves room for a measure of diplomacy in the weeks ahead.
