Altadena Chamber Meets With Walmart Representatives

Members of the Altadena Chamber of Commerce met with Walmart representatives Tuesday morning and learned more about the planned Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market location at Lincoln and Figueroa.

Dan Harlow, a Chamber board member, spoke Tuesday night at the Altadena Coalition of Neighborhood Associations meeting and had the following details about Walmart's plans for the store:

• The store already has all environmental work done, and will not need any further permits to open.
• Wal-Mart representatives told the Chamber that the reason they had not revealed they were opening a location in Altadena sooner is that the lease was only signed about two weeks ago.
• About 60 percent of what will be sold at the location will be food items.
• Wal-Mart is planning to open a job center in Altadena so locals can come to apply to work at the store.
• They will likely be open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
• Walmart has committed to spending about $4-$6 million on opening at the store location.
• The store manager will make the calls on what specific food items to stock.
• They chose the location because the information they had suggested it was underserved by grocery stores.
• At this point they will not be applying for a liquor permit.
• Wal-Mart representatives said some of their workers make minimum wage while some make as much as $16 per hour.  The average store manager makes between $100,000 and $150,000.

Some community members at the meeting also raised the concerns about what the store would mean for traffic at the intersection.  Sussy Nemer, a deputy of County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, confirmed that Walmart would not be required to do a traffic study.  

However, she did say that County's Traffic and Lighting Department could take a look at the lights at the intersection once Walmart is open to see if they need to be adjusted at all.

Former Town Council member Steve Lamb and local business owner Lori Webster also spoke at the meeting and noted that they would be holding a second meeting on forming opposition to Wal-Mart on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at .

Webster, who is also a Chamber member, noted her opposition is personal and not affiliated with the Altadena Chamber.  Harlow said that while Chamber members have expressed concern about what Wal-Mart will mean for the local business community, the Board has not taken any formal position on the store and will not do so before the next meeting of the Board.