But Is It a Hometown-Improvement Store?

Not everyone is thrilled that Home Depot plans to build 61 new stores in California over the next three years.

Yes, the 10,000 new jobs generated by the Atlanta-based chain will be good for the state’s economy. But how many jobs will be eliminated at the smaller mom-and-pop hardware stores that Home Depot is likely to drive out of business?

That is one of the issues at the heart of a movement that bills itself as Sprawl Busters, a Greenfield, Mass., outfit founded by activist Al Norman.

The group’s Web page (https://www.sprawl-busters.com) welcomes the uninitiated with the question: “Is your community threatened by a MEGASTORE?” It has eight categories on its home page, setting aside one section to take aim specifically at Home Depot.

Titled “Home Towns vs. Home Depot,” the 13 1/2-page segment highlights more than a dozen examples of small towns that have turned away America’s largest home-improvement retailer.

Norman believes that the rapid expansions by so-called big-box discounters such as Home Depot and Wal-Mart are bad for the fabric of America. His biggest beef with big chains: “They frequently come into a small community and start pushing people around like it was manifest destiny.”

He says the big chains never talk about how many jobs they eliminate when smaller chains and family-owned shops fold. And he contends that the low prices that the big chains offer often come at the expense of American jobs.

“If we believe that these cheap goods don’t have a price to America, we’re nuts.” he said.

Home Depot’s take on Norman: “Without a doubt, he’s anti-growth,” spokeswoman Amy Friend said. “More often than not, the communities where we’re opening new stores are excited by what we’re doing, and that’s what’s most important.”

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Russ Stanton covers retail businesses and restaurants for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5609 and at [email protected]