Great Indoors

They wanted to open up a Whole Foods where Martino's Bakery originally was on the corner of Alameda and Main street. Everybody opposed it because of too much traffic. Here we go again with the traffic excuse. Seems nobody in Burbank wants anything new. That would have been an excellent place for a Whole Foods. I think the Great Indoors building is a little too big for a Whole Foods market, but perfect for a Super Walmart. Gerry McAllister Burbank

Opponents of a Walmart in Burbank have lost a potential weapon in their fight after Gov. Jerry Brown's veto of a bill that would have required economic-impact reports on how big-box stores would affect the local economy. Brown said Senate Bill 469 by Sen. Juan Vargas (D-San Diego) would have added an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy. “Plenty of laws are already on the books that enable and, in some cases, require cities and counties to carefully assess whether these projects are in the community's best interest,” Brown said in his veto message.

Speaking as a resident of Burbank and someone who is accustomed to believing that we, the consumers, should have choices I am startled and outraged about the delays in approving the new Walmart in my neighborhood. What I really resent is having our choices dictated by what I consider outside groups with agendas that have nothing to do with me Here you have a big building left empty for whatever reason by Great Indoors, and we consumers were essentially promised a new retailer to take its place.

What is there to improve on the street that's next to the Great Indoors building? The street was good enough when the Great Indoors was open, why isn't it good for Walmart? I've just been on that street and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Let's face it, it's the unions behind all of this and someone is getting paid off. I guess Burbank doesn't want its residents to have jobs and it doesn't need the tax revenues. I'll continue to do my shopping in Glendora or Rosemead. It's worth it to me to make a trip once a month just to save some money.

Karen S. Kim BURBANK -- With The Great Indoors store already expected to open at Burbank's Empire Center by March 2002, the City Council voted 3-1 Tuesday against offering the Sears store a $250,000 incentive package. "We really didn't think it was justified," Councilman Bob Kramer said. "They've already purchased the property, and we knew they were coming for sure." The incentive package was proposed to Sears, Roebuck and Co. last November, before the store's plans to move into Burbank were finalized.

Karen S. Kim MEDIA DISTRICT NORTH -- Little by little, the Burbank Empire Center has been shaping up. The 103-acre shopping center is nearly completed with just a few businesses still scheduled to open in the next few months. Great Indoors, Michael's, Staples, Courtyard by Marriott, Olive Garden, David's Bridal, Men's Wearhouse and a few eateries in the mall's food court have yet to open their doors, but Burbank residents have been flocking to the open businesses already, developer Ben Reiling said.

I read a letter to the editor the other day speaking about the “criminal” element that could be brought into town by having the Walmart take up residence in the location formerly occupied by The Great Indoors. Wow, sounds kind of racist to me. If you look at the ethnic makeup of both Burbank and Glendale, it has changed drastically in the past 30 years that I have lived here. No one group has a lock on the criminal element, it is spread throughout all of them. When Burbank was a sleepy little town that Johnny Carson made fun of, there was definitely much less crime, but its citizens had to go out of the community to shop at places like Walmart, Target and others.

A recent pepper spraying incident at a Walmart store in Porter Ranch where an angry female shopper injured 20 people, with the shooting of two people in the parking lot of a Walmart store in San Leandro, should be proof enough that Burbank does not need this retailer in our midst. In addition to the excessive traffic it will generate, Walmart attracts many people of criminal or disreputable character who are prone to violence. City Council members, notably Mayor Jess Talamantes, say there is nothing they can do to keep Walmart from opening in Burbank.

Will Rogers If you're among those either infuriated or entertained by rationalizations offered to justify handing over taxpayer cash to lure businesses to Burbank, prepare for yet another fit of irritation or the giggles. If you're among those irked that I lack the ability to understand the vital role cash business incentives play in preserving city services and boosting municipal revenues, prepare for more proof of my vexing shortcoming. Last week, I told you about the city staff's recommendation that the council, acting as Burbank's Redevelopment Agency, approve an agreement to lure a new business to town.

The irrational sign-wavers are out in uber-emotional force decrying Walmart and its imminent opening in Burbank (“Protesters rally against Walmart,” Sept. 20). They claim to be worried about potential job losses in Burbank if Walmart opens, but in their dazed and hazy excitable states they overlook that there have been at least three other large vacancies in Empire Center in the past few years that were in no way attributable to Walmart. Further, but wholly ignored by the antis, the currently vacant, non-profit producing, non-employing, non-wage-paying Great Indoors went out of business all on its own - Walmart had nothing to do with that failure, either.

Speaking as a resident of Burbank and someone who is accustomed to believing that we, the consumers, should have choices I am startled and outraged about the delays in approving the new Walmart in my neighborhood. What I really resent is having our choices dictated by what I consider outside groups with agendas that have nothing to do with me Here you have a big building left empty for whatever reason by Great Indoors, and we consumers were essentially promised a new retailer to take its place.

They wanted to open up a Whole Foods where Martino's Bakery originally was on the corner of Alameda and Main street. Everybody opposed it because of too much traffic. Here we go again with the traffic excuse. Seems nobody in Burbank wants anything new. That would have been an excellent place for a Whole Foods. I think the Great Indoors building is a little too big for a Whole Foods market, but perfect for a Super Walmart. Gerry McAllister Burbank

What is there to improve on the street that's next to the Great Indoors building? The street was good enough when the Great Indoors was open, why isn't it good for Walmart? I've just been on that street and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Let's face it, it's the unions behind all of this and someone is getting paid off. I guess Burbank doesn't want its residents to have jobs and it doesn't need the tax revenues. I'll continue to do my shopping in Glendora or Rosemead. It's worth it to me to make a trip once a month just to save some money.

Re: “Store work may be halted,” Aug. 18: I can't believe how ridiculous this is becoming. Who are these three women waging this war against Walmart? Why should their dislike for Walmart mean any more than the likes of the people that want the Walmart in Burbank? I guarantee that if the judge rules in favor of the Walmart, they will take a different stand to try and stop the store. It's not about the traffic, it's not about the foreign-made goods, it's not about the alleged low wages or benefits for the employees, and it's not about the parking either.

I wish to thank Mark Kellam for his recent article on the status of the Walmart litigation (“ Walmart case has its trial date set ,” July 25). I am livid that, in my opinion, the union recruited these three women into filing this lawsuit. If they were represented by independent counsel (not UFCWU), I would be less inclined to believe they are just trying to further their special interest (organized labor) disguised as environmental concerns. Protesters dislike Walmart's non-union position and allegedly inferior employee compensation/benefits.

Common sense dictates that Walmart will bring a tremendous amount of additional traffic to the streets around Empire Center (“Suit aims at stopping Walmart,” May 9). Why then does this City Council insist on waiting until these streets become gridlocked before making the needed traffic improvements? Where do council members propose the increased traffic be diverted to while the street work is in progress? It's strange that half of the $10 million fee paid for traffic improvements by the Empire Center developer got pooled with other fees and was used to complete traffic projects elsewhere in the city.

Burbank residents are tired of Walmart spokespeople falsely claiming that Burbank wants a Walmart, and we're tired of being referred to as “special interests.” When it was announced that Walmart purchased the space formerly occupied by the Great Indoors, it was residents who launched Facebook pages and a Twitter account in an effort to organize; it was residents who stayed until midnight at City Council meetings to speak out against Walmart...

A future Walmart in Burbank dominated the public discourse in 2011, sparking protests at City Hall, new Facebook pages opposing the retailer's move into the city and divided opinions among residents - and it's only just begun. Walmart is scheduled to open near the Empire Center in early 2013, according to spokesman Steve Restivo.  The mega-retailer's sometimes rocky road to Burbank started in early July when news broke that the Walmart Real Estate Business Trust had purchased 12 acres where a 120,000-square-foot Great Indoors store was located.

I read a letter to the editor the other day speaking about the “criminal” element that could be brought into town by having the Walmart take up residence in the location formerly occupied by The Great Indoors. Wow, sounds kind of racist to me. If you look at the ethnic makeup of both Burbank and Glendale, it has changed drastically in the past 30 years that I have lived here. No one group has a lock on the criminal element, it is spread throughout all of them. When Burbank was a sleepy little town that Johnny Carson made fun of, there was definitely much less crime, but its citizens had to go out of the community to shop at places like Walmart, Target and others.

A recent pepper spraying incident at a Walmart store in Porter Ranch where an angry female shopper injured 20 people, with the shooting of two people in the parking lot of a Walmart store in San Leandro, should be proof enough that Burbank does not need this retailer in our midst. In addition to the excessive traffic it will generate, Walmart attracts many people of criminal or disreputable character who are prone to violence. City Council members, notably Mayor Jess Talamantes, say there is nothing they can do to keep Walmart from opening in Burbank.