A citizens group in Ridgway vowed this morning to continue its fight against the construction of a Family Dollar store.
The group said the land purchase was finalized Wednesday.
“Legally, the town of Ridgway cannot prevent Family Dollar from moving in or deny them a building permit, which they finally obtained last week,” said organizer Vicci Spencer. “Since our appeals to the corporation have gone unheeded, we are fighting back with the only weapons available — our pocketbooks and public opinion.”
The group has posted a “Pledge to Boycott Family Dollar” online asking consumers to boycott Family Dollar stores everywhere if the corporation does not respect Ridgway’s wishes to remain “box-free.”
Family Dollar spokesman Josh Braverman said the company operates small stores that average 7,000 square feet.
“We take pride in offering our neighbors a great value alternative on the name brand items they need and use every day,” he said. “We’re a community store that employs five to seven people from the local area and we look for ways to give back directly to the communities we serve through our corporate giving program.”
When the Family Dollar retail chain announced it would open a store in the town of 950 people, residents staged protest rallies and collected more than 700 signatures on a petition asking Family Dollar to keep out, said the citizens group.
“But the large national corporation has ignored the town’s pleas and proceeded with plans to expand into the area,” said the group.
Kay Lair, another member of Citizens to Preserve Ridgway, said the land purchased by Family Dollar is at the intersection of U.S. 550 and Colorado 62. She jokingly said that when a traffic light was installed at the intersection several years ago, Ridgway citizens said “there goes the neighborhood” because the region’s small communities have few traffic lights.
“We are not opposed to smart development,” said Lair. “But (Family Dollar) is the last thing we want to see. This town is one of those rare towns that has small town authenticity — where family and friends own businesses.”
A week ago, Family Dollar touted the opening of its 7,000th store, which is in Memphis.
In announcing the opening of the 7,000th store, the company said the chain is “dedicated to being a value-priced, one-stop-shopping destination.”
In its latest filing with the SEC, Family Dollar said its net sales increased 7.8 percent in the third quarter of fiscal 2011 compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2010.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
