A citizens group in Ridgway is calling for a national boycott of Family Dollar stores as it attempts to block construction of a Family Dollar store near the intersection of U.S. 550 and Colorado 62.
Citizens to Preserve Ridgway said Wednesday that the purchase of the property was finalized by Family Dollar.
“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 doesn’t respect Ridgway’s wishes to remain “box-free.”
The small ranching community is in southwestern Colorado in the heart of the San Juan Mountains.
Family Dollar spokesman Josh Braverman said the company operates small stores that average 7,000 square feet. The store in Ridgway will be 8,000 square feet, with a selling space of 6,720 square feet, he said.
Big-box stores are generally defined as being more than 50,000 square feet.
“We take pride in offering our neighbors a great value alternative on the name-brand items they need and use every day,” Braverman 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.”
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.
“We are not opposed to smart development,” said Kay Lair, another member of Citizens to Preserve Ridgway. “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.”
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
