Northern Vermonters vote to welcome Walmart

The voters of Derby and Newport, Vt. (MapQuest image) voted in a referendum last month to support a Walmart superstore, according to a staff report in The Chronicle of Orleans. Several rural New England communities have shunned Walmart, but in Vermont's self-described Northeast Kingdom, the electorate was welcoming, voting 2,592 to 411 to support the store. A small complication, though: Walmart has no plans to build there.

Local developer Jeff Davis told Chronicle reporter Joseph Greeser in September that Walmart officials were thinking about building in Derby, but had made no commitment. Brian Smith, chairman of the Derby selectmen, promoted the referendum in an attempt to lure the discount chain to the area. The company showed interest in building a large store in Derby in 2005, but failed to move forward on the project. Smith told his fellow selectmen that if the vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the store, he would try to persuade other municipalities to follow Derby and Newport’s lead.