| I live five blocks from the old Kmart property. I have been a part of the effort to convince Home Depot that this property was not a good place for one of your stores. Instead of listening to the community, your company has ignored us and ignored the Foothill Blvd. Corridor Specific Plan. Home Depot has attempted to force itself into the area, even though there are two Home Depots near this location. I used to be a regular Home Depot customer, shopping regularly at the San Fernando Home Depot. Because of your attitude and actions you have lost a customer, who will now shop only at local hardware stores or at Lowes. |
| The No Home Depot in Sunland-Tujunga Website |
| The Community Reaction To Home Depot's Lawsuit ( a sampling of the emails we are receiving) Send us your thoughts and we may post them here. Most recent posts appear at the bottom of the page. Contact Us |
| The malicious Law Suit and all of Home Depot's other aggressive, underhanded and belligerant tactics really have nothing whatsoever to do with "making a profit", "ensuring optimal stockholders' Return on Investment", and the other aphorisms that businessmen are so fond of. Whatever their original motives may have been, for a very long time now Home Depot sole motives have been 1) Social Dominance, and 2) Political System Predictability. They are the largest Home Improvement Retailer in the World and one of the World's largest coporations. The only way that I can explain their continuing stream of actions designed to literally force a Home Depot store down the throat of a community that doesn't want it is that they absolutely need to dominate everything and everyone in their path. Their actions make me think of the "blitzkrieg" tactics of America's largest corporations in the late 1800's in dealing with labor, competitors, and any others standing in their way. Crush everthing and everyone standing--that's their battle cry. And who is someone justified in crushing ruthlessly, why--their enemy. So, Home Depot must think of the Sunland-Tujunga community, not as potential patrons, but as their enemy. I also believe that their insatiable need for a sense of Predictibility of Political Payback is driving their actions. They spend countless sums nationwide (and probably world-wide) supporting anyone in the political arena who they believe will support their agenda. If they can't rely with total assurance on those investments of money paying off their "worldview" of how they can implement the capitalist system will be shattered. It is too bad that their focus couldn't be a more classical one of maximizing profit over the long-run. A doubt that any rationale business person could assess the incredible costs they have incurred to date in legal, PR and lease payment costs, factor in the long-term effects of the community ill-well that they have successfully generated, and then imagine that their long-term profits, if they should manage to open their store, could even come close to their average store returns. Peter M., Tujunga _______________________________________ |
As one would expect, your website (homedepotsunlandtujunga.com) does not tell the entire story about your venture into our neighborhood. All businesses need to comply with the laws and regulations of the City of Los Angeles. After you have followed them, as other businesses do, you can conduct your business. Somehow, you think your don't need to follow the rules or you can circumvent the will of the Sunland-Tujunga residents. Other, more relevant businesses, can provide the same jobs and revenue as a Home Depot! If you think your size and money can buy your way into our neighborhood, you should think again! Even if you do succeed, you won't see me darkening your doors. In fact, your behavior in Sunland-Tujunga has soured me for any HD store, so I won't be giving HD gift cards to my sons-in-law anymore! It is your bulliness and attitude that make many neighborhoods, not just ours, dislike HD. When I don't agree with Ms. Greuel, I don't sue her! How childish! You have already spent more on lawyers and consultants than you would have for an EIR and now you sue the City, at great taxpayers expense, to force them to do your bidding, while you still want to avoid the basic issue: COMPLIANCE WITH THE CITY'S RULES AND REGULATIONS! Your ill-advised lawsuit is certainly are not endearing HD to the City or the Sunland-Tujunga neighborhood. Residents will not forget your tactics! After all, with all the other close-by HDs, you are really counting on the "locals" for your sales. Foothill Hardware, OSH and Do-it-Center are more than enough hardware stores for this community. Spend your time, energy and money where you are wanted and leave us alone! Gary S Sunland, CA ____________________________ |
| To Home Depot: In your chronology of events re: the revoked permits, you neglect to mention that Home Depot began work on the location at 8040 Foothill Blvd. (and spent the money associated with that work) AFTER the No Home Depot Campaign filed their appeal in protest of the LADBS' decision to issue permits. Your company was repeatedly advised and was well aware of the fact that work you were doing was at your peril until the merits of the appeal were determined. Your tactic of rushing completion of the PROJECT to force the City to decide in Home Depot's favor backfired. You made the decision -- Now live with it! Sheryl S Tujunga Resident _______________________________________ |
| I have been a good customer of Home Depot for many years but no longer. Any company that would sue Los Angeles Councilwoman Wendy Greuel for assisting her constituents in their battle against the company's locating in their neighborhood doesn't deserve my patronage. That is what she was elected to do. Moreover, Greuel did the right thing in urging that an environmental impact report be prepared before Home Depot proceeded to build its large facility. The law requires it, and the city was remiss in not insisting on its preparation before issuing any permits for its construction. - JACK A. Pacific Palisades (From the Daily News Letters to the Editor) _______________________________ |
| This has always been about Home Depot proving that they don't have to follow the rules because they make the rules. Notice their outrage: How dare an elected official represent any interests of any other citizens? HD could have chosen to spend the time and money to do the right thing from the start; environmental review. However, the thought of permitting this kind of "precedent" of citizens having a say in their own government, and therefore their own quality of life, is far too frightening to the corporate thugs and the other politicians who ride on their backs (read: you should sue if you don't get what you want). This is true at every level of government because people are either too lazy or too ignorant to demand anything else. Corporations enjoy the rights of individuals with none of the responsibilities. Government is run by those with the money for lawsuits. It's time to return government to the people, as our founding fathers intended. They never envisioned representation for corporations over people. This is a far-reaching issue, beyond just S-T or Los Angeles, but what better example of a fundamental problem. Rhonda H. Los Angeles __________________________________ |
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