Protesters Oppose Super Kmart Opening

About 200 protesters rallied Sunday against the grand opening of a Super Kmart Center in La Habra, decrying the creation of a giant new retail center they say will force small store owners out of business.

The protest is expected to be repeated Wednesday in Anaheim Hills, where another Super Kmart will open, said Rick Eiden, director of organizing for a branch of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

Eiden said the protesters, who included labor officials, teachers, small-business owners and community leaders, are troubled by Kmart’s hiring of non-union workers, who are paid far less in wages and health benefits than union workers employed by other businesses.

Those opposed to the Kmart in La Habra also are upset that the city gave the retailer a $3 million break on property offered by the city as an incentive to locate in La Habra.

“Why would a community do this?” Eiden asked. “The small-business owners--the hardware store owner and the bookstore owner--will be put out of business because of retail stores like Kmart.”

Company employees at the La Habra store declined comment Sunday but Kmart officials have said in the past that the store will employ 250 full-time and 600 part-time employees and generate $35 million a year in sales tax revenue.

City officials aggressively courted the Super Kmart Center and have offered no apologies for the incentives offered to the company.