A storm is brewing, and not in the Caribbean. Proposals are underway for the construction of a brand new Target store here in leafy Davis, a city as famous for its local opposition to big-box commercialism as its lack of places to buy underwear. Battles lines are being drawn, local websites are bubbling with debate, independent stores are running poster campaigns in their windows with the slogan “Don’t Big-Box Davis”. City Council have voted to put the Target debate to the people in the November ballots.The politicos of the middle-class mob are gearing up for a fight, and by all accounts, it is going to get nasty.

The arguments against are, naturally, many. The immediate neighbours are furious that such a store will be built in their back yard, accusing the City of going back on their word regarding zoning laws. Local stores will not be able to compete with one-stop shopping, and will perish, along with the ‘unique’ downtown, going the way of so many American downtowns – floating away to soulless suburban strip malls. The extra traffic and noise will bring pollution and other unwanted nuisances (such as poor people, oh my god!). And the crime! According to Don’t Big-Box Davis, the Target in Elk Grove saw a whopping 49 arrests last year (though apparently in Wal-Mart you can get the same amount for ten bucks cheaper).

For those of you who don’t know, Target is a large store that sells a bit of everything, more upscale than Wal-Mart or K-Mart, rather like an enormous Woolworths with better clothes, more electronics, toiletries, a little food, and furniture you actually might want in your house, and that’s not all. They generally come with huge parking lots, enough space for wide-bottomed SUV drivers, plus a few extras like fast-food joints. They tends to be a bit cheaper than most regular stores because, well, they can afford to be. And people love them. There are a lot of people in Davis who really quite like the idea of having a Target within cycling distance – students, for example, who make up a large proportion of this college town. There really isn’t anywhere downtown where you can buy affordable socks, or toiletries, or electronics, and what is there already has big-box competition in Davis for what it sells; and I won’t pretend they aren’t suffering for it, either. The independent bookstore I work part-time at is still one of the community’s pillars, but the opening of Borders a few years ago juts a short walk away has really hurt. Yet many people feel that the people who will shop at Target are doing so now anyway, the difference being that they have to drive out of town, spending tax dollars that could be better used in Davis (a point disputed by opponents with that wonderful tool, statistics).

In truth this debate feels less like a protest at this particular store than a crusade against large one-stop retailers in general. Despute appearing to be coated in nimbyism, there is a genuine desire to fight the inevitable decline of what people believe to be ‘old’ America, the small-town mom’n’pop stores, the community built upon values and lawnmowers. To be honest, I really don’t think Davis has anything to fear. I have never known a community with such a passion for fighting the corporate totalitarianism that embodies ‘new’ America. It’s one of the things that makes me proud to live here. If the new Target opens, people will shop there, but I sincerely doubt there will be a wholesale abandonment of the downtown area. The Davisites simply won’t let that happen. The war has begun.