On Local Government: Sauce for the gander

I always get a kick out of small-government Republicans using government to subvert the “free market” when it suits their purposes. Such is the case involving the planned move of the Nordstrom department store from the Redondo Beach Galleria to Torrance’s Del Amo Shopping Center. A little background: The Galleria was built by the City of Redondo Beach using the broad subterfuge allowed in the creation of government subsidies through Redevelopment Districts during the 1980s. The previous mall was a “blighted area,” but it was primarily so because it was mismanaged and left to deteriorate in its open-air, 1950s’ design. The key “anchor tenant” brought in by the new owners, the California Public Employee Retirement System and Forest City, which also operated the new mall, was Nordstrom. It was the desired brand name, given its high-profile level of quality and service. (In fact, quaint as it may sound today, the existence of a Nordstrom in one’s community was only surpassed by the placement of a Starbucks as an indication of that city’s “arrival” on the economic scene.) Now, after the expiration of their lease at the Galleria, Nordstrom has chosen to move to what they consider a more…

Read this story on easyreadernews.com