Long Beach, Calif., Residents to Vote on Big-Box Ban

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Residents here will vote in June 2008 on whether to repeal the city's ban on big-box stores after a local group collected enough petition signatures to force a referendum on the matter. Published reports said Long Beach Consumers for Choice, reportedly funded by the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and Wal-Mart, collected signatures from 33,391 registered voters who support repealing the ban that was implemented by the Long Beach City Council last September. Wal-Mart operates two discount stores here but no supercenters.