So Where Does This Leave the Big Box Debate?

By Alicia Dorr in News on Jan 29, 2007 8:00PM

We haven't really heard too much from so-called "big box" retailers since City Council unpredictably voted against Daley to decide how much they pay their workers and were subsequently and somewhat-predictably vetoed by Daley. We're not sure where you stood, stand, or sit on the issue, but you should add one more tidbit of info to your argument: Home Depot has announced it will be hiring 2,000 people in the Chicago area.

Chicago is one of four metropolitan areas that will be receiving the biggest chunks of the 15,000 workers the company will hire during its "key" spring hiring season. The jobs aren't just part-time clerks, either; Home Depot will be looking for specialized workers in areas like electrical and plumbing.

A salary survey on Vault.com basically showed that average workers (sales associates that aren't specialized, for instance) get anywhere between $9 to $12/hr to start, which hovers around the $10/hr mark City Council wistfully set months ago. However, there are many who still say the retailer is no better than the other oft-villified big box stores like Wal-Mart, calling it things like "Home Despot" and organizing to keep it out of communities.

Where, though, can we stand when being against the evil big box store keeps 2,000 jobs out of the community, even if some of them might end up being temporary? We admit, we were pretty saddened by the loss of the 24-hour Home Depot on North Avenue. And we're also pretty annoyed every time we've gone into Home Depot in general, getting lost in the dirty and seemingly endless aisles. We just don't know yet if we can agree with anyone who says jobs aren't a good thing.

Image via thermomass.com.