The 'locals' aren't the problem.. Trader Joe's was playing to the crooks who run the stores that sell crap at highly inflated prices to people who have no place else to shop... and those crooks give big time to the 'community leaders'.
The reason the press backed anti-Walmart 'community leaders' years ago was because Walmart was accidentally killing small town newspapers.
Walmart would go into an area, build a store, and NOT buy advertisements in local papers. It was one of the ways they saved money to keep prices down. But it was short sighted. A lack of advertising - combined with the reality of some small marginal businesses going out of businesses and taking their advertising with them - - set up the situation where newspapers hated Walmart as much as 'community leaders'.
Walmart started advertising in newspapers sometime in the last 15 years and also worked to support small local businesses - the 'hatred' fervor ended.
Trader Joe's wussed out with their total lack of backbone on this issue and played to the thug-element in the community - they forgot their customer base was hard working residents not self appointed 'community leaders'. Shame on Trader Joe's for their lack of strength, ethics, and the smallest smidgen of insight into inner city reality... Oh, and hats off to Walmart ... there's good reason why many in inner cities speak of them in 'reverential terms, like a generous relative who showed up to offer help in a dark hour.'
How ethical is it bow to a shakedown? How insightful is it to ignore the danger of inner city reality?