"The company has spent years gathering detailed information on every aspect of American life. Most retailers would think they had done their homework after the usual focus groups and surveys, but Tesco went much further. Researchers, including a small cohort of top executives, spent two weeks living with 60 American families. They poked around in their kitchen cupboards, watched them cook and followed them as they shopped. “They'd been studying the city for about a year before they came to us,” says Scott Motley, who works for the city of Phoenix, which with the Greater Phoenix Economic Council helped Tesco find places to put stores."

It seems that the City of Phoenix and the Greater Phoenix Economic development Council are hip linked. That is because they _are_. This is what the ole' Phoenix Forty evolved into. The light rail system and the development of the members' land in downtown Phoenix is their prime directive using the taxpayers' money to create whatever they want for their own benefits no matter the cost.

And you can bet that a large international company will get lots of incentives at the expense of the locals. I have a friend that has a piece of property on the new light rail line that wants to open a restaurant after years of waiting. What he and his wife do not know is that they are not part of the overall plan and will be 'forced out'. I did my best to encourage them to do some research and gave them some information to get them going without busting their bubble. But I know what is going to happen and I am ready to do what I can when the time comes..... just ranting :)