Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Papa Doug hawks his hotel's booze license to Walmart

While blasting Jacobs-backed Democrat Fletcher for "disdain" of Arkansas retail giant, Faulconer-favoring GOP publisher quietly sells $65,000 liquor license to Walmart

U-T San Diego, the mini media empire of La Jolla’s Douglas Manchester, has become noted in local political circles for putting its words where the money of its wheeler-dealer GOP publisher is.

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/oct/14/54740/

From a bid to install a huge video billboard on U-T 's Mission Valley headquarters, to backing fellow hotel moguls seeking to rescue a favorable city funding contract, the onetime insurance salesman has employed his ink by the barrel in various causes of personal interest.

The latest round of intrigue involves the sale of a liquor license owned by one of Manchester’s many companies, Manchester Resorts, Inc.; the license had been used for so-called off sale vending of alcohol at the firm's downtown Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel, which was sold two years ago.

In a document recorded July 19 with the county, Manchester Resorts gave notice of its intention to transfer the license to a pending Walmart "neighborhood market" at 1046 Mission Avenue in Oceanside.

Four days earlier, on July 15, U-T had run a glowing story about the new Walmart, to open early next year, which quoted local politicos and a Walmart PR woman in praise of the project.

Walmart officials said the store will be a “Neighborhood Market” that sells primarily fresh produce, meats and household goods.

Mayor Jim Wood said the new Walmart would be a welcome addition for the city. “For years, we’ve wanted to get a full grocery market in the downtown area,” Wood said.

Oceanside Councilman Jerry Kern said the new store will help boost the city’s economy.

Less than a week before that, on July 11, U-T had run a feature story accompanied by a photo gallery and a promotional video touting the opening of another Walmart neighborhood market, this one in San Diego's Sherman Heights. It also quoted Walmart PR touting the new store.

[Aaron] Rios said that this market will be able to satisfy customers' need for general merchandise by offering the wildly popular Walmart.com Site to Store service, which allows customers to order from among most of the 2 million items on the retailer's website and have them shipped to their local Walmart store for free.

Under Manchester, U-T has long led the cheers for Walmart, attacking "nimbyists" and unions for opposing new stores.

A June 19 U-T editorial opined:

Walmart’s supercenters became a target for misguided labor union activism. Yet Walmart has quietly turned existing stores into full-range stores or built new ones and the sky has not fallen.

There are 19 Walmarts of varying size in the county now, with four more planned. Chula Vista has a supercenter. So do National City, El Cajon, Vista, San Diego and Oceanside.

Of late, Manchester's paper has employed the Walmart issue against Democratic mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher in the publisher's growing big money political proxy war with billionaire Democratic Qualcomm founder Irwin Jacobs.

A September 22 U-T editorial blasted Fletcher for his purported "disdain for Walmart in general and Walmart selling groceries in particular."

Reached this morning at Manchester's Grand del Mar resort, Manchester Financial president Richard Gibbons confirmed the firm's Walmart transaction. According to the notice of intent of sale, the license went for $65,000.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Pranksters vandalize Padres billboard in wake of playoff loss

Where’s the bat at?
Next Article

Jazz guitarist Alex Ciavarelli pays tribute to pianist Oscar Peterson

“I had to extract the elements that spoke to me and realize them on my instrument”

U-T San Diego, the mini media empire of La Jolla’s Douglas Manchester, has become noted in local political circles for putting its words where the money of its wheeler-dealer GOP publisher is.

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/oct/14/54740/

From a bid to install a huge video billboard on U-T 's Mission Valley headquarters, to backing fellow hotel moguls seeking to rescue a favorable city funding contract, the onetime insurance salesman has employed his ink by the barrel in various causes of personal interest.

The latest round of intrigue involves the sale of a liquor license owned by one of Manchester’s many companies, Manchester Resorts, Inc.; the license had been used for so-called off sale vending of alcohol at the firm's downtown Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel, which was sold two years ago.

In a document recorded July 19 with the county, Manchester Resorts gave notice of its intention to transfer the license to a pending Walmart "neighborhood market" at 1046 Mission Avenue in Oceanside.

Four days earlier, on July 15, U-T had run a glowing story about the new Walmart, to open early next year, which quoted local politicos and a Walmart PR woman in praise of the project.

Walmart officials said the store will be a “Neighborhood Market” that sells primarily fresh produce, meats and household goods.

Mayor Jim Wood said the new Walmart would be a welcome addition for the city. “For years, we’ve wanted to get a full grocery market in the downtown area,” Wood said.

Oceanside Councilman Jerry Kern said the new store will help boost the city’s economy.

Less than a week before that, on July 11, U-T had run a feature story accompanied by a photo gallery and a promotional video touting the opening of another Walmart neighborhood market, this one in San Diego's Sherman Heights. It also quoted Walmart PR touting the new store.

[Aaron] Rios said that this market will be able to satisfy customers' need for general merchandise by offering the wildly popular Walmart.com Site to Store service, which allows customers to order from among most of the 2 million items on the retailer's website and have them shipped to their local Walmart store for free.

Under Manchester, U-T has long led the cheers for Walmart, attacking "nimbyists" and unions for opposing new stores.

A June 19 U-T editorial opined:

Walmart’s supercenters became a target for misguided labor union activism. Yet Walmart has quietly turned existing stores into full-range stores or built new ones and the sky has not fallen.

There are 19 Walmarts of varying size in the county now, with four more planned. Chula Vista has a supercenter. So do National City, El Cajon, Vista, San Diego and Oceanside.

Of late, Manchester's paper has employed the Walmart issue against Democratic mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher in the publisher's growing big money political proxy war with billionaire Democratic Qualcomm founder Irwin Jacobs.

A September 22 U-T editorial blasted Fletcher for his purported "disdain for Walmart in general and Walmart selling groceries in particular."

Reached this morning at Manchester's Grand del Mar resort, Manchester Financial president Richard Gibbons confirmed the firm's Walmart transaction. According to the notice of intent of sale, the license went for $65,000.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Mayoral battle joined as billionaire Jacobs goes for Fletcher

Next Article

Manchester vs. Jacobs, round two

Battle of hit pieces may herald minimum wage campaign
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader