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Victoria’s Secret revealed at Asheville Mall

By Najwa Lynch

Asheville, North Carolina, Dec. 7 (AGR) – On Dec. 3 an unknown number of activists descended upon the Asheville Mall in an attempt to leave Victoria’s Secret and its potential shoppers a rather large gift. Continuing what has been called the Victoria’s Dirty Secret campaign, Earth First activists, along with members of the Asheville Guerilla Arts Project (AGAP), delivered a 400-pound tree stump to the store, along with hundreds of flyers detailing the reasons for the action.

The activists purportedly locked the 400-pound stump to the front gates of the Victoria’s Secret outlet, presumably to show the effects of the company’s practice of using wood from endangered forests in the production of the magazines. The environmental campaign against Victoria’s Secret and parent company, Limited Brands, began this past September and includes an outdoor advertising campaign in major cities across the country, protests, and a website (www.victoriasdirtysecret.net) where people can get involved and challenge the retailer to use recycled paper, stop using paper from the world’s last remaining endangered forests and to reduce its overall paper usage. ForestEthics, which began the nationwide campaign, says they have targeted Victoria’s Secret because “the company is leading the way in global forest destruction” and yet because of their immense buying power, the company is in a position to shift the catalog industry towards more sustainable practices.

“Victoria Secret’s impact on the world’s remaining old growth and endangered forests is simply devastating and unnecessary. The company has the responsibility and the power to ensure that its catalogs are made from recycled paper,” said Tzeporah Berman of ForestEthics. ForestEthics states that Victoria’s Secret mails our approximately 395 million catalogs every year. The Dogwood Alliance, a regional environmental organization based in Asheville, claims the average person on the company’s mailing list receives 24 catalogs a year. These catalogs are made almost entirely with virgin fiber paper from trees in regions like Canada’s Boreal forest, the third largest forest wilderness in the world, and the Southern Appalachian forests, one of the most biologically diverse regions of the US.

Dogwood Alliance has also targeted the Victoria’s Secret outlet in the Asheville Mall. Their actions have included handing out leaflets with information to mall shoppers and a demonstration using large puppets to educate consumers about the company’s corporate greed. “Victoria’s Secret and parent company Limited Brands are among the leaders in forest destruction,” said Kelly Sheehan, campaign coordinator for the Dogwood Alliance, “We are making sure that we insert the southern forest message in this campaign.”

Throughout Southern Appalachia, nearly six million acres are logged each year in areas such as Pisgah National Forest, primarily for the production of paper. Environmentalists state we must protect the Southern Appalachia because it contains the highest concentration of tree species diversity in North America; the highest concentration of aquatic diversity in the continental United States, including the richest temperate freshwater ecosystem in the world; and the highest concentration of wetlands in the country. Ninety percent of the forests in this region are privately owned and therefore lack any legal protection.

On industry-owned land, removal of all species of trees has exceeded their growth rate. On other lands in the region, softwood species removal has exceeded growth while hardwood removal is expected to do so in the next twenty years. Many of the forested areas cleared for wood consumption have been converted to intensively-managed single-species plantations. Chemical fertilizer use on these plantations exceeds the sum of all the fertilizers used on tree plantations in the rest of the world combined.

Campaign activists seem confident that the corporate campaign will end with a victory similar to what was seen in earlier marketplace campaigns like Home Depot’s decision to stop selling endangered-forest products, which caused a chain reaction of similar commitments across the do-it-yourself wood products retailers, and a similar transformation of the environmental practices of the office supply industry, starting with giant Staples, Inc. and including Office Depot.

Although one activist was reported to have been escorted off of Mall property by three security guards, no one was arrested or detained at Friday’s action.

When asked why AGAP was involved in this action, Henrietta Kissinmore, a member of the street theater troupe, said “our goal is to bring creativity, humiliation, and a little self-degradation into the struggle for social justice.” Henrietta stated that AGAP has no political agenda but takes action whenever they feel “shock-and-awe” is missing in a campaign. She stated that AGAP was excited to be working on the Victoria’s Secret campaign because “there is so much room for creativity, and we are already beginning to see it happen.”

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‘Save Vincent’s Ear’ effort continues

By Liz Allen

Asheville, North Carolina, Dec. 8 (AGR) — With the last day of operation set for Dec. 18, efforts to keep open Vincent’s Ear, a North Lexington Ave. bar and coffee house, continue. The establishment was informed in early November through a letter that their lease would end Dec. 31. The Lantizus family — Dawn Lantzius, who owns the building as well as several other downtown properties; her niece, Renee Lantzius, who is acting on behalf of her aunt, and Renee’s father and Dawn’s brother; John Lantzius, who also owns other downtown properties, including the courtyard adjacent to the Vincent’s Ear — have been silent on the subject despite efforts to contact them.

“If the Lantzius family continues to stay quiet then we are gone,” explained Rick Morris, one of the owners of Vincent’s Ear. Morris pointed out that the only communication on the matter they have had with the property owners was the letter informing them of their eviction, an odd occurrence because of the seriousness of the decision and the previously amiable relationship between the property owner and the business. Vincent’s Ear can stay open only if Dawn Lantzius decides not to terminate their lease.

A petition supporting Vincent’s Ear as “an important member of the Lexington Avenue community, and a unique cultural oasis in Western North Carolina” is being circulated and posted widely. The document is signed by 31 Lexington Ave. business owners and calls on the property owners of Lexington Ave. to consider the asset Vincent’s Ear is for other businesses on the street, and the role it has claimed to play in working against drug dealing and shoplifting on Lexington Ave. “We call on them to learn about the interests of those who live and work here before attempting to change the character of Lexington Avenue. We are disturbed to hear libel about Vincent’s Ear, it’s owners and customers, which have been spread in an attempt to set the community against them.” The libel references the rumors of the establishment being under investigation for drugs, an allegation Asheville Police Department downtown Lt. John Kirkpatrick denied in a Dec. 8 Mountain Xpress article.

“Save Vincent’s Ear” is the campaign slogan for the effort local volunteers have launched to keep the place in business. The website <www.lexingtonpark.biz> includes a copy of the petition, a collection of recent local media articles on the subject and a newsletter. The campaign focuses on the concept that an area is desirable to live in because of the existence of “authentic experiences” accessible through a culture that supports a variety of art and music.

The Rise of the Creative Class, by Richard Florida — whose promotional film premiered in Asheville in December of last year was attended by city officials — is referenced frequently in the discourse about the economic asset of fostering “creative culture.” An exerpt from an Asheville Chamber of Commerce newsletter that is featured in the Save Vincent’s Ear newsletter states, “arts-centric organizations provide cultural amenities that make a region more attractive to well-educated people, exactly the type of workers required by fast growing knowledge industries.” The author, Sharon Willen, is a representative of the Asheville Chamber of Commerce who attended a Vincent’s Ear community meeting on Nov. 29.

Efforts to save Vincent’s Ear include fundraising. Benefit shows are featured nearly every evening in the place that has recently received more local media recognition for its international respectability as a music venue. Two different prints of t-shirts are being sold and a drawing for a benefit raffle will be held on Dec. 16. Green and brown posters stating “Save Vincent’s Ear” have been appearing on Lexington Avenue. Also, a letter writing campaign meeting was held from 3:30 until 8:00 in the Pack Library auditorium downtown where supporters got the addresses to the city council and local media to write to decry Vincent’s Ear’s eviction. Organizers said they collected around 50 letters to mail off and people were constantly coming in for addresses to write to later.

Allegations that the city is planning to act under eminent domain to seize large parts of lower Lexington Ave. for the expansion of the Asheville Civic Center have recently surfaced. City manager Jim Westbrook, who is handling development plans, did not return phone calls. The allegations claim that hospitality company John Q. Hammons, based in Springfield, MO, has a bid or contract for the Civic Center expansion. In a phone conversation with a company representative, AGR was told no plans for development in Asheville by the company have been announced and that John Hammons, the company CEO, is out of the office until next week.

An Asheville Civic Center events administrator, who asked not to be mentioned by name, said there are no concrete plans for the Civic Center, although many suggestions have been made over the years and it remains a priority on the city council’s agenda. She said the claims sounded like parts of the Heery report, conducted several years ago as a “study and a suggestion” for the civic center which included plans to expand onto North Lexington Ave.

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