Protesters asked to leave supermarket (MA)

ACTON - A showdown at a local supermarket July 22 has residents debating issues usually reserved for such protest-prone cities as Boston and Washington D.C. What are the finer points of demonstration etiquette and what may be said and done in public space and on private property?

The scene was set early Friday morning, when members of a local chapter of MoveOn.org Civic Action, a nationwide network of politically progressive citizens, had set up in front of Roche Brothers Supermarket. The protesters were carrying signs and fliers criticizing President George Bush's nomination of John Roberts for the Supreme Court. Initially the group had actively engaged the market's customers, but at the request of the store's management they stopped doing so and stood quietly with their signs, speaking only to customers who approached them.

"During the afternoon we got some phone calls from customers complaining about what their message was," said David Ordway, the store manager. "We asked the group to move on." <snip>

Ordway said the store does allow local political candidates to campaign and gather signatures in front of the store. <snip>

http://www2.townonline.com/acton/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=294704

And I was during the last election for doing just that at a grocery store near here by a very nice manager who also took a yard sign and bumper sticker for Kerry. I shop there now as a result of his actions.

I haven't had any protesters, but my type of store is prone to getting protesters of another variety.

They would be off of my property in a heartbeat. And I would be in my lot taunting them.

When can we protest in Brockton?

So if the store has a NO SOLICITATION Policy it should be enforced completely, not just for certain people. Either you allow solicitation or you don't. (Getting them to do THAT might be a bigger victory.)

Allowing solicitation is a choice, and it's your customer's choice also to disagree with who you allow. So to make sure the store realizes that their bottom line is affected either way, you gotta squawk.

Also, there is certainly public property nearby where they could get a permit and still be visable to the same traffic going in without putting the store owner on the grill about it.

It doesn't sound like the management's problem is with the message itself, but rather the partisan nature of it.

"We try to stay out of politics, because you're never going to be able to please everybody."

MoveOn could press the issue if they want, I suppose, by protesting across the street but essentially in the same location - but I think they'd lose more public support than they'd gain by going that route, given the press.