The Putnam County Wal-mart
So here’s another excellent post I missed, thanks to my email gaffe. Sorry, Allclick — and thanks for the submission. I really like how you went with better and worse.
Post by: Allclick
Town: Hurricane
Website: http://www.allclick.blogspot.com
About one year behind schedule, Putnam County finally entered the 21st century this April by opening its first Wal-mart. Yes, the mega-super-ultra-all-selling-all-knowing-hyper mart institution is now available for everyone who had to drive those 20 minutes to Nitro. Ever since construction began I thought to myself, Will this be better for the community or worse? Here were some of my thoughts/suspicions.
Better:
Well, a big honking superstore needs people to work there, right? So more jobs in the area. Wal-mart say they are giving a lot of money away to local charities and organizations. I don’t disbelieve them, I just can’t verify that. Other stores are moving in near Wal-mart. I look forward to trying the new Rocky Top Mountain Pizza.
I’ll have to spend less on gas to get to Wal-mart. The prices are usually cheaper than Kroger. Kroger is now a lot nicer to shop at, as everyone is at Wal-mart.
So, a lot of benefits on a personal level and a community level. But didn’t I just see a documentary about how Wal-mart moves into a community and then all the smaller stores just close and die? Hmm.
Worse:
Potentially some of the smaller stores in Hurricane could close. There are a couple of family-owned superstores that probably aren’t too happy about the competition. The roads have become a little more congested now at the interstate exit there.
Yes, a new Dollar Tree moved in alongside Wal-mart … but to make up for this, they closed the other one over in Teays Valley. Which was nicer.
It’s a Wal-mart. Which means to most shoppers that they should ignore any etiquette that they have learned throughout life and just treat the place like their own playground. The parking up there still kinda sucks. I have no idea how that happened.
It’s a tough call right now. I can only see the roads getting worse and the other stores struggling more as time goes on. For now I’m pleased to have a convenient, cheap shopping location. Whether I’ll be quite as content as I line up in traffic everyday at the interstate I can’t tell you.
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May 6th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
We just got TWO NEW Super Wal-Marts here in Mo-town. I did some grocery price-comparison between them and Kroger, and found that for the things I buy, Wal-Mart either doesn’t carry them or they’re cheaper at Kroger. Plus, I hate super-stores like that. With all the non-grocery items, they just confuse me.
May 6th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Oh, and I meant to add that I think two Super Wal-Marts for a town the size of Mo-town is a little over-the-top.
May 7th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Wal Mart opened up a big, honkin’ store in Spencer about 7 years ago. People come in from everywhere to shop there. I don’t know if you’ll have the same problem where you are because there are more places to shop, but Spencer is about 50 miles away from anything, so people actually drive pretty far to shop there. Whenever something big goes on sale, the traffic is insane.
WM also shut down a shoe store, a dollar store, an auto parts store, a pharmacy, a health food store (odd, because you can’t find health food at WM, really…) and a Mom & Pop shop.
The worst part is that as stores shut down, the people who had jobs there (some with better pay and benefits) have to find new jobs. Other businesses have closed down since then, too (Kellwood — a big sportswear factory, and the Veneer Plant) so there is this influx of people needing jobs. WM will hire them on and keep them just under the work-hours requirement to get health insurance. The lucky few who do get insurance can’t really afford it.
That’s my beef with Wal Mart. I still shop there, because there is really nothing else. One Foodland is still hanging in there, so I shop there for all my groceries, but they dont’ carry a lot of specialty items, so I wind up shopping at WM if I don’t have time to shop elsewhere while I’m in Charleston.
May 7th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Ah, yes — Wal-mart. Here’s a post I made last year about our neighborhood Wal-mart. I haven’t seen the documentary mentioned by Allclick, and I don’t really know the details of the way they do business and how it affects retail worldwide. I do know how it makes me feel when I walk in it, though — not good. Terrible, in fact. All of that stuff is just unbearable. Sometimes I see it in reverse motion — I see it on the shelves, then on the truck, then in a warehouse, then a boat or plane, all the way back to a factory where it was made, and it just pushes me out the door. I know there’s stuff in there that people need, but most of it just seems so pointless to me.
May 8th, 2008 at 7:16 am
I haven’t seen the documentary, either, but it’s in my “to watch” list on Netflix. I probably don’t need to watch it, though, after talking to people who work at the one here in Spencer. Wal Mart uses the happy face as their corporate mascot, and they make the employees do these ridiculous “spirit” demonstrations, but deep down, there really are no happy faces.
May 8th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
I’ve seen the Wal-Mart documentary and have not been to a Wal-Mart since. You’ll have to watch the film to really understand how terrible the family behind the corporation is. They make Ray Kroc of McDonalds fame look like teddy bear. I won’t rant here but I’d rather spend a few dollars more somewhere else and know I’m not supporting corruption. The documentary is deafening.