Wal-Mart's presence spurs growth

[mechanical mandible]

http://www.qcbusinessjournal.com/articles/2005/09/27/economic_development/doc431376ed4d481778127654.txt

Soon after the Wal-Mart Super Center opened off West Kimberly Road in Davenport in late 2003, Mike Kehl says he began to see the potential for opening a restaurant nearby.

“I managed a Rudy’s Tacos for 18 years in Rock Island, and I saw it as an opportunity to go out on my own,” Kehl says of the store he opened with his wife, Cassie, last year in the Westlyn Square strip mall across the street from the big-box giant.

So far, the location has not disappointed, Kehl says. Sales are 30 percent ahead of projections. He believes he also is meeting pent-up demand in an area of Davenport that was starved for more commercial development. While some of his customers come from the interstate, most are nearby residents.

Wal-Mart and its adjoining strip mall have brought a welcome mini-boom to northwest Davenport, according to area real-estate agents and business owners who rely on traffic to drive customers to their establishments.

Since the opening of Davenport’s second Wal-Mart Super Center, the area also has seen the opening of a new IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union branch, as well as a Culver’s restaurant, Subway restaurant, Payless ShoeSource, U.S. Cellular store and several other businesses.

[mechanical mandible]

1. Wal-Mart also pays folks a lot more than most "box" stores...

in company prompotion is also very common.

[redwitch]

2. Gosh, sounds like a GREAT company!

All evidence to the contrary...

[redwitch]

3. kick for the morning crew!

Because they will definitely want to know.

[mechanical mandible]

5. I've seen Wal-Mart change a small city such as Abilene, Tx

Though correlations aren't always causation, Wal-marts certainly don't negatively affect the economic growth in a city.

[rooboy]

13. Nah.... pricing the local businesses out of existence....

with cheap Chinese knockoffs then shipping the profits off to Arkansas is GREAT for a local economy. Not to mention the fantastic health care they provide... :sarcasm:

[DainBramaged]

40. Wow a Wally World Big Box fan, I've never met one

We had a fucking Scum Mart open near us on the big mall property occupied by Target and a 1/4 mile from Costco. Target is always and I mean always 1/2 to 3/4 full in the shoppers parking areas, and they are the size of a football field.

Over at stick shit in your eye and twist big box fuck you work or die Wally Mart Sucks the anti-Wally Mart activists at the entrance road have successfully kept many people away from these scumbags this holiday season. So many people are ignorant as to what a Wally Mart does to their community when they stop to take the hand outs, they almost always turn around.

Fuck Wally Mart, may the pseudo-Christian Walton family burn in a hell specially made for those who think killing thousands either indirectly or directly while swimming in wealth is in the footsteps of Jesus.

[Jamastiene]

20. LOL.

:rofl:

[Union Thug]

11. Walmart is a free-trader's racket. Shop at Costco where employees are

paid a livable wage and enjoy decent benefits. Fuck the Walton family and their flying monkey minions.

[rooboy]

12. If I was a little Chinese girl shackled to a workbench...

I'd expect to be paid a little extra as well.

[Tarheel_Dem]

15. .

:popcorn:

[KitchenWitch]

28. Can you point me to some actual statistics, and not just conjecture?

Thanks.

[Tarheel_Dem]

33. don't think we'll hear from o.p. again soon........

n/t

[KitchenWitch]

36. Shit, I hate drive-bys!

x(

[kcwayne]

39. That's true. And that's why you see so many local government

agencies closing up shop and abandoning their food stamp and subsidized health care programs in communities where WalMart has come in and displaced the local merchants, and caused the local factories to move to China.

People that were once making $15 an hour with health care are elated that they can work for $8 an hour at Walmart, because otherwise they might have to work for $7.85 at Lowes, and that would be a lot worse.

[Swamp Rat]

4. Wal-Mart is GREAT!

NOT!

[redwitch]

6. Hey SwampRat, good morning to you.

Not convinced WalMArt is a good thing? :-) Sheesh, everybody's a critic!

[Swamp Rat]

7. Not since Smell-Fart destroyed every small town I've ever known...

Plus, they cater to Red Commie Rightos and Talibornagains. :puke:

[redwitch]

8. Talibornagains!

That's great! I refuse to shop at WalMart, they suck.

[Jamastiene]

21. Talibornagains, LOL.

:rofl:

Btw, I absolutely love what your sig pic says.

[Swamp Rat]

25. Here's another Talibornagain:

:D

[Union Thug]

9. And a cashier at our local drug store said that...

Since WalMart came into Covington, WA earlier this year, their business is a fraction of what it used to be. Holiday sales are way down. Maybe she can get a good job at the Subway that opens up, or selling shoes at Payless Shoe source.

[Porcupine]

10. Just ignore those boarded up downtown stores.

Hey, we can also all ignore the fact that WalMart means growth in the local welfare burden on our county. It means growth in emergency room visits as it's employees can't afford health insurance.

If probably also means growth in mental health referrals and domestic violence disputes as the crazy big box scheduling takes a toll on employee stress levels. That's why people are so crazy to have a WalMart come to town that they organize and petition to ask them to go away. It's reverse psychology see.

[NNN0LHI]

14. Boarded up downtown stores? Ain't no more stores boarded up or otherwise

They paved them all into one huge parking lot that no one parks in because there ain't no place to shop at any more. Nice parking lots though. They have a nice (chinsie) carnival on it once a year.

Don

[Jamastiene]

23. Nevermind the fact that towns that host Wal Mart stores

eventually end up with absolutely NO alternative to Wal-Mart.

[leftstreet]

16. Where did people shop before Wal-Mart came to town?

:shrug:

Some people support Wal-Mart as if it was some huge relief effort that rushed in and saved communities.

Where did people shop before?

[fishwax]

17. i tell you what, it was a nightmare

we had to wait months for supplies, and it's a wonder the whole town didn't starve :sarcasm:

[SoCalDem]

18. and when the wagon train was raided by roving highwaymen....

well alls I can say is the young'uns got mighty tired of eatin' treebark & lard sandwiches:)

[Tarheel_Dem]

22. .

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Jamastiene]

24. LOL.

:rofl:

[Jamastiene]

19. This should be interesting.

:popcorn:

[KitchenWitch]

27. Can I have some popcorn too?

:hi:

[Swamp Rat]

29. ... not Mal-Wart popcorn neither!

:D

[KitchenWitch]

31. Exactly!

Costco popcorn is much higher quality!

[Swamp Rat]

34. I'm full... here's a bag of organic popcorn.

:popcorn: :9

[KitchenWitch]

35. Thanks SwampRat

You are the best!

:9

[Jamastiene]

32. LOL.

:rofl:

Good one, SR.

[Jamastiene]

43. .

:popcorn:

[Jamastiene]

30. LOL.

:rofl:

Yes, here ya go. :popcorn:

We had better send out for some more, especially as more people see this one. :evilgrin:

[China_cat]

26. Yeah, right.

[Sinistrous]

37. Minor Correction: WalMart WARPS growth.

I know I'm late to this party, and others have noted how the retailing cancer that is WalMart destroys communities and degrades workers.

Sinistrous

[JanMichael]

38. It's a wage-DEPRESSING, Sprawl-creating, maggot-like monster.

It wipes out suppliers (see Vlasic) with predatory purchasing practices, doesn't insure even 50% of it's 900,000 US employees and even encourages them to seek local government health assistance thus straining those systems to the max Ie. we pay for their PROFITS, its median wages are about $8.00/hr which is shit and it drives DOWN other service industry wages plus it's almost totally non-union (Costco smokes Sam's and Walcrap plus insures almost its entire workforce; that said its product line is substantially China as well but that's not a service labor issue), destroys small businesses within city centers thus taking choice AWAY from poorer urban resident and which again is idiotic when it comes to pollution/consumption/and cost of fuel, they make practice of calling "Full-Time" less than the required hours to qualify for benefits...

Etcetera. Big picture please, the big picture.

[hfojvt]

49. I think you have that last part backwards

They call a 35 hour worker a "full time worker". That gives them full time benefits, it does not deny them benefits. There is no law, that I am aware of, that requires a company to pay benefits no matter how many hours an employee works. Even over-time gets stolen, IMO. I worked 4 twelve hour days as a temp for more than one year - no benefits at all, no paid holidays, no paid vacation, no paid sick leave, no pension, and no insurance. Because the schedule floats, they split the weeks half of the time and do not pay over-time in spite of the fact that I worked 47 hours in 4 days. Whatever else Wal-mart does that is bad, it deserves a thumbs up for paying benefits to 35 hour a week workers.

[KitchenWitch]

50. Sincere question

What percentage of Walmart's workers are hired at 35 hours a week? My guess is that it is lower than other retailers, therefore a higher percentage of the workers are not benefit eligible.

[Cats Against Frist]

41. I cannot believe that anyone would go out of their way to defend Wal-Mart

It is incomprehensible to me. I don't care if you're some kind of googly-eyed neo-liberal market-worshipping sick-o. Why the hell would you go OUT OF YOUR WAY to defend a place that sells cheap, trashy bullshit, and drives smaller, independent people out of business?

That's what gets me -- I'm going to assume with your 41 posts, that you may have an ulterior motive for this. Guess what -- the "big box store," and consumerism and all this illusion that people have built up are what's ruining the family -- not gay people, not libruls, not Bill Clinton's BJ.

Defending the Trash Palace is about as far from anything redemptive, as you can get. You can believe in the free-market, but not sell out to predator corporations who render the world a plastic blue-and-white parking lot -- the perfect accessory to the tan house in the treeless cul-de-sac.

And oooooooooooo please give me a Wal-Mart, so other big-box stores, chains and other disgusting places can move in, right alongside. Sprawl is my fucking dream. :eyes:

[Jamastiene]

44. Not to mention the fact that Wal-Mart sells extremist

hate books and materials.

http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=514

[1932]

42. ...reminds of those seagulls which follow the trash barges out to sea.

[tsuki]

45. I wondered when pieces like this would start showing up.

Wonder what they cost the Walton's?

[KitchenWitch]

46. Yeah

Be aware that the OP is no longer with us.

[tsuki]

47. Too many advertising dollars from Wally World. eom

[Douglas Carpenter]

48. you are arguing that the sky is green -- when anyone can look up

and see that the sky is blue

[WLKjr]

51. There are some businesses (Great CLips and McD's) that follow Wal-Mart

There are particular stores that are now following wal-marts around that are opening up and building right next to them, out in the fields of middle of america and not fixing downtown business up.

[Douglas Carpenter]

52. The Real Facts About Wal-Mart -- Community Impact

link:

http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/facts/

"Community Impact

Wal-Mart wages negatively impact overall wages

The influx of big-box stores into San Diego would result in an annual decline in wages and benefits between $105 million and $221 million
“ is already triggering a dynamic in which the grocery stores are negotiating with workers for lowered compensation, in an attempt to re-level the `playing field.’”
Lower wages mean less money for communities

When an employer pays low wages to its employees, the employees have less money to spend on goods and services in the community, which in turn reduces the income and spending of others in the community. In other words a reduction in wages has a multiplier impact in the surrounding area.
For instance, in 1999, Southern California municipalities estimated that for every dollar decrease in wages in the southern California economy, $2.08 in spending was lost-- the $1 decrease plus another $1.08 in indirect multiplier impacts. <“The Impact of Big Box Grocers in Southern California” Dr. Marlon Boarnet and Dr. Randall Crane.>
Longer term effects of Wal-Mart can be disastrous

Over the course of , retailers' sales of mens' and boys' apparel dropped 44% on average, hardware sales fell by 31%, and lawn and garden sales fell by 26%.
In towns without Wal-Marts that are close to towns with Wal-Marts, sales in general merchandise declined immediately after Wal-Mart stores opened. After ten years, sales declined by a cumulative 34%.
Wal-Mart stifles competition

A Congressional Research Service report in 1994 explained that Wal-Mart builds stores in nearby connected markets in order to stifle any competition in the targeted area by the size of its presence.
Wal-Mart destroys the environment

In October 2004, the United States sued Wal-mart for violating the Clean Water Act in 9 states, calling for penalties of over $3 million and changes to W-M building codes.
The United States Environmental Protection agency fined Wal-Mart $1 million, settling allegations that Wal-Mart violated the Clean Water Act with dirt discharges while building stores in Massachusetts, New Mexico, Okalahoma, and Texas.
The Pennsylvania Environmental Protection Department fined Wal-Mart $100,000 for polluting rivers.
Wal-Mart was fined $765,000 for violating Florida’s petroleum storage tank laws at its automobile service centers. Wal-Mart failed to register its fuel tanks, failed to install devices that prevent overflow, did not perform monthly monitoring, lacked current technologies, and blocked state inspectors.
In Georgia, Wal-Mart was fined about $150,000 for water contamination.
Wal-Mart increases vehicle traffic

A study of estimated additional driving costs of Supercenters in the San Francisco Bay area concluded that there would be up to an additional 238 million vehicle miles traveled per year.
These extra miles traveled could cost communities in the Bay area up $ 256 million in additional costs for infrastructure repair and environmental degradation.
Wal-Mart’s rapid expansion of Supercenters and Sam's Clubs has contributed to hundreds of vacant stores across the country. <“Wal Mart site: Use as is or rebuild?”, Dallas Morning News, 2/20/02>
When Wal-Mart decides to convert a discount store into a larger Supercenter, it is often cheaper or easier simply to relocate entirely. David Brennan, associate professor of marketing at the University of St. Thomas, in St. Paul, Minn, notes that Wal-Mart stores relocate so regularly that, “it is not uncommon to relocate right across the street." <“Home Depot to Move from Old to New Store Next Door,” Providence News-Journal, 8/17/03>
Wal-Mart plans to build another 55 million square feet of store space this year, or roughly the equivalent of 1,000 football fields or 15 Pentagon buildings.
Big box retailers will most likely enter a community, only to be among the first to consolidate or fold when conditions begin to change. <“The Impact of Big Box Stores in S. California,” Dr. Marlon Boarnet>
In 2001, Wal-Mart controlled around 30 million square feet of vacant retail space through ownership or leases.
Vacant property drains the value from the surrounding area, whether commercial or residential."

http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/facts/

[chknltl]

53. btw: Welcome to the Democratic Underground mechanical mandible

[Dave Reynolds]

54. Too late,

the drive-by has been tombstoned.

[chknltl]

56. Yep... so he did...so he did.

...and we hardly knew him.
:rofl:

[mitchum]

55. Damn, Wal Mart even has the dead working for them!

rest in something, mechanical mandible

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

57. The light that burns half as long burns twice as brightly! And you have

burned so very brightly, mechanical mandible! Your brief DU career has been a distinguished one!

[SeveneightyWhoa]

58. How much you wanna bet that the OP..

..works for a public relations firm? Or is a Wal-Mart exec? :evilgrin: