This anecdote is a precise microcosm of the "Wal-Martization of America,"
also known as the death of downtown.  Often Wal-Mart will open up outside of
town on a highway or intersection between two towns-- to draw retail traffic
from each-- and destroy the downtowns of both in the process.

Wal-Mart really is the quintessential corporate bully.  They use their sheer
size to intimidate manufacturers into giving them volume deals that no one
else can get.  Then they turn around and routinely use these discounts to
price inventory such that any downtown store would go out of business if
they matched the prices.  Wal-Mart often retails goods at a lower price than
he local guy can acquire them wholesale.  As I heard one executive say in a
speech about 8 years ago,  "If you have a store in one of the 37 categories
Wal-Mart operates in,  and they open in your area,  you have a problem."

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John L. Micek" <jlmicek@mindspring.com>
To: <eldeluxe@mcn.net>; <audities@smoe.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2003 2:43 PM
Subject: Re: Wal-mart


> > Over here in Bozeman they are getting ready to open the Superstore. As a
> > result a lot of businesses are doing their best to deal with that.
>
> A few years ago, a Wal-Mart superstore and an accompanying mega-complex
> opened on the outskirts of Torrington, Conn., where I grew up.
> In the middle 1990s, after years of decline, Torrington's downtown
district
> was on the verge of a small renaissance. There were cafes and stores
> downtown, and a small arts community had developed.
> At that point, there were only rumors about a big box plaza (of any
> description) coming to town.
> In October, my wife and I returned to Torrington. She'd never been there,
> and it was my first time back in about four years. The downtown had been
> decimated. The shops were shuttered, and those that remained were
decidedly
> downmarket.
> Out at the Wal-Mart on the edge of the city, things were bustling and the
> parking lot was packed.
> That's about as much primary source information as I need in order to form
a
> conclusion about the deleterious effects of  sprawl development on a
> downtown economy.
>
> john.
>