For Ed Abbey...."The Big Bad Wolf..."
So the Big Bad Wolf just got bigger in Iowa City. On Tuesday, despite a strong lack of support in the community, the Iowa City City Council approved the sale of about 21 acres of land to Walmart so they can build a supercenter on the south side. Now, we already have a supercenter in Coralville, just 10 minutes away from the south side of Iowa City...but apparently that isn't good enough. Their current store on south side is not a supercenter, but I kind of like that because it's easier to get in and out in the rare times that I actually need to stop there. Its location is convenient for me because it's the only discount store on my way out of town. PLUS, it's right next to a grocery store and the hardware center. Boom boom boom...I can hit all three in one succession and be on my merry way. I've heard that one of the issues of the location of the soon-to-be-supercenter is that the road that was just built there recently will have to be widened to handle increased traffic. I find it all to be ridiculous. Don't they get enough business from the Coralville location, right next to the mall?? South side Iowa City...let's look at the one-mile strip of road that the current store is located on....there are already three grocery stores and two discount centers (K-Mart & Walmart). I think anything that a Walmart supercenter could offer is already provided. Let's face the truth...I'm not all that impressed with those supercenters anyway. They seem to have a little bit of everything and not enough variety of what you need to give you good choices. I dare not ever buy meat or dairy products there -- had some bad experiences there. They only cost savings I've found is in general grocery staples and that's only because they are able to mark their stuff lower than their competitors due to sheer volume of business. (Walmart Trivia: Did you know each Walmart is expected to compete with other centers? That's why you see a variety in pricing from one store to the next.)
Anyhoo, I'm all for increasing commercial revenue for the city and building new businesses for citizens, but I don't think another supercenter in a city of 60,000 people is really all that necessary.
5 comments:
They will not stop until they have choked the life out of everybody else. For Iowa City, the noose just got cinched a little tighter.
I boycotted Wal-Mart for almost almost eight years and never set foot into it's doors. Then I moved to Fairfield and by geography, I had to break my boycott because I had no other choice. I still refuse to purchase groceries there and I try and make all my major purchases else where.
What gets me the most, is not only do they have a lack of choices (for a particular product) the choices they do have are cheaply built and last just about as long as ice on a warm summer day. I guess it is there way of guaranteeing a return customer.
I heard a song called, "I Hate Wal-Mart" and I'll have to post the lyrics on my blog someday when I get a chance. Thanks for the update.
In Citrus Heights, CA, where I live, the city council recently approved a Wal-Mart, to go right next to Costco, on open land already zoned for commercial business. The anti- faction that lined up didn't have any opposition to a store, in principal, they just didn't want Wal-Mart. The Costco that went in almost 2 years ago (2x the size of a Wal-Mart) didn't garner even a single word of opposition.
I think its fascinating all the opposition Wal-Mart gets based on name alone. Citrus Heights is a city of 80,000, but we are smack-dab in the middle of the Sacramento suburb, which is basically a huge metro area of 1.5 million, so it's not like Wal-Mart is sucking up business or jobs here. I for one look forward to the Wal-Mart opening. A lot closer than the ones I drive to know.
I just think it's silly to have two superwalmarts in a small metro area. It seems excessive.
Incidentally, I heard on this morning's news that Menards, which is just down the road from Walmart, now wants to build a new store - a superstore in that vicinity also. That I can understand because they are the only hardware store on the south side and I frequently get annoyed when I can't find something and have to drive across town to Lowes which is right next to the mall and therefore very congested.
It's not the name but their deeds at which people baulk. Some of those deeds are the numerous lawsuits ranging from unfair labor practices to sexual discrimination, the outsourcing of products that they buy from China is now over 70% and climbing rapidly, and the numerous small towns that it has literally gutted and left to rot. I think these actions speak for themselves. Yes you may not notice in a town the size of Citrus Heights, but that doesn't mean it isn't happening.
I will never condemn someone who shops at Wal-Mart because some people don't have the option to go elsewhere. However, I do encourage those who can to do so.
Oh, and not to mention that our state (and thus me) has to bail out Wal-Mart employees because they don't get paid enough to live on. Read on:
http://hayduke.blogspot.com/2005/03/iowa-taxpayers-bail-out-wal-mart.html
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