[Vision2020] Wal-Mart Supercenter Opposition

Thu Mar 10 13:19:36 PST 2005

Hi,
I find it interesting that the employees of the Moscow Wal-mart are being
told that their jobs are not in danger if a Pullman Wal-mart Supercenter
opened.  I find that very hard to believe--just look at Tidyman's, which
closed precipitously and essentially hung a lot of loyal, hard-working
employees out to dry.  Consideration of the needs of individual employees is
not really a high concern for major corporations.  So I think it is rather
disingenuous for the management to be saying that.  Looking at it logically,
what possible benefit would there be to keeping the Moscow store open so
close to the larger Pullman store? (But of course, they are the Great
Corporation of Wal-Mart and if they break their promises a little way down
the road, what are any of us to do about it?  Have they ever broken promises
before?)

Can anyone verify the rumor that I have heard, that if a Pullman Wal-mart
Supercenter were to open, we would lose Win-co grocery store also?  I have
heard it said that Win-co management has said they will not try to compete
with a nearby Wal-mart supercenter and would pull up stakes and leave.  This
is of concern to me because of the population that Win-co serves.  A lot of
the shoppers in Win-co are lower income and it seems to be a high population
of university students and foreign students.  Win-co has done a very good
job of stocking "ethnic" foods and so these foreign students have a place
they can go which is close to campus and married student housing and stocks
some familiar things to eat and cook with. Many of them don't have cars (or
don't drive well, coming from another country), so it is important to have a
grocery store on this end of town that can serve this vital population.  If
Win-co closed, some of the customers would be absorbed into other Moscow
grocery stores while a portion would commute to Pullman for the lower
prices--increasing the traffic on the already dangerous and overcrowded
Moscow Pullman highway (slated for widening, but not accomplished yet),
burning more gas. And taking additional business away from Moscow.

So I strongly suspect that the Moscow Wal-Mart would close, leaving those
employees high and dry (or needing to commute to Pullman) and we might lose
Win-co as well--if someone can verify this information.  Then there are all
the businesses in Pullman that would lose out because of competition with
this mega-corp.

 It doesn't sound like a good plan for either community.

But what good will signing a petition drive do--do they even care if some
townspeople don't want their store? Has public opinion ever stopped them
before?  Aren't we just gnats before the machine?  How often has a town
actually been successful in preventing encroachment by a Wal-mart and what
were their successful strategies?

JW

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Saundra Lund" <sslund at adelphia.net>
To: "'Storla, Robbie'" <calebsomeone at yahoo.com>; <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2005 10:33 AM
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Wal-Mart Supercenter Opposition

> (Sorry if this shows up twice -- I originally sent it 3+ hours ago and it
> seems to have disappeared into cyber-space as it's still not shown up in
the
> V2020 archives as of 10:33 AM.)
>
> Hi,
>
> Thanks for the opportunity to discuss this  :-)  And, thanks for your
honest
> disclosure that you work for Wal-Mart.
>
> Since you've asked the questions, I'll answer them.  I'll preface my
remarks
> by saying that on the Wal-Mart issue, I consider myself to be kind of an
> averagely (is that even a word?) informed *Moscow* resident.  I know there
> are a fair number of Moscow folks who know more about the issues than I,
and
> I know there area also a fair number who know less about it.  So, I think
> I'm average  :-)
>
> I'll also disclose that I'm currently boycotting Wal-Mart, but *not*
because
> of the Super Center issue.  I was absolutely horrified at the cat killing
> (NOT local -- I think maybe it was in MI) that hit the national news
shortly
> after Christmas, and that's not the first report of animal abuse/cruelty
> I've read associated with Wal-Mart  :-(  Those allegedly involved (I
believe
> there were at least three management-level employees) were facing (felony)
> criminal charges but hadn't been fired yet.  So, I wrote the national
> headquarters expressing my concerns and explained that I'd be boycotting
> Wal-Mart until the employees were fired *and* Wal-Mart took steps to
educate
> their employees that animal cruelty by employees at any level wouldn't be
> tolerated.
>
> I never received a response . . . so I'm still boycotting.  LOL -- not
that
> Wal-Mart cares, but . . .
>
> I understand that the "official" line is that the Moscow store will remain
> open even with a Super Center in Pullman.  Frankly, I don't believe it:  I
> do not believe this area can support two Wal-Marts, particularly when one
> will be a Super Center.
>
> And, whether I shop there or not, I believe now that Moscow has lost some
> smaller stores, Wal-Mart is important to Moscow's economy, tax base, etc.
I
> believe that closure of the Moscow store (which I believe would be
> inevitable should a Super Center open in Pullman) would hurt the Moscow
> community.
>
> Yes, I agree with you that if a Super Center opens in Pullman, the tax
> money, convenience, etc for Pullman would be good.  But, at what cost?
How
> many smaller businesses would Pullman lose?
>
> I was not in favor of Wal-Mart coming to Moscow although I didn't actively
> oppose it.  And, Moscow has lost a number of smaller locally owned
stores --
> I don't know how many were due directly to Wal-Mart, but I do know that
> Wal-Mart was a contributing factor in the death of a few local businesses.
> Personally, I'd prefer to shop at five locally owned smaller businesses
than
> I would at one Wal-Mart, convenience be d*mned.
>
> So, as a Moscow resident, I don't want a Super Center in Pullman because I
> think it will be the beginning of the end for the Moscow Wal-Mart.
>
> And, if I was a Pullman resident, I wouldn't want a Super Center because
of
> the harmful effect it will undoubtedly have on existing local businesses.
> I'd have other objections, too, but that would be the deal-breaker for me.
>
> I want to add, though, that when I did shop at the Moscow Wal-Mart, I
found
> the employees to be good.  I *hated* having to go to Wal-Mart because it
was
> always frustrating -- it seemed like 1/4 of the stuff on my long list was
> out-of-stock (or had suddenly stopped being stocked), but that wasn't the
> employees' fault.  As a consumer, I guess the thing I *liked* about
shopping
> at Wal-Mart was the employees (except in Electronics where if you needed a
> case unlocked, it often took an act of God to find someone --- grrr!).
>
> So, I don't want my comments in *any way* to reflect negatively on the
local
> people who work at Wal-Mart.
>
> I'm curious to see what others have to write, so thanks again for asking
the
> questions!
>
>
> Saundra Lund
> Moscow, ID
>
> The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
> nothing.
> Edmund Burke
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
> On Behalf Of Storla, Robbie
> Sent: Thursday, 10 March 2005 12:40 AM
> To: Tim Lohrmann; vision2020 at moscow.com
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Wal-Mart Supercenter Opposition
>
> I would like to take a moment to introduce my self and let you know that i
> am currently a Wal-Mart Associate...  I respect everyones views on this
> issue and really don't know where I stand on it.  But I would like some
> input from people as to why people are for or against the supercenter
going
> into Pullman.  Granted everything that I have been told is that we will
> continue to operate stores in Lewiston and Moscow if the super center goes
> into Pullman.  My views on it is why wouldn't people want it, to be able
to
> do all there shopping at one stop instead of going to one or more stop to
> complete shopping that could be done in one store.  and wouldn't it mean
> some pretty good tax money to the city of Pullman?
>
> Are people against the Super Center because of its location or simply
> because it is walmart?
>
> I would also like to draw your attention to a web site that has been very
> informative to me.  www.walmartfacts.com <http://www.walmartfacts.com/>
>
> thanks for listening to me and i look forward to hearing from you.  please
> excuse the spelling and grammer, it is late at night. :)
>
> Robbie
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Robbie E. K. Storla
>
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