Good thing Walmart never got to build its super center on Bend's north end.
Walmart will expand its store on Bend's south end and will add groceries to their mix of stuff made in China. But, that expansion will likely put the Albertsons supermarket across the street out of business.
New York is still trying to fight off Walmart, but with a traditional pro-business mayor, those days of Walmart-free Big Apple may be coming to an end.
A New York report, based on 50 other studies, shows how bad Walmart is for any local economy.
"The overwhelming weight of the independent research on the impact of Walmart stores ... shows that Walmart depresses area wages and labor benefits ... pushes out more retail jobs than it creates, and results in more retail vacancies," the study concludes.
Of course, the casual traveler can see that for themselves when they roam around this country and cruise through the smaller towns which reveal boarded-up downtowns with a thriving Walmart on the edge of town.
Bend's downtown survived Walmart because it re-invented itself as a boutique and higher-end dining spot after two malls opened on the north side of the city in the early 1980s. But, other retail stores on Bend's south end have suffered greatly from Walmart's presence, including the outlet mall which is about 50 percent vacant now. Oh, and our county' jobless rate is about 15 percent.
Here's hoping that New York can weather the Walmart storm and keep them out.
Dude. Thank you. Walmart never classes up a neighborhood, and sucks money out of communities.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in small town Maine and don't need a study to tell me this. I saw it firsthand many times.
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