Where's Wal-Mart?
Waiting for Walmart? Join the club
By Kelvin Wade | | January 08, 2009 21:35
So I was strolling through our brand spanking new Walmart supercenter last weekend with a shopping cart full of groceries when I suddenly remembered we don't have a Walmart supercenter, just a fenced off vacant lot doing its best to keep property values low and provide taggers with a clean slate to work their masterpieces.
When the city approved the Walmart supercenter in December 2006, no one expected the store to be built any time soon. But it's 2009 and Mission Village still looks frozen in time.
I expected the normal delays from the anti-Walmart folks. I expected them to find some rare endangered asphalt-eating squirrel in the Mission Village area that needed to be protected and thus get an injunction to stop the project. Or maybe, like the Suisun anti-Walmart peoples' fear of a falling plane, the Fairfield anti-Walmart people would point out the probability of the location being struck by a falling asteroid.
Opponents did raise environmental concerns that took nine months to be resolved in 2007.
While Suisun City opponents battle their approved Walmart supercenter with lawsuits over a protected microscopic-yet-cute organism in the wetlands or some such environmental concerns, I thought our Walmart would be having the finishing touches applied to it by now.
We're not alone. Weirton, Ohio, residents are wondering what's taking so long for construction to begin on their supercenter. Construction has been delayed on the Streator, Ill., supercenter. Ruckersville, Va., has seen its Walmart plans delayed and then accelerated. Now residents hope to open the store by the end of the year but who knows what will happen between now and then?
I'm sure our local grocery stores would encourage Walmart to take all the time it needs to build their 185,000-square-foot supercenter. But with the economy in shambles, Fairfielders could desperately use those lower prices on foodstuffs even if they have to get used to prepackaged meat.
The other businesses on North Texas Street that feared competing against the retail giant have learned there are things worse than a new Walmart supercenter moving in next door.
And that's a recession.
I can understand if people get nervous about Walmart's construction because of some of the prior incidents in town.
There was talk of Barnes and Noble coming here long before a store ever materialized. At one point Kmart was going to build a Super Kmart here and that idea went the way of the dodo bird. The Fairfield Krispy Kreme never came to pass as the chain's nationwide rollout rolled away.
And a year ago Tesco PLC announced plans to open its Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Markets in Northern California, including Fairfield. While they still plan on opening the stores, they've delayed the project.
So here's hoping the spring will see bulldozers in action removing that perennial eyesore on North Texas Street.
There are plenty of us out here who are ready to watch out for falling prices and one-stop shop. Peace.
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Are you into video games? What do you think of Guitar Hero? Get my take here.
When the city approved the Walmart supercenter in December 2006, no one expected the store to be built any time soon. But it's 2009 and Mission Village still looks frozen in time.
I expected the normal delays from the anti-Walmart folks. I expected them to find some rare endangered asphalt-eating squirrel in the Mission Village area that needed to be protected and thus get an injunction to stop the project. Or maybe, like the Suisun anti-Walmart peoples' fear of a falling plane, the Fairfield anti-Walmart people would point out the probability of the location being struck by a falling asteroid.
Opponents did raise environmental concerns that took nine months to be resolved in 2007.
While Suisun City opponents battle their approved Walmart supercenter with lawsuits over a protected microscopic-yet-cute organism in the wetlands or some such environmental concerns, I thought our Walmart would be having the finishing touches applied to it by now.
We're not alone. Weirton, Ohio, residents are wondering what's taking so long for construction to begin on their supercenter. Construction has been delayed on the Streator, Ill., supercenter. Ruckersville, Va., has seen its Walmart plans delayed and then accelerated. Now residents hope to open the store by the end of the year but who knows what will happen between now and then?
I'm sure our local grocery stores would encourage Walmart to take all the time it needs to build their 185,000-square-foot supercenter. But with the economy in shambles, Fairfielders could desperately use those lower prices on foodstuffs even if they have to get used to prepackaged meat.
The other businesses on North Texas Street that feared competing against the retail giant have learned there are things worse than a new Walmart supercenter moving in next door.
And that's a recession.
I can understand if people get nervous about Walmart's construction because of some of the prior incidents in town.
There was talk of Barnes and Noble coming here long before a store ever materialized. At one point Kmart was going to build a Super Kmart here and that idea went the way of the dodo bird. The Fairfield Krispy Kreme never came to pass as the chain's nationwide rollout rolled away.
And a year ago Tesco PLC announced plans to open its Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Markets in Northern California, including Fairfield. While they still plan on opening the stores, they've delayed the project.
So here's hoping the spring will see bulldozers in action removing that perennial eyesore on North Texas Street.
There are plenty of us out here who are ready to watch out for falling prices and one-stop shop. Peace.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Are you into video games? What do you think of Guitar Hero? Get my take here.
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