I called and spoke with Ms. Landry, the owner of Ashland Coffee and Tea and an active participant (as we saw last night) in the Pink Flamingos. First let me say she was awesome to talk to!!
So.....what did i find out? Well i just wanted to really get her input as to the state of things since Satan built his store in her town. She said her business has not been affected really by Wal-Mart. ( I wouldnt really consider Wal-Mart a huge competitor with her niche' to begin with.) She did take the opportunity to let me know that Starbucks had built between her and the interstate in the last year and that has had an affect on her business.
When i asked her about the affects of building the Wal-Mart on their community, she cited that the location kept it away from the downtown area so it hasnt really hit alot of businesses hard. She ventured to guess that the 2 local groceries (Food Lion and U-Cress) probably felt it the most, giving up parts of their market share to Wal-Mart. Second she felt the hardware store probably felt the blow more than others.
I went on to ask her about the participation in the process of fighting the building of Wal-Mart in their town. She offered that the people felt ignored and were very disheartened with the decision (as we all could have guessed). She didnt feel that the Lame Duck City Council voted for the Wal-Mart as a direct result of them not being re-elected. Their minds were made up even before the election.
She offered that the recent influx of new residents (that has driven her to move outside the city limits at this point) has probably helped lessen the blow of the new SuperCenter being located there and that most of the local stores who have survived have their niche's they serve that has been paramount in their survival.
I have a call in to a professor at Randolf-Macon College in Ashland. She referred me to him for some more substantial evidence of the effects of Wal-mart. Apparently he has conducted economic impact studies since Wal-Marts arrival.
-Jason
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2 comments:
"Ukrops" is the other grocery store...
http://www.ukrops.com/
And, as stated already, there has been a large amount of growth in and around Ashland, which has allowed the Walmart to come in without putting other stores out of business. Also, it was built right next to the highway, and a lot of shoppers come from out of town to shop at the Walmart, and those shoppers would not have normally shopped in Ashland anyways.
I think most towns fight Walmarts, because Walmart tries to pick areas with high potential for growth, then try to build there to get a leg-up on the competition. When a Walmart is first proposed (like in Ashland), the town doesn't seem ready for a big-box retailer... but then by the time it's built, and the area grows over a few years, there is enough population to support the Walmart, as well as the local stores.
Excellent detective work, Jason. You got some very interesting perspectives from folks on the ground there...I am glad the coffee shop is still doing okay. Nice work.
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