Talking with Residents

I started a thread on city-data.com's Virginia forum last night to see if any of the "locals" could offer any new information about what's happened to local business since Wal-Mart's entry to the market. So far I have had one response, but the poster did provide a link to this recent article about the Cross Bros. local grocery. There was no specific mention of Wal-Mart, but the article did have this to say:

The 96-year-old store has been able to retain its comfortable, family-style approach to business throughout the years despite increasing competition from larger grocery chains.... Until recently, the store's customer base has been steady. "It may be smaller now because of some big-box stores and some larger markets," David said. "But we still carry some specialty items that other stores don't carry such as specialty cut steaks, fresh ground beef cut in-house and our own house sausage."

The article mostely dealt with the store's history and personal reflections on community involvement, but it does provide some insight that these local business owners were able to survive despite the doomsday prognostications from the "flamingo troupe".

The forum reply also gave a link to Ashland Coffee & Tea. Not much info there other than coffee descriptions, but apparently the head flamingo was able to survive as well.

We could probably use the forum to gather more information, so head on over and post if you have questions. You can visit my post here. I'm considering posting our blog address over there to invite cross-discussion, but figured I should wait for approval... Dr. HM, what do you think?

~Wes