Why not branch out a bit, and review places and events in town? I have no experience as a critic, but I am a consumer, and consumers make market choices all the time, so why not?
We have a Discount City Wal-Mart in town, and for many of us, it’s a great convenience. The increase in store hours a few months ago has made the Wal-Mart even more convenient. It carries many of the ordinary items that a person might need, at prices that are usually low. Wal-Mart – nationally – is controversial, I know, but I’ve no interest in wading into that nationwide battle. There are plenty of sites on the web that present the benefits and detriments of Wal-Mart, Inc. My review is of Wal-Mart 1274 only.
Our Wal-Mart is a smaller sized Discount City, with less floor space than the Super Wal-Mart now in Janesvillle, and the one to be built near Jefferson. Wal-Mart does not expand the size of an existing store to make it a Super Wal-Mart; they leave the old property, and build a new, larger store nearby (as they have done in both Lake Geneva and Janesville.) I see no reason to think that we will get a larger Wal-Mart in Whitewater anytime soon.
Store 1274:
A retail store’s not just a place for selling goods; it’s a place where people work selling goods. Starting with the workforce is as good a place to begin a review as any other. Wal-Mart doesn’t pretend that it’s a full-service retail store, where obliging associates rush to meet your every need. It’s Discount City, not Tiffany’s. Still, the combination of college students, middle-aged workers, and retirees does a good job when asked, with a few exceptions. The only disappointing experiences that I have had at Wal-Mart 1274 have been with two cranky senior citizen workers.
There’s a Dennis Miller joke that people who work, and shop, at Wal-Mart are disproportionately overweight. I don’t find that true of our Wal-Mart, but that sort of jibe must be galling to Wal-Mart, and they have over the years tried to become more trendy, to attract the style-conscious customers that Target attracts.
Staffing’s not always the best, however, at Wal-Mart 1274. Sometimes the registers seem understaffed. That’s not an associate’s problem, but a management problem.
What’s most interesting to me about our Wal-Mart is how it affects nearby businesses. (In neighboring Jefferson, residents fought a years-long battle over a Super Wal-Mart, with those in favor finally prevailing. Much of the concern addresses whether Wal-Mart would harm small, independent businesses.)
One of the readers of this site, wrote in recently about our downtown area that, “Experience establishes that an enterprise most likely to succeed in a decaying downtown environment is a “niche” business provided, of course, that the costs of purchase or tenancy are reasonable.”
That seems right. A coffee shop, hot dog vendor, or restaurant is beyond Wal-Mart’s competition. Even two local pharmacists have survived, although almost certainly with supplemental sources of income (likely from rental property). A conventional five-and-dime, however, wouldn’t likely long survive.
What of the grocery business? It’s an area where local Wal-Mart 1274 has expanded, with nearly double the shelf space for foodstuffs of a year ago. Without the floor space of a Super Wal-Mart, I am not sure how much space Wal-Mart can devote to groceries, but if Store 1274 could add more, it could sell more.
Wal-Mart must place considerable market pressure on our Sentry. The addition of beer at the Wal-Mart will be another point of competition with Sentry and local liquor stores. For consumers, it’s a recipe for lower prices, or better selection (as competitors of Wal-Mart move to distinguish themselves, for example, with more exotic brands).
Are the soon-to-open Red Onion, and the Malone meat market, selling perishables because the want to, need to, or both? Both, I’d say. There’s room to walk around Wal-Mart, and our city can support many specialized retailers that can operate in that space past Wal-Mart’s reach.
There’s nothing elegant about Wal-Mart, and Wal-Mart wouldn’t expect there to be. Without this general merchandising retailer, however, our small town would likely have fewer items for sale, stocked less frequently, and priced above Wal-Mart’s prices. A few cranky senior citizen workers are not enough to disturb the benefits of Wal-Mart’s ready stock at low prices.