[bagelw]

Originally Posted by DC at the Ridge

Wal-Mart is a significant presence in NWA. But to say that every person's job exists in NWA thanks to Wal-Mart is a huge overstatement. Guess what, all these towns existed before Wal-Mart came into being. There were schools and hospitals and lawyers' offices before Wal-Mart. There were farms and stores and gas stations before Wal-Mart. There were restaurants and hotels before Wal-Mart. And there are other major employers in the area. People can appreciate the contributions Wal-Mart has made to the communities, both economic and charitable, and yet do not necessarily owe their jobs to Wal-Mart.

No it isn't a huge overstatement. Every city in NWA other than Fayetteville (only thanks to the U of A) was a fly speck on the map until Walmart started requesting vendors to open offices here. Sure there have been businesses here well before Walmart but you can say that of anywhere and of any business. Flint, MI was a town before GM had their way with it. Like it or not NWA is what it is today thanks to Walmart. Sure JB Hunt and Tyson are large employers for the area but they are no where close to Walmart. Most of the shopping in Pinnacle, movie theaters, XNA, Crystal Bridges, hotels, restaurants, etc would leave with Walmart. Bentonville and Rogers would be ghost towns. Fayetteville would take a hit but not near what Benton county would get hit with.

This has gotten off topic but if you want to start a new "Would NWA survive without Walmart?" thread then be my guess.

[bagelw]

Originally Posted by nmnita

some people think before Wal-Mart NWA didn't exist.. don't you know that?

I agree, no one is would be niave enough to think Wal-Mart hasn't helped NWA, but even Hunt trucking and Tysons do not depend totally on Wal-Mart as you and I know.

NIta

NWA as you know it today didn't exist before Walmart. I'm not so sure you would find Bella Vista such a fantastic place if you had moved here in the 80s or 90s. You would be driving to Springfield, MO or Tulsa, OK for shopping, restaurants, and entertainment. That is unless Walmart fills all your shopping needs and you consider a drive down to Fayetteville to eat at Chilis an eventful evening.

With the current state of the economy Hunt and Tyson may be relying on Wally World more than you think.

[J Arp]

bagelw is right on the money.

Originally Sam Walton's empire was going to be in Northeast Arkansas. He had a small department store in Newport, AR that did exceptionally well. At this store he created the building blocks of how Wal-Mart is ran today. He was too trusting that the landlord would renew the lease or didn't bother to read the fine print and at the end of his building's lease the landlord jerked him around and took over his store.
At any rate, he couldn't find another place to open a new store in Newport and/or was generally fed up with the town. He decided to move to Bentonville because his wife Helen liked living in small bump-in-the-road towns which is what Bentonville was and Newport is still today.

One of the first Wal-Marts went into Newport and eventually ran his old store out of business.

If his landlord would have been an honest businessman just think...we could be on this board listening to people sing the praises of NEA businesses, job prospects, and ASU's Sam Walton College of Business.

[mjohnson4381]

Originally Posted by outofarkansas

After living in Little Rock for 9 years, I'm glad to be gone. There were some good things about the area: the physical beauty of the state, the low cost of living, the ease of getting around. But it's not a good place for a young professional, particularly if you are ambitious. I found the place to be impossibly mired in cronyism. Getting involved professionally or in the community was always, always tied to who you knew, not your skills, your credentials, or your potential. Most of the community leadership positions, for example, are filled by the same small group of people (for many years, it was one GUY who was head of this initiative, Dean of that school, founding dean of this other school, former dean of yet another school, etc. etc.). Such cronyism and old boy networking results in a real lack of diversity of thought, and a city and state that is rarely welcoming of new ideas or new people. I kept meeting new young professionals from elsewhere who were always planning to leave Little Rock and go back to one of the larger, more receptive, more open cities. The only reason people stayed was if they were FROM there, or if they COULDN'T leave for some reason. It was sad, because a lot of people in Arkansas kept complaining that talented young people were hard to draw to the state and harder to keep in the state if they did arrive for a while. The reason, though, was that the old timers just tend to hoard the small number of influential positions there, and don't make any effort to reach out and include new people. Go to a place like Chicago or Altlanta or even cities the same size as Little Rock like Ashville, North Carolina, and it's a completely different story. Those places are like an inclusive wonderland compared to Little Rock.

What I found is that as soon as I left, I was being sought out for positions and roles for which I had encountered nothing but obstacles in Little Rock. When I tried to VOLUNTEER for community-based initiatives in Little Rock, I was turned away. When I moved to larger northern city, I was getting calls all the time to ask and see if I would be willing to share my expertise with this or that community-based group. I offered to VOLUNTEER to teach a course in activism at a graduate program for community service in Little Rock and was rebuffed. Since moving, I have been sought out by a number of organizations to do just that because of my experience in the field. The contrast is striking.

Little Rock might be a good place to retire, if you are done with wanting to build your career, done with trying being creative with your professional time. If you are just coasting and no longer working, it might be a good place to be. But if you are looking for a place to build your career and expand your horizons, I definitely recommend going elsewhere.

I really want to leave Little Rock, too, but I'm still getting my ducks in a row. I want to live somewhere much bigger with more opportunities and culture. I haven't noticed the old boy network that you're talking about, but it is pretty boring here and the opportunities might be a little limited. But it's not exactly a huge city, so that's to be expected.

Also, I feel kind of like Little Rock is an older city? By that I mean that it seems like most of the people are 40+ or retired. And even the people in their 20's and 30's already have spouses and kids, so they might act a little bit more settled and domestic than kidless people in different areas of the country.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by mjohnson4381

I really want to leave Little Rock, too, but I'm still getting my ducks in a row. I want to live somewhere much bigger with more opportunities and culture. I haven't noticed the old boy network that you're talking about, but it is pretty boring here and the opportunities might be a little limited. But it's not exactly a huge city, so that's to be expected.

Also, I feel kind of like Little Rock is an older city? By that I mean that it seems like most of the people are 40+ or retired. And even the people in their 20's and 30's already have spouses and kids, so they might act a little bit more settled and domestic than kidless people in different areas of the country.

You are probably one of those that needs to get out and see some of the country. Whare would you like to live, Dallas, Tulsa, the deep south or mayber the east coast? Everyone needs to experience life in more than one place. You may come running back or you may be delighted with life somewhere else.

Nita

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by J Arp

bagelw is right on the money.

Originally Sam Walton's empire was going to be in Northeast Arkansas. He had a small department store in Newport, AR that did exceptionally well. At this store he created the building blocks of how Wal-Mart is ran today. He was too trusting that the landlord would renew the lease or didn't bother to read the fine print and at the end of his building's lease the landlord jerked him around and took over his store.
At any rate, he couldn't find another place to open a new store in Newport and/or was generally fed up with the town. He decided to move to Bentonville because his wife Helen liked living in small bump-in-the-road towns which is what Bentonville was and Newport is still today.

One of the first Wal-Marts went into Newport and eventually ran his old store out of business.

If his landlord would have been an honest businessman just think...we could be on this board listening to people sing the praises of NEA businesses, job prospects, and ASU's Sam Walton College of Business.

No one is questioning the influence Walton has had on NWA but this can be said about almost any city in the country. One major industry started the ball rolling, what happened or happens afterward is something different.

Nita

[DC at the Ridge]

Originally Posted by J Arp

bagelw is right on the money.

Originally Sam Walton's empire was going to be in Northeast Arkansas. He had a small department store in Newport, AR that did exceptionally well. At this store he created the building blocks of how Wal-Mart is ran today. He was too trusting that the landlord would renew the lease or didn't bother to read the fine print and at the end of his building's lease the landlord jerked him around and took over his store.
At any rate, he couldn't find another place to open a new store in Newport and/or was generally fed up with the town. He decided to move to Bentonville because his wife Helen liked living in small bump-in-the-road towns which is what Bentonville was and Newport is still today.

One of the first Wal-Marts went into Newport and eventually ran his old store out of business.

If his landlord would have been an honest businessman just think...we could be on this board listening to people sing the praises of NEA businesses, job prospects, and ASU's Sam Walton College of Business.

No, bagelw is not on the money. Were Rogers and Bentonville small in the 1970's? Yes. Has Wal-Mart's growth had a dramatic impact on the entire area. Yes. But besides Tyson's and JB Hunt, there were other thriving businesses in the area. My family moved here in the early 1970's. When there wasn't even a McDonald's in the county. And yet they moved here for the job opportunities. Job opportunities not related to Wal-Mart. (Emerson Electric, Glad Manufacturing, RTW, Moore Drop Forge, and so on. They moved here from Massachusetts.

I'm not trying to downplay the tremendous impact Wal-Mart's success has had on the area. But the characterization that without Wal-Mart, Northwest Arkansas would blow away on the wind isn't a fair characterization, either. To say that NWA is a one-trick pony is simply wrong. It may be a three-ring circus, with a huge star with tremendous drawing power. But like any circus, the supporting acts have their own fans, and are a part of the attraction. The huge star leaving would hurt the circus, but the show would go on.

[bagelw]

Originally Posted by DC at the Ridge

No, bagelw is not on the money. Were Rogers and Bentonville small in the 1970's? Yes. Has Wal-Mart's growth had a dramatic impact on the entire area. Yes. But besides Tyson's and JB Hunt, there were other thriving businesses in the area. My family moved here in the early 1970's. When there wasn't even a McDonald's in the county. And yet they moved here for the job opportunities. Job opportunities not related to Wal-Mart. (Emerson Electric, Glad Manufacturing, RTW, Moore Drop Forge, and so on. They moved here from Massachusetts.

I'm not trying to downplay the tremendous impact Wal-Mart's success has had on the area. But the characterization that without Wal-Mart, Northwest Arkansas would blow away on the wind isn't a fair characterization, either. To say that NWA is a one-trick pony is simply wrong. It may be a three-ring circus, with a huge star with tremendous drawing power. But like any circus, the supporting acts have their own fans, and are a part of the attraction. The huge star leaving would hurt the circus, but the show would go on.

That's like saying Cirque Du Soleil got replaced with Big Top Peewee.
Or it's like watching Terminator 2 without Arnold. Sure Linda Hamilton and Edward Furlong had supporting roles but did you really pay to see them?

Sure NWA wouldn't blow away without Walmart but the majority of it would. After all, Flint, MI is still there even though GM left.

[DC at the Ridge]

Originally Posted by bagelw

That's like saying Cirque Du Soleil got replaced with Big Top Peewee.
Or it's like watching Terminator 2 without Arnold. Sure Linda Hamilton and Edward Furlong had supporting roles but did you really pay to see them?

Sure NWA wouldn't blow away without Walmart but the majority of it would. After all, Flint, MI is still there even though GM left.

I think your perspective is filtered by your reasons for living her, and your experiences. Clearly that's a valid perspective. My perspective is filtered by my experience. An experience of living in Northwest Arkansas before Wal-Mart was a big player. An experience that is just as valid as yours. My life in Northwest Arkansas has never depended on Wal-Mart. Never worked there. For the most part, I haven't worked at places where Wal-Mart was a customer. I shop there sometimes, but I shop at lots of places. I love the Walton Arts Center, but there are other entertainment venues. I've lived in Northwest Arkansas for most of my life, and while Wal-Mart has contributed mightily to the economy here, the company doesn't dominate my life in any way, shape or form. So when you say that we owe our jobs to Wal-Mart, I think I'm right in saying that that's a huge over-generalization. There were and are companies in Northwest Arkansas that have very little to do with Wal-Mart. And there will be such companies in the future. Wal-Mart is huge, it casts a gigantic shadow over the region, but sunshine still gets in.

[Sneezyone]

Would all of those smaller companies and industries have attracted the same people, tho, as Wally World? Would they hve brought the same buying power, retail and educational expectations? To me that's debateable. Sure, NWA would still be there and growing but I'm not sure it would be the draw that it is now without the shift in attitudes and expectations. I imagine those who relocated in the pre-walmart days did so with the expectation of accepting the place as-is. A lot of the newer corporate relos came with the hope of making the place more suitable/compatible with the standard of living/lifestyle enjoyed elsewhere. Just a thought. I don't think everyone owes their job to walmart but the community would certainly be nothing like it is today without it.