What is the smallest town in the U.S. with a Wal-Mart?
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Wal-Mart (or any business) doesn't necessarily look at population of the town but population (along with demographics) of the market area, the likely size of the area from which it will draw customers. If a Wal-Mart is in a town with 1000 people you can be sure the planners in Bentonville have counted more than just them.
But then back to my original post about Fairbury. It's market area is small. Beatrice Nebraska is 30 minutes away. Crete Nebraska is about 45 minutes. To the west there isn't much, but the population is not large either with the largest town in Fairbury's market being Hebron which has 1500, and a lot of towns between 150-500, so the market isn't that large. Also, if they are concerned about Markets than some towns in my area should have. Wayne NE should just because of its college, as well as serving quite a large area. I would think that one of the sandhills communities like Broken Bow or Valentine or O'neill could. Also, Alliance Nebraska could, but they have Kmart so I can see why Wal Mart avoided them
Ash Flat, AR, 2010 population of 1,082, has a Wal Mart Supercenter. There are many small towns in Arkansas with one but that is the smallest I can remember. My hometown in AR with only 1500 was the first WalMart with a McDonalds in it. It was the test store for that idea.
Quinlan, Texas has about 1,400 people and has a walmart supercenter. However it is near a lake and a handful of other small rural cities, and also within a thirty minute drive from some larger suburban cities.
WM still doesn't have store in NYC, in any of the five boroughs. And it'll probably be a long time before they open one.
WM is non-union, so that's a no-no with a lot of politicians and their labor allies. Wal-Mart sells guns, and that would be a no-no in NYC politically. Wal-Mart might put many nearby small stores of all sorts out of business, so small business groups are lobbying against them. And finally the supermarkets here live in fear of WM because it is of course the biggest seller of groceries in the US and offers lower prices than most.
So parts of NYC are doomed it seems, to bad groceries at high prices in stores staffed by surly employees, with operating hours that are limited. Of course this is mostly in poorer neighborhoods where the anti-WM crowd gets to be self-righteous. They live in neighborhoods with good supermarkets and strong affordable retailers. But they don't mind seeing the poor squeezed to make themselves feel good.
What I wonder about is this: are some of the Wal-Marts in tiny towns placed where they are in order to access other nearby populations?
Calais Maine has a population that has probably dropped below 3000 by now but their Wal-Mart has more cars with New Brunswick plates than Maine plates in the parking lot.
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Quinlan, Texas
