Super-Walmart back on the table for Tunkhannock (Scranton, Wilkes-Barre: home, buying)

[memoriesbre]

SuperWalmart is back in the works for Tunkhannock. It will be next to Skyhaven Airport which is directly across the street from the old Walmart. I am in favor of this. With the food prices at the local grocery stores, a SuperWalmart would be wonderful for this area. Their prices are affordable compared to some other stores.
The county now has to decide if it's going to happen. I will keep you posted.

[The Commish]

I sure hope not.

[nkotb]

Me too !!!!! And, I'm not a fan of Tunkhannock. Let the little guy continue to make
a living. Thomas' market has great prices !! How 'bout Bricks ?? Do you want to see
them go out of business ??? Oh well, such is life...

[poconosmama]

I heard there was a proposed one for here in Hamlin too. I hope it doesnt go through here, all the other local businesses will get squashed

[SteelCityRising]

If memoriesbre and her fellow Wyoming County neighbors make a concerted effort to patronize independent businesses IN ADDITION TO the upcoming Wal-Mart Supercenter, then I say more power to the developer. However, I can speak from experience with watching Downtown Pittston turn into a sewer over the years as it was ravaged by retail chains in the Pittston Township suburbia that people in NEPA in general are lemmings. They'll start flocking to the new supercenter en masse, and you'll see Gay's Hardware, Thomas's Market, etc. take a HUGE beating as the locals are amazed by the "everyday low, low prices." You know why those prices are so low? Wal-Mart has an unfair advantage over the little guys with its suppliers. Wal-Mart could purchase a John Deere lawn mower and sell it for much less than Gay's could while still making a respectable profit margin. Wal-Mart also sells enough of a variety of goods that if it so chose it could engage in predatory pricing by undercutting the inventories of specialty stores in town until they siphon away enough of their clientèle to cause them to shutter their doors.

Rosanna, Tunkhannock in its present state is an absolutely gorgeous Norman Rockwell town. Be VERY careful what you wish for. I hope that if and when this new supercenter opens that you won't forget about "the little guys" that make that town such a unique destination. Do you really want Downtown Tunkhannock to end up looking like Downtown Baghdad...errr...Pittston?

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by The Commish

I sure hope not.

Well maybe when you grow up and have to provide for a family, you will also know what its like to have to make your dollar stretch as far as possible, and like it or not, Wal-Mart is much cheaper than other stores. Especially considering that I can get my groceries cheaper, as well as non-grocery items that are usually an arm-and-a-leg in regular grocery stores. Super Wal-Mart has been in the Scranton area for a number of years, and it hasn't driven any other area grocery stores out of business....in anything, there are MORE grocery stores in the area than there were before Super Wal-Mart was here (Giant, Price Chopper has expanded to Taylor, Redners, just off the top of my head).

I also support smaller local stores, as I do most of my meat, lunch meat, and convenience-buying at Brunetti's. But, I'd be a lot poorer if it wasn't for Wal-Mart.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by poconosmama

I heard there was a proposed one for here in Hamlin too. I hope it doesnt go through here, all the other local businesses will get squashed

That's a myth. I don't know of any locally-owned stores that have gone out of business around Scranton because of Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart was probably the nail in the coffin to Sugerman's, but that place was already in trouble before Wal-Mart.

[W-B proud]

Originally Posted by MrKrabs

That's a myth. I don't know of any locally-owned stores that have gone out of business around Scranton because of Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart was probably the nail in the coffin to Sugerman's, but that place was already in trouble before Wal-Mart.

Scranton is much larger then Tunkhannock and Hamlin, and much more spread out. Someone in Minooka or East Mountain ect. would just go to Mr Z's in South side or Gerrity's to aviod driving all the way to Walmart in Dickson City, but in a small town like Tunkhannock, I think a super Walmart can and will probably hurt locally owned small buisnesses. Don't forget it probably won't only be a Walmart, but all the other stores that will fill the shopping center. It will ultimately depend on the locals. They will either choose to do all thier shopping at Walmart, or continue to patronize thier local stores. I personally hate the Super Walmart in Wilkes-Barre. It's always jam packed, you can't find a parking spot less then a quarter mile away, it's so large it takes you forever to find everything you're looking for, the lines at the cash register are usually very long, and finally when you do get to leave the parking lot is like trying to leave a parking lot after a concert! After all of that is it really worth the couple dollars you save? They may be cheap, but they are NOT convienient! I try to avoid Walmart like the plague.

[TheEmissary]

Originally Posted by MrKrabs

That's a myth. I don't know of any locally-owned stores that have gone out of business around Scranton because of Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart was probably the nail in the coffin to Sugerman's, but that place was already in trouble before Wal-Mart.

Well MrKrabs, I guess you're not waiting with baited breath for the Nordstrom's and Neiman-Marcus to open!

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by W-B proud

I personally hate the Super Walmart in Wilkes-Barre. It's always jam packed, you can't find a parking spot less then a quarter mile away, it's so large it takes you forever to find everything you're looking for, the lines at the cash register are usually very long, and finally when you do get to leave the parking lot is like trying to leave a parking lot after a concert! After all of that is it really worth the couple dollars you save? They may be cheap, but they are NOT convienient! I try to avoid Walmart like the plague.

Well then you would hate the Dickson City Wal-Mart even more. Its more crowded with longer lines than the Wilkes-Barre Wal-Mart. I stop at the W-B Wal-Mart sometimes on the way home from work, and like it a lot better than the Dickson City store....the lines seem much shorter.
Wal-Mart can be a royal pain the arse with the crowds and the Dickson City traffic, but unfortunately its a neccesary evil to make the paychecks stretch as far as possible.