Oh Great - Another Wal Mart on Route 1 (Richmond, Alexandria: low income, sale)

[CAVA1990]

Just noticed they're putting a new Wal Mart in on Highway 1 near Kings Crossing. At one time there was talk of a Wegmans but guess we just don't rate that or a Trader Joes. There's already another Wal Mart down the highway about 3 miles. Between this and the new trailer park under discussion it just seems we're not making much progress at our end of the county. The lower rent properties drive the retail along there even though there are a lot of farily upscale neighborhoods close by along the parkway. You want anything decent you're still going to have to drive into Old Town. Very disappointing.

[FindingZen]

FWIW, I think it's supposed to be a "super" Wal-Mart with an extensive grocery section. NOVA doesn't seem to have many of those, for whatever reason. The Target just down the road is expanding its own grocery section in response.

I have to admit that I've never been to a Wegman's...but I think if any lot had the room for it along Route 1, the former Chuck-E-Cheese/furniture depot place would have been it.

And I don't think Trader Joe's would do particularly well in South Alexandria unless they kicked the Safeway out of Belle View Shopping Center to make room for it.

[pcgeller]

Rough. Isn't that a bit of Walmart overkill?

A Trader Joes or Wegmans would be nice but I can't see that happening in the area. Some of those old seedy motels need to be removed first.

Where's this trailer park going in? Isn't all housing low income at this point?

EDIT: from SFDC website

Former Kings Crossing – JBG Rosenfeld Retail (JBGR) has announced Walmart will be the anchor of their Alexandria shopping center, Kings Crossing, at Richmond Highway and Shields Avenue. The Walmart will be approximately 80,000 square feet. Joining them will be a 15,000 square foot Chuck E. Cheese, and another 10,000 square foot junior anchor.

Walmart will be opening a new "Urban Prototype Store" featuring a significantly smaller footprint than many of their exurban stores. This new prototype includes their neighborhood grocery concept and has a reduced department store format. The store will also incorporate many sustainable building practices including a white reflective roof and state of the art energy efficiencies.

The project will be completed in three phases. Phase I is slated to be completed in October 2010. Phase II will have up to an additional 20,000 square feet of small store retail in pad buildings to be constructed. Upon completion of both phases, the total gross leasable area of the shopping center will be approximately 126,000 square feet. There is also a planned Phase III of this project which will include a mixed use component of additional shops as well as a new multi-family building.

[FindingZen]

So they're actually keeping Chuck-E-Cheese. Interesting.

[ShannonMilligan]

It's interesting how Walmarts are thought of here. (This is just my observation) I am from central PA and there is very normal and not looked down on to shop at Walmart. Matter of fact, when we go back to visit, I enjoy going to the Walmarts there. (Especially for the pedicures at the nail place inside that local Walmart-best I have had!) But here...it is very different. We have gone to the Walmart in Sterling maybe 5 times in 2 1/2 years. Not only is there the stigma of going to Walmart here but I have to admit the one in Leesburg and Sterling are a bit "dirty" (Again, my opinion and compared to the ones back home)
Anyway...just find it interesting.

[Alicia Bradley]

twinmma, I used to live (I'm serious as a heart attack) next to Sam Walton's boyhood home on Windsor St. in Columbia, MO (Walton's boyhood home was a little white bungalow, my place was an adorable vintage four-plex *sigh*). Anyway, though, Wal-Mart was pretty heavily stigmatized even in Columbia, in the heart of non-Arkansas Wal-Mart country. Yes, I'm serious.. the rest of the Waltons still live outside of Columbia (on horse ranches, IIRC), even.

I think the thing is that Wal-Mart is often the only option in towns smaller than Columbia - in Clinton, Missouri, for instance, there was a meh local grocery store (they did have excellent produce and really really really good fresh guacamole and orange juice, though), an Aldi, a very little hole-in-the-wall hippie natural foods co-op, and the Wal-Mart Supercenter. (There had been a not-bad chain from Springfield, MO, called Consumers, but the arrival of the Supercenter put them out of business.) My mom and I would occasionally entertain ourselves by trying to find interesting stuff in the grocery half of the Supercenter - believe it or not, they actually had a little natural foods section, and you wouldn't believe how fresh their Stretch Island Fruit Leathers were! ahem, anyway.

I've been in a Wal-Mart once since moving to this area (they were having an unbelievable sale on Dyson vacuum cleaners, so I made the trek down to the original Wal-Mart on Rt. 1.. at night, even *shudder*), and, yeah, it was pretty dumpy and dirty. And, yes, there are very few Wal-Marts in the area, but I don't care.. I can certainly use other stores. I almost wonder if Fairfax County has a way of making barriers to entry almost insurmountable for particular companies, though - I'm thinking of Walgreens, for instance. AFAIK, there is ONE Walgreens in Fairfax County - and dozens of CVS stores, of course. I think Walgreens is VASTLY superior to CVS, and I think they could easily give CVS a serious challenge in this area, but it's almost like they're not being allowed in. (Independent Fairfax City has two Walgreens - that should tell you something.)

[cdmurphy]

Originally Posted by Alicia Bradley

I almost wonder if Fairfax County has a way of making barriers to entry almost insurmountable for particular companies, though - I'm thinking of Walgreens, for instance. AFAIK, there is ONE Walgreens in Fairfax County - and dozens of CVS stores, of course. I think Walgreens is VASTLY superior to CVS, and I think they could easily give CVS a serious challenge in this area, but it's almost like they're not being allowed in. (Independent Fairfax City has two Walgreens - that should tell you something.)

Out here in Ashburn, there are three Walgreens, and only one CVS that I know of. The CVS has been here forever, but the Walgreens are all fairly new. Closer in, I think there are more CVS because they bought People's Drugs, a local chain (I was in college then, so mid-1990s).

As for Walmart - they recently remodeled the one in Sterling to be a Super Walmart, and it is really nice. I was just there today, in fact. But before that, it was pretty bad - and it wasn't even that old (it used to be where Wegmans is now, and they demolished it eight or nine years ago). My parents live in exurban Atlanta, and their local Super Walmart is awesome and that's where everyone does their shopping, grocery or otherwise. It didn't put anyone out of business because there wasn't anything around there to begin with.

And my Walton story - one of Sam Walton's grandsons lived on my floor freshman year, and I studied econ with him a few times. He was a really nice guy, totally down to earth, and dressed like a lumberjack. If you didn't know who he was, you never would have guessed.

[mississippimagnolia]

I don't get the Walmart issue. In the south, super Walmarts are everywhere. I desperately miss that! You cannot beat the prices on groceries. And I could get my oil changed while I shopped. Everyone shopped at Walmart. And the ones I was in were always immaculate. Totally different than up here.

We move in 7 weeks and 4 days....back to the South! I can't wait to pay reasonable prices for food again!

[yamota]

If you asked me, you can never have enough walmarts! I love walmart! Leave the wegmans and the TJ's to the snotty snobbies of the world, give me a super walmart any day!

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by mississippimagnolia

I don't get the Walmart issue. In the south, super Walmarts are everywhere. I desperately miss that! You cannot beat the prices on groceries. And I could get my oil changed while I shopped. Everyone shopped at Walmart. And the ones I was in were always immaculate. Totally different than up here.

We move in 7 weeks and 4 days....back to the South! I can't wait to pay reasonable prices for food again!

So the move to Jacksonville is happening? Congrats.

I think the better idea would be to turn in Wal-mart already on Rt. 1 into a Super Wal-mart. Two Wal-Marts on Rt. 1 will just intensify the traffic trouble there.

On Wal-Mart's, I love to support small local businesses, but for someone who will be a starving independent adult just out of college in a couple of years without military dependency, Wal-Mart may be the only way I can feed myself without going broke.

I just visited the Super Wal-Mart in Elizabethtown, KY and it ain't half-bad. Has better access than either one in Alexandria.