Walmart SuperCenter Being Developed in East Point (Cleveland: roughest, home)

[ATLTJL]

I have to say, Wal-Marts can be great additions to blighted areas. I don't know East Point that well, I know there are some people with money there, but there is also poverty...

Anyway, stores like Wal-Mart can be great for struggling people because I've noticed that often the only stores that go into blighted areas are smaller locally owned places that TOTALLY RIP OFF the people who can least afford it! When these are the businesses Wal-Mart drives out of business, I say good riddance. Struggling people should have just as much access to cheap toilet paper, band-aids, and soap as everybody else. So often, they don't, and they are subject to local merchants that gouge them knowing that they don't have the mobility to travel many miles away to better stores.

When I went to help some refugees in Clarkston, I was mortified to see how much the local merchants rip them off for basic staples. Wal-Mart is great for areas with this problem.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

The original point I was trying to make is that on this board, people do nothing but tout densely packed retail with no parking or inconvenient parking, street level access, and smaller stores.

That may make sense in certain areas, but for places like East Point, I'd go so far to say that just about any development is an improvement over what is there now.

Yep. Well to do communities have the luxury of insisting on good development, and raising Cain when they don't get it.

Poorer neighborhoods often have to take what they can get. Nobody's concerned about whether their parking is underground, whether they save sidewalk cafes, or whether somebody makes them trudge across yet another giant asphalt lot.

That isn't just but I'm afraid it's reality.

[bryantm3]

i was at wayfield today (at lee and virginia in college park), and although the customer service is good and the store is nice and cozy, it is *expensive*!! almost every item was marked up to the point that it would be about the same to shop at publix. isn't wayfield supposed to be cheaper, for lower income folks? it certainly didn't look like it today. there is already a kroger on cleveland avenue so i wouldn't say that the area is starving for retail, but compared to the rest of ATL it is certainly short.

[cqholt]

I have to say, Wal-Marts can be great additions to blighted areas. I don't know East Point that well, I know there are some people with money there, but there is also poverty

Like the walmart at historic westside village. It was needed there and the locals had little opposition.

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

i was at wayfield today (at lee and virginia in college park), and although the customer service is good and the store is nice and cozy, it is *expensive*!! almost every item was marked up to the point that it would be about the same to shop at publix. isn't wayfield supposed to be cheaper, for lower income folks? it certainly didn't look like it today. there is already a kroger on cleveland avenue so i wouldn't say that the area is starving for retail, but compared to the rest of ATL it is certainly short.

I don't really agree with that. I would say its comparable to Publix in price, probably a little cheaper. The produce is overpriced though and not very good. I don't do my full shops there though, I view it more like a huge corner store right close by.

Drove by the apartment complexes they are tearing down for the Walmart. I imagine everyone around there that gives a damn is ecstatic that place is going away. They have the area fenced off and are actively tearing buildings down. There is also a sign stating a Walmart is coming in.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by HH82

The site in question is at the southeast corner of Cleveland and Sylvan, between Sylvan and Springdale, behind the Shell station. Those abandoned duplexes have been a great place to get stabbed for a long time. The Kroger just down the street is always packed, so having another big grocery store option will be good for the residents and will employ a bunch of people in an area that desperately needs some jobs. I don't particularly care for the Wal-Mart business model, but it's good news for Cleveland Ave.

I was getting ready to be all in a huff, but if they are planning this for the Cleveland Ave corridor instead of Downtown proper I'm all for it. It will be great for the residents of the area from having another option aside from Kroger, CVS and a myriad of bodegas to buy groceries at to adding more badly needed jobs in the area.

[Ed Briggs]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

I'll stick with the good service I get at Wayfield vs the consumer nightmare that is WalMart.

How is walmart a nightmare? I get a cart, put stuff in it, save money, go home and eat. I don't need "good service" (not even sure what you mean, as I don't need any human interaction to shop)

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by Ed Briggs

How is walmart a nightmare? I get a cart, put stuff in it, save money, go home and eat. I don't need "good service" (not even sure what you mean, as I don't need any human interaction to shop)

If I could get out of Walmart without human interaction I would like it a whole lot better.

[ATLTJL]

My biggest gripe with Wal-Mart is they can't figure out self-service checkout lanes.

It may be just me, but it seems like whenever I want to just buy one or two items really quick, the self-checkout lanes are all roped off and I have to get in a long line. Other times when I have a cart full of stuff and I really don't want to scan it all myself, all the manned checkout lines are closed and only the selfies are open.

It's not really Wal-Mart's fault as much as just Murphy's Law.

[arjay57]

I have some disagreements with Walmart's employment policies, although I don't think they are the worst of all retailers.

I also am not happy that everything at Walmart seems to come from China, but that is true in a lot of stores. That's the way the world is these days.

Despite those reservations, I will have to say I've never personally had a bad experience at Walmart.