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I've seen threads where people do not like Wal-Mart in rural areas.
First of all, there are things to consider:
A.
1. People in their rural areas do not want their businesses ran out.
2. People may not like a store that large in their area.
3. People may have some reservations about wal-mart.
B. Why some like wal-marts.
1. Some People in rural areas still like things cheap and like to be able to buy a variety of necessities without having to drive distances.
2. Some people may want to go in a store without having to deal with the people that work in certain stores. For instance, if only one store sells certain items that wal-mart sells and you don't get along with so and so that owns that place, you may avoid going in to that place by going to a local wal-mart. Some don't care for the "it's my store and you serve me even though you are paying me" kind of attitude. Fortunately, this isn't the case. It's very rare. It only happened to me once.
3. I think it might be a little overrated? Most small town owners usually sell nice things you can't get easily in other stores. They sell items that have aspects of the area. People that visit these towns usually want things that remind them of the place.
C. If you do not like Wal-Mart in rural areas, I think this is what needs to be done.
1. Try to be competetive- easier said than done sometimes though. I know that most business owners could not sell certain items the price wal-mart does. However, you could make the place entertaining.
2. Move to a smaller town or rural area that does not have a wal-mart or does not permit other chain factory stores.
3. If you want to run a business that deals with retail, try to do something like a chained or owned hardware store or other "small chained business". These tend to do very well in small towns, even if there is a wal-mart. In hardware stores, there are many things that you can get that wal-mart doesn't have. Hardware stores are awesome in small towns. But try to make sure "your the only hardware store in town".
But me- I like Wal-Mart.
P.S. Forgive if I was suppose to put this in another forum. I thought about politics but in some ways this deals with rural areas. So I guess it could be an either lol!
When Walmart comes in a rural area and builds a store they have no problem hiring enough locals to staff the store.
This tells me that a lot of locals also need jobs and either had none before Walmart or consider Walmart a better alternative to where they were previously employed.
Yes, I wish Walmart paid more and had better benefits.
But, evidently their pay and benefits are better than where the applicants came from in the rural communities.
I think the OP should live in a truly rural town before disparaging Wal-Mart. I live in a small town, one without a Wal-Mart, and I enjoy it. BUT, I don't do my shopping in the small town. There aren't any quaint shops selling nice things you can't get elsewhere; there's the feed store that sells overalls as well as fertilizer and seed and grain. There's the hardware store that sells the same merchandise that every Ace Hardware sells, and lumber on the side. It's more expensive than Lowes, and isn't open at nights or on weekends, but it's there. There's the grocery store that charges 20% more for everything than grocery stores closer into town. I don't want to pay $4.00 for a box of cereal that costs $3.20 if I go to the larger town to buy it, I don't want to pay $2.00 for a 2-liter bottle of pop. There's no dress shops or clothing stores, no shoe stores, no place to buy stationery. There's no gift shops or cute little candy store. There's no motel or hotel or cute bed-and-breakfast. Small town American isn't a tourist destination. It's small communities that developed when the farmers in the area needed a school to send their children and a post office. When a businessman saw that the farmers in the area needed somewhere to buy grain for their livestock, and wire for fencing and picked the most central location to the most farmers in the area. It may have developed along the railroad, or at a crossroads, where stock and product could be shipped in and out. Sam Walton was no different than the feed store owner, he saw that people in small towns wanted to be able to buy T-shirts and batteries, socks and underwear, and not spend all day or an arm and a leg to do it. Certainly some storeowners may be unhappy to see Wal-Mart coming to town, certainly it's a lop-sided competition in many cases. But Wal-Mart is going to attract customers from a larger radius than just the small town, and that extra tax income over time can help small towns develop infrastructure that allows them to grow, and that will attract new businesses. I wish retail jobs paid more, and provided better benefits, but I don't blame Wal-Mart for being typical of the retail sector.
Walmart is a multi-billion dollar corporation. There can be upsides and downsides to putting one in a small rural town. Upsides, yes, can be jobs...but when there arent that many people in a small town anyway.....
Next, it will draw in people from other areas. There goes the neighbourhood.
The small town ma-and-pa places go out of business, so much for the good ol' boy atmosphere, friendliness and real people. Taken over by that plastic smile greeter and people who are just there to be there, not because they want to be 'people-persons'. I have yet to go into a Walmart that the employees greet you with a real smile, know what the heck youre looking for and where to find it and mostly, who seem to enjoy their jobs and who care about the customer. Not to mention, where stuff isnt strewn about in areas, people blocking aisles for a 'family reunion' so others cant get through, screaming kids, clothes simply dropped on floors off the hangers, Then again, there are many other areas where people just dont appreciate their jobs, they are simply there just 'because'.
Personally, Id still shop at a family owned business over a huge corporation anyday, for the customer service, if there were many left anymore. My own thoughts, though.
Wal-mart removes profit from the rural and small areas and concentrates it into the hands of the Walton family. This is a net loss for rural and small town America. I do not shop there.
Wal-mart removes profit from the rural and small areas and concentrates it into the hands of the Walton family. This is a net loss for rural and small town America. I do not shop there.
Wal-Mart is not a privately owned corporation. It's publicly traded. That means the profits go into shares that are in stock portfolios of millions of people. It goes into people's retirement funds, enabling many people to retire comfortably. Certainly, Walton family members still own stock, and those family members are scattered across the country, contributing to their communities, donating to charity, living their lives. You should attend a stockholders meeting in Bentonville, sometime. You'd be surprised by the diversity and the stories of the people that have been enriched by Wal-Mart.
Well living in a small town I can tell you the nearest WalMart is 20 miles from here.
But then so is the large grocery store chain of Texas, HEB. Our small town is a tourist town, the shops on the square charge high prices for things I can get in the next town a lot cheaper! Our town has 2 hardware stores and one grocery store specializing in small towns, and prices are higher than in the next town.
We will not have a WalMart in our little town until this town comes up with a city wide Sewer plan. That is what is saving us from becoming a town with chain stores, no sewers! Septic tanks are just not in their way of doing business.
Yes, I wish Walmart paid more and had better benefits.
But, evidently their pay and benefits are better than where the applicants came from in the rural communities.
Yes! Thats a big arguement for people, no benefits etc. But I dont know of any mom and pop stores that have benefits, I am sure there are some but they are few and far between.
I live in rural NM and the closest Walmart is 80 miles away. I do a bit of shopping there if I need to get out of town. Some people drive there specifically to shop, and with todays gas prices I cannot see the benefit of doing so.
We have a local run and owned for 100 years nearly Hardware Store which is the only place I buy hardware, vaccums and other stuff because if it breaks, they know exactly what to do. There is no "duh" factor in most locally run stores.
However, being rural, and cowboy town I do not buy things like clothes here because I dont like jeans and shirts, or cowboy hats :S I do buy them in Walmart.
I like Wal-Mart. Most of the stuff there can't be bought elsewhere near where I live, and even if it can, Wal-Mart always has the lower price. For people on limited/fixed incomes, Wal-Mart is great.
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