Are there too many Walmarts in Jacksonville?

[zro.demise]

Walmart... "Save money. Live better" can be seen all over their website, plastic bags, news paper ads and even their commercials. We have come to rely on this super giant of retail gluttony on all our daily needs and wants. Now I grew up in New Jersey. Walmart was a place of fiction, not that it wasn't real, but they were too few and far between. One must drive many miles and go through many townships before actually walking into 108,000 square feet of savings. We have all heard the pros and cons of what a Walmart can do to a community, so this begs on the question. "Do we have too many Walmarts in Jacksonville?"

[Steve]

Well, when was the last time we saw an empty one? I think market factors make that decision.

[tufsu1]

you can never have too many Wal Marts

[floridaforester]

There are too many big-box stores period, but especially Wal-Mart.  Its a shame that we're such a wasteful culture that we would rather buy cheap plastic crap and throw it in a landfill as soon as we're tired of it.  I would much rather spend just a little more for quality at, hopefully, a locally-owned retail establishment and purchase an item that might last me many years.  Americans have to get over this idea that natural resources are limitless and we can continue to waste like there's no tomorrow (oh wait, I forgot about the rapture!).

Before globalization and the ability of multi-nationals to exploit labor for five cents a day, our parents and grandparents might buy a pair of shoes and make them last for years with just a little maintenance and repairs.  But, then again, its much easier to throw them away and buy another cheap pair at Walmart.

[KenFSU]

Well, when was the last time we saw an empty one? I think market factors make that decision.

Totally agree.

Let the free market do its job, and let consumers vote with their dollars.

WalMart, ethics aside, has undoubtedly and immeasurably improved the quality of life for tens of millions of low income families.

If someone living hand-to-mouth can stretch their paycheck $20 further each week by shopping at Walmart, who amongst us has any right to look them in the eye and say, "You know, you should be shopping at a local mom-and-pop store instead."

I completely agree that the exploitation of foreign labor for cheap products is disgusting, but WalMart is farrrrrrrrrrrrr from alone in that respect. And ultimately, a store like Walmart only sells what we the citizenry are willing to purchase. We all have blood on our hands in that respect.

[Jaxson]

The only thing that I do not like about Wal-Mart is that it is always full of people, but they rarely have more than three registers open.  Whats more is that the self-checkout lanes are not any better - they are often out of commission when the store is at its busiest.  Are low prices worth the hassle of waiting in queues that are ten people deep? 

Does Jacksonville have too many Wal-Marts?  Well, if Mayor John Peyton's analysis is correct, our city is a giant Wal-Mart!

[blandman]

Totally agree.

Let the free market do its job, and let consumers vote with their dollars.

WalMart, ethics aside, has undoubtedly and immeasurably improved the quality of life for tens of millions of low income families.

How can you say Walmart has "immeasurably" improved QOL, ethics aside?  I'm not sure exploiting foreign labor is where Walmart draws the line...their anti-union, sex discrimination, part-time hiring, low-wage paying, mom 'n pop store killing employment practices have been fairly exploitive in the U.S., as well.  Ethics aside, I guess you're right.  Viva la Free Market!

[KenFSU]

I wasn't taking a stance pro or against Walmart's business practices.

I was, quite literally, excluding ethics from the conversation.

I stand by my original statement. Walmart has improved quality of life for the average American family. It has stretched their dollar significantly farther. Big box stores aren't everyones cup of tea, myself included, but at the end of the day, a massive superstore has the ability to sell everything at a lower cost (and often a lower profit) than 20 separate Mom and Pop stores selling sports equipment, or video games, or hardware, or whatever. Numerous studies show a significant increase in disposable income in communities where a Walmart opens.

I'm making no argument whatsoever about the cultural or ethical implications of said superstores, only that - when measuring quality of life in purely economical terms - it's ridiculos to argue that stores like Walmart are inherently bad relative smaller stores.

[reednavy]

Wal-Mart will eventually suffer the fate that Sears has, and many business analysts agree.

[Garden guy]

There has always been too many walmarts...it's a travisty...they suck money from people by selling crap from a country that would love to take us over..i'd love to know exactly what percent of their merchandise is from the USA....

[blandman]

it's ridiculos to argue that stores like Walmart are inherently bad relative smaller stores.

The only reason I commented on your original post is because you make it seem as if there is no question that every new 200,000 sqft Walmart Supercenter is a boon for the local economy.  While there is plenty of research that supports the fact that Walmart saves consumers $millions, there is also a lot of research that shows that Walmart places major downward pressure on wages...and not just its own.  There is a cost and a benefit to opening a new Walmart, but many researchers/academics think it's a zero-sum game (i.e., jobs created by Walmart come at the expense of lost jobs at local retailers, and most of the savings captured by consumers is eroded by the lower wages paid by Walmart and other employers due to Walmart's entry in the local market). 

That's part of the economic cost/benefit...what happens when you include the environment, infrastructure, etc.?  I don't (completely) hate Walmart.  I'm just saying the argument is certainly not as simple as you've implied.

[simms3]

^^^You guys need to read more.  Garden Guy, read about Wal-Mart's history or about Sam Walton.  reednavy, I would agree if I hadn't seen Wal-Mart adapting well to the times.  Discount prices are here to stay (as they always have been), and Wal-Mart is catching on with the urban crowd, too.  75% of New Yorkers wish WMT were in city limits.  The only people opposed seemed to be wealthy Manhattanites and city councilmen who demanded to let WMT in only if they unionized.  There are now two, smaller WMT stores catering to health conscious urbanites in Atlanta (and they are in urban infill developments).

Look for them to exceed EPS on February 22 when their 10-K comes out.  That's a Tuesday, and if they're on time then they will be putting out the news on about the best day of the week for earnings reports (scheduled Monday reports are widely considered evidence of probably bad news).

Academics schmacademics, these academics are the types who have been teaching and talking for a career, but have never been in the private sector.  They either need to go to b-school, or find a new job just for the experience.

[blandman]

They either need to go to b-school, or find a new job just for the experience.

Not sure who you think teaches students at b-school.  That's right: the "schmacademics."

[simms3]

The best business schools take on a lot of private sector guys.  They were CEOs first and academics second (in semi-retirement).  Nice try.  And it's not like all the academics are predicting a downfall of WMT or ragging on the company, either.  It's actually a case study for good business, hence why it may be the most studied company in Harvard Biz Review (either it, Disney, or Apple).

[cityimrov]

WalMart has captured one market that 99% of the other big box stores, mom and pop shops, etc don't. 

24/7 Shopping

Try finding a store that's open at 1AM to do your shopping at.  Most the stores in this city shuts down at 9PM.  While they are closed, WalMart stays open.