Walmart saps taxpayers for subsidies & leaves them with empty retail carcasses – Commentary by Steve Scroggins
Years ago, I liked Walmart stores. But things change. When I heard they were building a Walmart a mile up the road
from my house, it was pretty much a done deal and I couldn't stop it. But I was certain I didn't want them for my neighbor. The traffic increase alone is reason enough.
Some communities may view Walmart as a good thing. I'll use one when there's no other viable choice and---like a southern Baptist in a liquor store---hope no one sees me. For example, I was going to a flagging event in Eastman, Georgia last June and didn't see
any other retail choices. I stopped at the Walmart in Eastman to buy a couple of rubber chickens to wave at the governor and his sidekick, speaker of the House Terry Coleman. Sometimes one has to sacrifice for the greater good.
Back to Macon. My wife says the service is now much better at the Kroger across the road from Walmart. Instead of one or two clerks and one or two long lines,
the management at Kroger seems to have recognized the need for better customer focus and service. Competition generally does have that effect. But this is the only
benefit I see for my local Walmart; everything else is negative.
As a resident of Macon, I'm familiar with Walmart's pattern for snarling things up. About five years ago, I lived in a neighboring county on
the other side of Macon. The main route to/from town is a 4-lane highway that passed by a Walmart. Traffic was always dangerous where people attempted left turns out
of the Walmart. Then Walmart abandoned the old location and built a "super store" across the highway. The hulking retail carcass of the old Walmart still sits empty. They
had to add a traffic signal at the entrance to the Super Store. Now, what was once a fast moving highway is littered with several more traffic lights to snarl traffic. Thanks, Walmart.
As pointed out by the ReclaimDemocracy.org website, excess retail space is a national problem and "Wal-Mart alone has left almost 400 abandoned stores---more than 30 million square feet of vacant retail space surrounded by thousands of acres of asphalt."
This report is as of June 2002, that's before the store recently built near my home....
Littering America
with Dead Malls and Vacant Superstores.
The experience of Macon, Georgia is not typical, but instructive. This small city is home to three Wal-Mart carcasses, two of which exceed 100,000 square feet---more than double the size of a football field and triple the size of typical supermarket, and that's not counting their vast parking lots. Like most of the 34 abandoned Wal-Mart stores in Georgia, the three Macon outlets were shuttered after the company built two larger "supercenters," swallowing up still more undeveloped land.
Thanks, again, Walmart.
Now, this week, you can imagine my joy to learn that many local taxpayers are paying for the privilege of
having a Walmart move into their town. The AJC reported on May 24 that Georgia governments paid Walmart $19 million in subsidies since
1987 for retail and warehouse facilities. That's $19 million in public money, folks. Remember those retail carcasses and acres of empty asphalt in Macon?
Guess who paid for that?
AJC story on Walmart subsidies
Local communities in desperate need of jobs and industry pay the piper to bribe Walmart. Walmart moves in and provides
mostly low-wage retail jobs. They drive smaller retailers out. Walmart moves on to greener pastures leaving the taxpayers with an empty shell and the bill. Thanks, Walmart.
Of course, their PR department will claim they pay more into the economy than they take out. Yada, yada, yada. Consolidation. Overwhelming economic force. Destruction of time-honored establishments. This is a story
that should be well-known to Southerners.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for competition, free markets and free enterprise....but should our local governments give
Walmart an unfair edge to compete against local retailers? No. I just can't bring myself to believe that the
Walmartization of the South (or America for that matter) is a good thing. There are strong arguments that Walmarts cost communities more
in lost jobs and wages than they bring in. And make no mistake, Walmart is anti-southern.
Does Walmart really need our tax dollars?
Weapons of Mass Marketing: Wal-Mart versus the South
Let your local government officials know that you don't want any new Walmarts in your communities. Remind them that
your vote counts as much as the local real estate developer's. Recruit a group to visit any and all zoning hearings where Walmart is involved. And finally, let any
existing Walmarts know they're not welcome. Don't spend any money with them.
If you have an emergency need for a rubber chicken, just hope your neighbors don't see you go in or come out.
Wal-Mart Guilt
Consumer Exploitation/Corporate Greed/Worker Abuses
Steve Scroggins
is Adjutant of the Lt. James T. Woodward Camp 1399, Sons of Confederate
Veterans, in Warner Robins, GA and a frequent GHC contributor of parody
and political cartoons and graphics.
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