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Readers Not Keen On Walmart Express

October 24, 2012 Retail 18 Comments

No majority winner in the poll last week but clearly readers don’t want a typical auto-centric Walmart:

Q: Would You Support Or Oppose Walmart Express Stores In The City Of St. Louis?

  1. Oppose, Walmart is a horrible company 66 [41.77%]
  2. Support, with good design regulations 59 [37.34%]
  3. Support, competition is good 23 [14.56%]
  4. Neutral 4 [2.53%]
  5. Unsure/No Opinion 3 [1.9%]
  6. Other: 3 [1.9%]

The three “other” answers were:

  1. Oppose. Letting them in would likely open Pandora’s big-box.
  2. Not any worse than Family Dollar
  3. I’d have to see one first

The problem is so many of our elected officials like new construction, they add the cost to their tally to brag about investment they attracted. Some do get that we need an overhaul of our regulations to force retailers to use their connected urban prototypes rather than doing the least they have to. These retailers have saturated suburban markets and need new locations to grow.

We can demand better from them!

– Steve Patterson

  • guest

    I like this comment: “Not any worse than Family Dollar”. This person has a firm grasp of markets, standards, demand, and reality. Choosing between a retail desert and a tiny Walmart in your neighborhood, would you block Walmart because they don’t meet an urbanist’s design standards?

  • The MINGE

    Maybe I missed it, but was there a plan for Walmart Express to open in STL?

    • http://urbanreviewstl.com/ Steve Patterson

      Not yet but Walmart is planning smaller stores to enter urban markets.

  • Aragornman

    “Readers Not Keen on Walmart Express” seems like a misleading title when 52% said they supported it (albeit with good design regulations).

    • http://urbanreviewstl.com/ Steve Patterson

      I viewed it as 79.11% oppose or support only with good regulations.

  • RyleyinSTL

    Would a Family Dollar even compete with a corner Walmart? My impression of these so-called dollar stores was that they sell complete and utter crap, which I don’t want, for around a buck. While I don’t go to Walmart much I can say it’s sales model does not match that of a dollar store…presumably a smaller one wouldn’t either?

    • http://urbanreviewstl.com/ Steve Patterson

      Actually many of the dollar stores sell name brand merchandise, like the Swiffer refills I bought last time I was in one.

    • guest

      While I do not get all giddy over the appearance of a Dollar Store down the street, when I want to buy crap, I buy my crap cheap at the Dollar Store. If Walmart offered an option to buy cheap crap closer _and_ cheaper, I would shop there.

  • moe

    Choices, choices, choices…..Walmart…the big evil empire or Family Dollar or some similiar store selling “crap”. Sorry folks, I ‘ll take the crap anyday…at least that way there will be the opportunity for other stores to open. Talk about a dessert….if Walmart opens you can kiss any competition goodbye unless it is another big box with the where-with-all to go head to head with Walmart. (their cut-throat pricing will not allow any mom & pops to survive, never mind even getting a start).

  • JZ71

    Yes we can! “We can demand better from them!” The question will “they” (I assume Walmart) listen? And, more importantly, will our elected representatives? Listen, and support “us”? My guess is that any potential new business and any potential “new” sales taxes will trump most concerns you or I would raise about urban design and parking.

    • http://urbanreviewstl.com/ Steve Patterson

      Walmart needs new stores for growth, we are in a position to mandate their Express stores have good urban design. The sales taxes are the same for the city if I buy toilet paper at Target, Family Dollar, Deals, or Walmart Express.

      • moe

        To me this is not about Urban design or parking. This is about allowing those mom & pops, which readers here supposedly crave, the environment to 1) get established and 2) thrive. Walmart will NOT allow this to happen. Will they go out of their way to stifle such growth? Of course not, they are so big and have such economies of scale that they don’t need to. So Walmart will go in and then we will hear the usual litany of complaints about lack of smaller stores from the people walking into that very same Walmart.

        • http://urbanreviewstl.com/ Steve Patterson

          Agreed, between Walgreens, CVS, Family Dollar, etc the mom & pop stores already have it difficult. They must find ways to compete by selling niche goods, for example.

          • JZ71

            The problem with that concept is that people don’t but “niche” products every day or every week, while the “crap” / necessities that Walmart, Target , Dollar Tree, et al sell / focus on is what people buy more consistently and in greater quantities. That’s the fundamental reason why we no longer have the traditional “corner” stores – too many of us CHOOSE to shop at Schnucks, Target and Family Dollar instead of places like Northside Family Foods . . .

          • moe

            Agreed…but the problem is how do we change this attitude? and this is not just a City vs suburban issue. This affects us all. And yet, if you ask those going into Walmart (or Target)..you’ll get the comment that they are concerned about the mom & pops….just not enough to shop there. And on here..this is preaching to the choir. Until EVERYONE realizes that they have skin in the game (either directly or indirectly), I don’t think this is going to change.

          • JZ71

            The reason I shop where I shop is 10% (perceived) low prices, 10% environment, convenience and service (or lack thereof) and 80% selection – I like good choices and I like to be able to find what I’m looking for, no matter how obscure it might be. Take the example of Home Depot versus the local hardware store. The local store has better service and is a bit closer, but has a smaller selection and higher prices. If I’m in the middle of a do-it-yourself plumbing project, and need one generic part, the local store is the answer. If I want to buy an new vanity, faucet, supply lines and trap, Home Depot is the answer, because of selection, not because of price or service. The evil chain just does things better, although locals can and do compete, IF they step up their game, like McGuckin Hardware does in Boulder, CO,: https://store.mcguckin.com/inet/home.html

          • Moe

            I agree in part JZ….look at Oak Hill Hardware or Haneke Hardware…been in business for multiple generations. And I prefer Lowes over Home Depot just on service alone! But anyway….What you and I do I feel is vastly different from a family of 4 for instance…they are willing to deal with less service, less environment for that lowest price. Yes there is a need for the bigger stores for more variety, but then…like our Local Harvest…they wouldn’t survive if people just stopped in for organic tomatoes for instance and then bought all the rest at Shop n Save. Local Harvest is proving that people will pay for the service (excellent), and medium variety and a bit higher price….However, I think we can agree that a whole week’s worth of LH’s customers at all their locations (3 now)..is equal to 1 day’s worth of customers at a single Walmart. For we have seen the enemy, and it is us.

          • JZ71

            Agree. The marketplace is truly organic, with many people making many individual decisions every day, and the results speak for themselves. We can say we love small neighborhood places and “hate” the big chains and big boxes, but talk is cheap. Money, and where we spend it, ultimately determines the “winners” and losers”!

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