The Wal-Mart cure-all?

CudahyNOW blogger Randy Hollenbeck is a big fan of Wal-Mart. He’s made it clear he wants to see a Wal-Mart come to the failed IcePort site in Cudahy, and in a recent blog entry, he asserted Cudahy doesn’t have a business-friendly reputation because of the unwillingness of elected officials in Cudahy to allow Wal-Mart to build a store on the IcePort site.

Hollenbeck goes on to say, “Walmart, like them or not, gave the city the best chance of building a retail complex with maybe an applebees, best buy, or other stores who gravitate to a major retail hub such as them.” Now I don’t know about Randy Hollenbeck, but I haven’t seen many Best Buys or Applebee’s “gravitating” to Wal-Mart. In fact, I can’t think of a single instance where there’s a Best Buy in close proximity to a Wal-Mart, and I’m assuming that’s due in large part to the fact that Wal-Mart and Best Buy are competitors when it comes to the sales of electronics, movies, music, etc.

So here’s what I’d like to know:

  • How is a Wal-Mart going to solve all the problems plaguing the City of Cudahy?
  • How is a Wal-Mart in Cudahy going to solve the drug problems plaguing Cudahy?
  • How is a Wal-Mart in Cudahy going to prevent businesses like IQ Buffet and Breakwater Records from going out of business?
  • How is a Wal-Mart in Cudahy going to cut the rash of garage robberies?

I’d love to hear someone answer these questions.

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5 thoughts on “The Wal-Mart cure-all?

  1. All I can say is “May God Bless WalMart”
    True story: My mother-in-law worked at a WalMart for more than 18 years. She had a heart attack one night on the way home from work and collided with a headstone in a cemetery. She crawled out and walked the rest of the way home bleeding and incoherent. She needed to work for four more months before she qualified for retirement (so I am told). She spent a week recovering and went back to work. Everybody at WalMart helped her with her work, her boss looked the other way, and HR worked behind the scenes to process her retirement. She can hardly walk now and needs constant care. Her health insurance and WalMart retirement pension are supporting her and her husband(on dialysis).
    Where I live, WalMart is the largest store with the best food and housewares selections at the lowest prices. They hire people that other companies would not and allow them to be productive.
    And yes, some local stores closed when WalMart came in. The bad ones. The others are still operating just fine and all of the locals know they need to support the Mom and Pop places as well as WalMart.
    There is an Applebees 1/2 mile down the road now. Not always busy but it does okay. And the old saw is true that when it rains, farmers go shopping. And up here they shop at WalMart.

    1. Dave, some businesses will undoubtedly be put out of business, but I’m sure some will survive, as has been the case in the past. However, my concern is that some folks in Cudahy are viewing Wal-Mart as a cure for everything that ails their community, which is false hope.

  2. i just usually find that Randy hasn’t a clue what he’s talking about, He used to manage a dept at kmart. you can see how well they are doing!

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