Hey, Mayor Huether! I know you're excited about the prospect of doubling Sioux Falls's Walmart count. Not everyone in Sioux Falls is as thrilled.
But let's look at this from a city planning perspective. If you're going to add grocery stores (and these Walmarts will come with grocery sections, right?), you should encourage them to go where need exists for more access to groceries. And according to the USDA's new Food Access Research Atlas, the two new Walmarts will plunk down neatly outside the areas where Sioux Falls could most use some neighborhood grocery stores:
Folks in north central, west central, and south central Sioux Falls live in what the USDA calls "food deserts," which in urban areas means places where a significant percentage of residents live more than a mile (reasonable walking distance?) from a grocery store. These two new Walmarts on the edges of the city do little to ease the pressure on folks in these areas trying to feed their families without having to drive all over kingdom come. These two new Walmarts will also make it even harder for these food-desert neighborhoods to support local grocery options.
I understand the logic in locating a big box store out on undeveloped land with plenty of room for parking and trucks and access from big roads. But if City Hall is interested in boosting economic development with Walmarts on the city edges, it should also be looking for solutions for the food needs of these existing neighborhoods.
By the way, Sioux Falls anti-Walmart petitioneers point out that Vermont has four Walmarts for its 626,000 people. Cities with no Walmarts: Boston, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Detroit... four out of five of which are pretty happening places.
Every Main Street in every small town in a 50-75 mile radius will be affected, too.
They are on the edge because they want to pull more rural and small town folks. They just put another nail in Madison's economic future by making it even easier for people north and west of Sioux Falls to make the trip. You ask why they never will come to Madison?.....because the Madison zip code is already all over the place in their credit card sales.
Massaging margins selling Chinese crap is the American Dream and South Dakotans are suckers for cheap crap.
I guess SD is a lot like the other 49 then.....
Far more members of the earth hater party shop at SprawlMart than Democrats do.
http://themoderatevoice.com/169207/walmart-is-the-real-moocher/
Four Walmarts in Sioux Falls by the end of 2014. They going for Blight City, USA #1?
There'd be fewer casualties, and quicker rebuild and recovery, if SF City Council hired an arsonist to burn the city down.
Would someone explain to me the rationale for Walmart locations sometimes are next door to Sam's Clubs?
Grand Forks (pop., about 50,000) has a Walmart, with an adjacent Sam's, and is approving an additional Walmart northwest of town.
LK: I think it's part of Walmart's business plan to dominate the world... Not sure, if I agree w/ your 10:04 posting.
I didn't post at 10:04 or at 10:06
Sorry. Make that Larry Kurtz re above.
The discussion of a second grocery store in Madison has all but ended now with Walmart out in NW SF. With Hwy 19 to be widen and improved--access to hwy 38, I90 will be quite easy.
I agree Charlie. We are missing the opportunity to become a regional hub. I can get to that location from my house in 38 minutes. I can also get to Brookings Walmart in about 35 minutes.
With Dollar General and the other dollar stores competing on price for everyday essentials (like $2.75 milk), the rest of the groceries and house goods can wait until the weekend to drive to Brookings or Sioux Falls. Many are doing that now and stocking up. With Walmart even closer, it will be even easier. Say goodbye to our local sales tax dollars.
My wife and I have been making an effort to shop locally for the last 5 years. We shop the dollar stores and use Scrip cards at Sunshine to help get money back into the school. But still, at least once a month, we end up in Sioux Falls or Brookings to get bulk items.
I am still hopeful that we can get a second full service (with produce) grocery store in Madison. Many think the dollar stores serve this role now, but fresh produce and bulk items are not available.
Maybe, just maybe, we could get a Coburns, Fareway, or Hy-Vee (once the Sunshine non-compete is over).
But, my hope is dwindling. I am afraid the new big box store on the north side of Sioux Falls will destroy what hope we had left.
More the reason why we need to GROW our population, by attracting 21st century jobs to town, like the jobs that are now going to Vermillion, instead of Madison.
-Ashley
More of South Dakota's best farmland paved over for parking lots! Hooraaaaaaay!
Ashley, remind me how long that non-compete lasts. That was from the Sioux Falls deal, right?
Not that it matters, because, as Charlie says, a Highway 38 Walmart pretty much kills any chance of a new grocery store coming to Madison to fight that store and the local Sunshine. (Or does it? Someone out there must be able to work up a grocery model that beats Sunshine on quality and competes with Walmart+gasoline.)
Mark: is Brookings Main Street insulated from added impacts of the 38 Walmart by the presence of its own Walmart?
WalMart uses business strategy to place stores. When I visited my daughter in Houston, Texas the last five winters, I noticed that Houston is fifty miles square. That is Sioux Falls, Brookings, Madison, and Mitchell and everything in between. They have a Walmart about every five miles. One store serves a particular size population. So now in Sioux Falls we will have about five miles between each Walmart. But putting them on the outside of town means they need to draw a lot of people from out of town.
If the towns of Vermillion, Mitchell, Madison and Brookings would realize that they are in competition with Sioux Falls, they would lower their prices, which would increase their volume from people who would not drive so far anymore and keep the sales taxes at home. But some people do have the aura of prestige to shop in the 'big city'. Does not make logical sense, but it exists. If this competition would happen, the biggest loser would be Walmart since they would have one to many stores in Sioux Falls and would be their own worst competitor.
Overloading one type of retail seems like a big accomplishment for a dealmaker but it is not good for a reasonable flow to growth.
When Brookings spent three point something million of taxpayer money to bring in Lowe's, and then a local homeowned hardware store closed a month later, it is guaranteed that this deal would never pay. But their mayor went on to run for governor since he had impressed himself. I appologize that he was here from Minnesota but he came here for low taxes and then wasted tax money on the rich. That is a Republican disease. Not saying that dems are perfect either.
Walmart has problems building inside a city since the neighbors do not like it. So they are now building outside of town and letting the city grow to it. Now their new neighbors will chose themself to be their neighbors. If the city keeps growing that is fine. But since the farm economy got better Sioux Falls growth has been cut in half even with a lot of illegals coming. WHen farm prices ar good, the kids stay in the rural areas.
Here is a petition against the 2 additional Wal-Marts. Please feel free to sign and pass it along. Also, contact me with any questions as far as the progression of the "Sioux Falls says no more Wal-Marts" movement is concerned. https://www.change.org/petitions/city-of-sioux-falls-south-dakota-stop-the-construction-of-two-additional-wal-mart-stores-within-city-limits
The only possible competitive edge a small biz has against Walmart is service with them purchasing by the semi load Roger.
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So long, Madison, you will become a retirement community at best or home for the unemployable finding our low cost easy living attractive at worst, as most of the Buffalo Commons is.