If there’s one thing about Westerville that bothers me, it’s that there just aren’t enough stores around. Thankfully, the city of Westerville agrees with me, and has confirmed the addition of a new Wal-Mart store coming soon, which is predicted to be around 108,000 square feet.
After all, it is just insane to think that I should be bothered to drive to one of the three grocery stores in the surrounding five miles of my home, then I’d have to walk literally tens of feet to the nearest hardware store, at which point I would have to go all the way back to my car, put away my things and walk another hundred feet back to one of Westerville’s many department stores.
Seriously though, Easton, Polaris and Maxtown are home to hundreds of clothing and food stores. If I take a 10-minute drive in a loop, I will pass McDonald’s, Chipotle, Wendy’s, Tim Horton’s, Home Depot, Kroger, Giant Eagle, Target, Best Buy, Roush Hardware and the massive Polaris mall.
What could Wal-Mart possibly provide to an affluent suburb like Westerville other than the convenience of paying eight bucks for a copy of “Top Gun,” then driving your Rascal down the next aisle for a fat steak packaged next to 12 Hanes undershirts on sale? Not to mention how irritated I get when shoppers ride those little things around the store.
Maybe it’s a sign that your store is a little too large if customers get winded after making it to the frozen pizza aisle and back.
I won’t start the typical apocalyptic Wal-Mart rant that once it shows up, every other business will be cowed by the power of a big box store, but Wal-Mart isn’t exactly known for its fair business practices and kindness to local businesses.
In fact, there is strong evidence that shows the jobs Wal-Mart creates are far less beneficial than the jobs they destroy. A study of the corporation by the University of Berkeley showed that not only does Wal-Mart pay their employees around 12 percent less than regular retailers, but they also reduce health insurance coverage.
The problem with Wal-Mart is that when it comes into an area, other stores will close. That’s basic economics. Unless customers continue buying from their usual stores and then spend more money to get the same things at Wal-Mart, they are
going to choose Wal-Mart over local stores because it is convenient and noticeably cheaper. Prices are so low because Wal-Mart reduces wages and health insurance and because it outsources many jobs and manufacture overseas.
This allows them to undercut other businesses to the point where there is no competition. Then when those workers have to go to Wal-Mart for a job, they find themselves earning less and with less benefits than before.
When you go to Wal-Mart, you hurt local economies because they don’t buy food from local growers or products from local manufacturers. The produce is often shipped from all corners of the United States, which is harmful to ecosystems and relies heavily on the use of preservatives and pesticides.
This is why it blows my mind that Wal-Mart is considered to be so American. In a country that assumes even the little guy can get by with hard work, Wal-Mart demolishes the little guy by favoring the most powerful manufacturers and farming companies.
A report by the National Employment Law Project showed that Wal-Mart’s famously low prices were caused in part by outsourcing jobs in its warehouses, where workers are often employed through contracting companies instead of directly employed by Wal-Mart. This means the workers don’t enjoy the same benefits of a company and allows Wal-Mart to pay its workers ridiculously low wages.
My other problem with Wal-Mart is the egregious level of consumerism they promote. At Wal-Mart, every problem has an in-store solution. In a country suffering from debt caused by shoppers who don’t know when to stop, Wal-Mart is the paragon of capitalism. It isn’t American or smart to throw all your money to one store, especially when it supports underhanded and cheap business tactics. When Wal-Mart does arrive in Westerville, consider your options and remember that there’s already five malls within sneezing distance of every McDonald’s in Westerville.
