Wal-Mart Could Be The End Of Great Small Businesses Another Large Retail Complex On North Division May Change Local Shopping Patterns To The Detriment Of Downtown, Chris Peck Says

I grew up in a small town with no Costco or Wal-Mart.

To this day, I have not set foot in either store, although my wife has a Costco card and my brother’s family in Wyoming has the opportunity to shop at Wal-Mart.

I want to speak about why I am not thrilled to see Wal-Mart maneuvering to open a store not far from Costco in north Spokane.

It goes back to my days in Wyoming.

In the town where I grew up, Wal-Mart was the big elephant that trampled to death the downtown businesses.

Sure, a video store survived, as did a guy who sells custom saddles and one resourceful retailer with large appliances.

Gone, however, is the hardware store, the sporting goods store, the women’s and men’s apparel shops, the toy store, all the gift boutiques and the downtown grocery.

Small businesses selling the same merchandise as Wal-Mart found it difficult to compete with the big elephant on the edge of town.

It was not as if every price Wal-Mart offered was lower. It was more that once people started going to the edge of town to buy things in a big warehouse, they forgot the fun and community connection that come from a smaller store owned by someone they know.

I know this is the lesson of competition in a capitalist world. If Sam Walton’s people can ship in merchandise and sell it more cheaply than someone running a locally owned store, that’s business.

And, I recognize some communities with Wal-Marts and Costcos say the stores serve as magnets for shoppers who come, stay overnight, and spend more time and money than before.

Besides, as the cheery Wal-Mart TV ads imply, why shouldn’t all of America enjoy the experience of low-priced, warehouse shopping?

I believe there are reasons why we shouldn’t automatically jump for joy.

First the practical realities.

The addition of a big Wal-Mart on North Division at the Y will add another 2,400 cars a day to already clogged streets.

It would be great if a north-south freeway were about to be built to handle these cars. That isn’t likely.

So, not only will people get a chance to shop at Wal-Mart, they have the opportunity to drive in Los Angeles or Seattle-style traffic.

Second, there is the ripple effect that adding another big retail outlet up north could have on downtown Spokane.

A healthy downtown, with its tax base, real estate values, and urban shopping experience, adds tremendously to the general health of this city. Riverfront Park, the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, the convention center and the urban vitality provided by the mix of retailing and public facilities truly are a community asset.

Surely, downtown Spokane is much more important to people who live here than one more Wal-Mart.

The gains from a Spokane Wal-Mart will barely move the meter back in Arkansas. Conversely, the loss to downtown Spokane would be painfully real.

The prospect of Wal-Mart coming to north Spokane with its traffic and ability to shift retailing offers Spokane residents an excellent opportunity to consider exactly what kind of city they want to live in during the coming years.

This discussion about how and where growth will occur is heating up right now. By December, a map showing the boundaries of the urban area’s future commercial and residential growth will be drafted as part of the state-mandated Growth Management Act.

Until now and then, a series of public hearings and workshops will be held around the county to discuss and evaluate the map of Urban Growth Areas and to troubleshoot the assumptions and regulations that will accompany it.

These urban growth boundaries and the comprehensive land use plans represent the most important planning tools Spokane will develop in the next 20 years. Really, planning for growth cannot be just about zoning, or maps or even personal property rights.

For me at least, the issue raised by the proposed arrival of Wal-Mart and the current planning for growth over the next 20 years gets to a question about what kind of place Spokane will be in the 21st century.

I keep thinking of the diversity and richness of community life when everyone didn’t shop in a big warehouse.

The one Jewish family that ran the gift shop when I was a kid offered me a personal lesson in world religion that no one will get from a Wal-Mart greeter.

The place where I used to buy fishing gear kept a freezer in the front where the biggest fish caught that summer could be displayed and discussed.

No fish freezers in Wal-Mart.

I wish no ill to Wal-Mart.

Rather, I appreciate the efforts of local merchants and business people who live here and have their own dream, their own vision of a business.

When I go to Columbia Cycle on North Monroe in Spokane, for example, I can see Joe and Kathy Bruce’s collection of 600 antique bicycles collected over the last 50 years by the family.

A stop at Doyle’s Ice Cream is worth it not just for the big yummy cones, but because people can ride their bikes down a residential street to get there and don’t have to drive on the freeway with all the congestion and bad air.

I may be a dreamer and nostalgic for a past long gone. All I ask is that my neighbors, shoppers and fellow citizens pay attention right now to the plans being made about the growth and development of Spokane.

, DataTimes