I am off to a business meeting tomorrow in sunny, much warmer Southern California. Yeah, I know it’s tough duty, but business is business. Plus, I will get the opportunity to spend part of the day Monday with my mother on her birthday. Considering it’s been more than 20 years since I’ve been able to do that, it will be special.

So, before I left, I thought I would offer up a comment about the new Wal-Mart Supercenter that opened here in Jacksonville this morning. While I was a few minutes late for the ribbon cutting ceremony, I did get to walk the store and talk to a few folks. Most seemed to be really happy that it was finally open after years of talk and speculation. One gentleman that works there said that he had been working since 6 a.m. reducing prices in the grocery section. Last minute reductions, I’m sure to impress the shoppers in the new grocery area. I guess this is a good thing. As we talked about Shopko and Festival, he felt that the new store would be a boon to both in the long run because it would bring more folks to that end of town. I think he is probably right. I talked to a lady today that said while she is excited about the new store, she felt she would continue to shop at the other two stores because she likes them and wants them to stay in town. I think that is a good thing, too.

As Festival’s billboard on the east end of Morton has said for a while now, “Competition is good,” and it is. The new Wal-Mart will be the focus of attention and shopping dollars for a while but things will even out and all will benefit by it’s opening this morning. The important thing I think it does is give our town a much needed shot in the arm toward economic progress. Yeah, Wal-Mart was already here and with the exception of the grocery, it’s about the same, only bigger. But the important thing in my mind is that I honestly believe we have finally turned a corner. With the large new store, more improvements are surely on the way. Hopefully this will bring more new stores to our market. Like it or not, in most areas nowadays, when you get a Super Wal-Mart, it means you have “arrived.” Retailers like to locate in markets that have “arrived.” Wal-Mart has become such a force that many now make plans based upon what they do. I really felt that this is what our market needed when I first came here a little over two years ago. Home Depot was a great addition, but the Wal-Mart was the “it” we needed. I still feel that way. I know some won’t agree with me and that’s OK. My hope is that Jacksonville will become more of a destination for the other towns that surround us.

Let’s hope that this will bring more economic expansion in our town and region. Then maybe folks won’t be so quick to drive 30 miles to Springfield. Talk to you all again in a week.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 7th, 2008 at 4:03 pm and is filed under community, rants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.