In today?’s Austin Am. St, business section there is an article under Smart Money. They are talking about Wal-Mart. The paragraph that really hit me is:
Wal-Mart Supercenters, which are anywhere from 100,000 to 210,000 sq. Ft in size, offer a full line of grocery items as well as traditional Wal-Mart items under one roof. The 1,309 Supercenters have taken market share in just about every location they've entered. That's because their prices are typically about 20% lower than those of traditional supermarkets.
My point & concern is just that if any of us think that the Wal-Mart coming into S. Austin, especially since the gal from Wal-Mart said that they want one every 3 miles (next one is on Slaughter & 35) is not going to have a tremendous impact on our local business, we are kidding ourselves! I am not a gambler, but I'll wage $ on the one in Sunset Valley will sit empty to continue to squeeze out our local business. (Reminds me of Waterloo & Borders) As also talked about in today?’s business section, our high paying jobs are leaving for cheap employees such as in Malaysia and India.
(I called AMEX and was talking about my credit card to someone in INDIA) The jobs that will be left are low paying that only will benefit Wal-Mart, Loews, Home Depot bottom lines and kids that need summer jobs! Additionally, mortgages in this area of South Austin cannot be paid on this kind of income. Not only will this help kill our area visually, traffic wise, but salary wise. And all these For Sales signs will continue to go up and our property values will continue to slide. But the development continues and the ground keeps a breaking here in Circle C! On another note, I also wonder how many boats and RV?’s will be kept in Steve Barlett?’s (our BOD that lives in Rollingwood) new box storage unit being built on Slaughter near the water tower? These luxury items are the first thing to be sold by people loosing their jobs. We have a lot to think about here in Austin.
Wal-Mart Supercenters, which are anywhere from 100,000 to 210,000 sq. Ft in size, offer a full line of grocery items as well as traditional Wal-Mart items under one roof. The 1,309 Supercenters have taken market share in just about every location they've entered. That's because their prices are typically about 20% lower than those of traditional supermarkets.
My point & concern is just that if any of us think that the Wal-Mart coming into S. Austin, especially since the gal from Wal-Mart said that they want one every 3 miles (next one is on Slaughter & 35) is not going to have a tremendous impact on our local business, we are kidding ourselves! I am not a gambler, but I'll wage $ on the one in Sunset Valley will sit empty to continue to squeeze out our local business. (Reminds me of Waterloo & Borders) As also talked about in today?’s business section, our high paying jobs are leaving for cheap employees such as in Malaysia and India.
(I called AMEX and was talking about my credit card to someone in INDIA) The jobs that will be left are low paying that only will benefit Wal-Mart, Loews, Home Depot bottom lines and kids that need summer jobs! Additionally, mortgages in this area of South Austin cannot be paid on this kind of income. Not only will this help kill our area visually, traffic wise, but salary wise. And all these For Sales signs will continue to go up and our property values will continue to slide. But the development continues and the ground keeps a breaking here in Circle C! On another note, I also wonder how many boats and RV?’s will be kept in Steve Barlett?’s (our BOD that lives in Rollingwood) new box storage unit being built on Slaughter near the water tower? These luxury items are the first thing to be sold by people loosing their jobs. We have a lot to think about here in Austin.