(The following editorial appeared on the Arizona Daily Star website on June 1.)
TUCSON, Ariz. — The headline in last Tuesday’s newspaper said “Wal-Mart ‘endangers’ all of Vermont.” The story was about the entire state of Vermont landing on the list of the 11 most endangered sites named by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Vermont made the list because Wal-Mart plans to locate seven megastores there of 150,000 square feet apiece.
Virtually all of Vermont, the trust says, is rural. Within its borders are historic villages and real downtowns and it clings to its sense of community. A mere 600,000 people live in Vermont. As such it is fragile and vulnerable to the retailing power wielded by Wal-Mart.
Vermont is far, far from Tucson and the Southwest. But what Vermont is expected to undergo on a statewide scale is what is happening in communities throughout the country.
When Wal-Mart moves into a community, it can offer low prices because it does business in huge volume. It pays low prices for the goods its sells because it demands low prices from suppliers. It then undercuts local businesses, which can’t compete with the Wal-Mart economies of scale.
The mega-retailer also is a major employer. But it offers meager wages with little or no benefits. So when it drives out local businesses, the logical place to find work for those who have lost their jobs is in Wal-Mart.
It may drive down prices, but it does so at the expense of a damaged economy. The Wal-Mart experience is non-discriminatory. It affects rural communities and suburban communities alike.
Now, however, Wal-Mart is facing more and more opposition throughout the country. The reasons are simple.
Other retailers and community leaders have seen the devastation Wal-Mart can bring. They understand how a community’s standard of living can sink when a big-box store like Wal-Mart moves in.
Just last month, voters in Inglewood, Calif., a Los Angeles suburb, voted not to let Wal-Mart locate in their town. The company faces similar actions around the country. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that Wal-Mart could damage the uniquely American culture and economy of Vermont. Wal-Mart’s low prices are enticing, but they are made possible by strategies that are costly in ways that go well beyond the sticker on a product. Rock-ribbed Vermont has cause for concern.