The 10 year expensive battle is over.  Walmart is coming to Stratford, Ontario.  Not in its' desired location or original size but none the less ground will be broken in 2012 to pave the way for the mega box store to put down roots in the Stratford community.

The city has spent $1.4 million dollars on legal fees alone in their fight to keep the retail giant at bay with their efforts to preserve the downtown retail businesses.  Many downtown merchants are concerned that Walmart's arrival will put additional stress on businesses already facing challenges.

The new location, still in the City's east end is a smaller parcel of land, meaning the size of the department store will shrink from the desired 135,000 square feet to 90,000 square feet. Wal Mart

Big box stores versus local merchants is a common battle faced by most communities.  While it is sad to see some mom and pop businesses suffer, many do survive and thrive as they cater to a different type of clientele.

There is no denying that these large anchor stores bring jobs and  keep dollars in the community.  Here in Stratford, you must travel a half hour away to Kitchener or Woodstock, Ontario to find a Walmart or Home Depot.

 Walmart's biggest competition in Stratford is Zellers, a chain stores that have recently been bought out by Target.  If the existing Zellers store eventually converts to a Target, it will be interesting to see the two big American giants go head to head vying for their share of business from Stratford's 32,000 residents.

Will Home Depot and Chapters be far behind?

 

 

 

 

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This post has been included in Ontario Real Estate News Perth County, ON Real Estate News Stratford, ON Real Estate News
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12 Comments on Welcome Or Not - Walmart Is Coming To Stratford

MAY
17
2011
1,210,622 Points 118 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Jenny,

It is always a touchy issue. If they come, it is a convenience, often lower prices... But local mom & pop store can suffer and even close doors

But thhe biggest problem will be to other big chains. Walmart can squeeze them out. I also do not understand the fight for smaller Walmart. I think that when they can't do what they could in  a larger store, they would have to keep the prices higher to keep the profit margins, which are tiny
11:19pm • #1
725,710 Points 63 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Hi Jenny... WalMart versus Target would be a battle that does little to interest me.  I don't shop at either.
11:19pm • #2
842,602 Points 85 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

I never get why people fight Walmart at all.  If people don't want to work there, they don't have to.  I am not a huge Walmart shopper, but I will say, there are some good deals there and if they put more to work......for the most part, I'm all for it!
11:21pm • #3
280,206 Points 7 Featured Posts Called Shot Master

Hi, Jenny:  The Wal-Martizing of our communities is always a touchy issue.  Are Wal-Marts good or bad?  Depends on who you ask.  Their prices are low, which is good for folks, right?  Not if you run a local hardware store, etc.  Takd a listen to the country song "Little Man" by Alan Jackson, and you get an idea of how Wal-Mart could hurt folks.  We've become accustomed to how Wal-Mart comes in, some businesses get busier and some die.  Perhaps the worst thing I've seen with Wal-Mart, though, is when they pull out.  A few businesses build up around a new Wal-Mart, only to have the Wal-Mart shutter itself in favor of a bigger place.  That's no good to the smaller folks.  The best thing would be for Wal-mart to only open SuperCenters to begin with- then they'd have less cases of their having to leave where they start out.
11:51pm • #4
MAY
18
2011
1,179,776 Points 3 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp

Amazing that a city would spend that much money fighting to keep a 'big box' store out. Although  I don't keep tabs on legal bills, I'm pretty certain that my community would spend twice that. We just don't have big box stores...okay we have one, but it's across the street from the city line.
12:16am • #5
805,327 Points 1 Featured Post Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Hi Jenny - I can't imagine that Chapters would open up in Stratford.  They have a couple in K-W as well as a Coles in Stratford.

In New York City and various parts of California, I have read that there have been tremendous battles over the years to keep Walmart out.

In the GTA, Walmart has been converting numerous stores to the SuperCentre format and keeps on building new stores.
1:02am • #6
627,500 Points 8 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Hit Router Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Our small town fought Walmart and lost.  Now we have a great shopping center around Walmart that would not have survived without them.  As well, Lowe's came in.  What an asset to our town.  I'd rather see them come in as lose out to the larger cities.  It actually keeps some of the income here.
7:44am • #7
1,189,605 Points 32 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Once Wal-Mart arrives with Home Depot in tow, watch the population grow from 32,000 Jenny!
9:26am • #8
308,212 Points 2 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Called Shot Master

I didn't shop at WalMart for a long time, but found out that they have products that cost much less, health and beauty products, for example. Consumers eventually decide whether WalMart succeeds or not.

The mom and pop stores might not survive anyway, especially in this economy. But a different business model that differentiates itself will find a way. Take Ace Hardware Store, even with Home Depot and Lowe's dominating that market, it focuses on more personal service and it seems to thrive.
12:49pm • #9
760,715 Points 37 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Jenny....change is good.....I bet you see things change for the better once they are in and running......
Hope you had a great day!!---Rob
5:34pm • #10
879,476 Points 10 Featured Posts Outside Blog

Jenny - it is true that smaller communities targeted by the big box stores do benefit from the employment opportunities bring with them but they are generally at lower wage rates
11:10pm • #11
MAY
19
2011
776,216 Points 16 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Jenny, I gotta tell you that I'm not a fan of Wal-Mart, but it does bring jobs and lower consumer product prices with it.  If you've ever seen the emails floating around about "people of Wal-Mart"...you'll know why I prefer they don't come to my area.
6:24pm • #12

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