Do Big Box Stores have a Negative or Positive effect on Real Estate Values?

The Hemet - San Jacinto. CA Valley has something going for it that most people don't easily recognize or understand why it has happened.  We are a sleepy valley off the beaten path of Southern California - the closest freeway on ramp is about 15 miles - and that is hard to find in SoCal!  Our population - for the entire valley is maybe 100,000 - not a big slice considering the millions who live in the Southland.  We certainly are nor a rich or exclusive community - the average home sell for about $130,000 - far less than most other areas of California.

So then why...why does WalMart have not one but two Super WalMarts in our valley...one in Hemet and the other about 5 miles away in San Jacinto?  OK, they both went up while the housing boom was going strong...so what did they know?  What prompted them to invest the type of money they did into our little community?

Then there is the question that begs to be answered...what was the benefit of these two mega department and grocery store combos?  Has it been good for the local economy or a drain?  What type of ripple effect does Super Walmart have ... not only in the local community but across the State of California and the rest of the country.

AM I CONFUSED?

Now I don't know why I think what I did, but I thought when WalMart first came on the scene that they had this streak of red, white and blue running through their corporate veins and only sold American made products.  I cold be wrong but I think I can remember human interest news stories about small companies that exploded with a WalMart contract.  Maybe I'm confused...

I don't do a lot of shopping at WalMart - but they are the only store that carries multiple-flavors of Ensure - a diet supplement that has kept my wife alive as her primary source of nutrition for a couple of years now (my wife, Sherri, is a long term cancer patient).  While I was there, I walked the aisles...I was amazed that everything is made in China.  Now I don't know for certain, it's not like I went down aisle after isle looking at every product - but every product I picked up and looked at was made in China...

So, does anyone have any idea as to what happened...maybe the anser is in this short video...