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Super Wal-Mart opens, grows through change

Date 2/19/2004 12:00 AM | Topic: News

On Jan. 28, Decorah's Wal-Mart located just off of Highway 9 closed its doors, while at the same time, the new Super Wal-Mart opened on the outskirts of town.

The opening, nearly two years in the making, was a large event for the town of Decorah, with publicity being seen and heard as far as Mason City, Iowa. Cars had filled the parking lot in little over a half an hour, with plenty of eager shoppers itching to see what the new building had to offer.

Among the many new services offered in the Super Wal-Mart is an improved pet department, with live fish on display and available for purchase. The paint center has also been revamped, with more than 1,000 different colors of paint available.

Computers and electronics are also being used in the busiest part of the store: the check-out line. In addition to having more check-out lines, the Super Wal-Mart features "self-check stations." The lines allow shoppers to check themselves out instead of a clerk, and pay by many different means, including cash and credit card. The machines also allow you to bag your own items and still use coupons for discounts as well.

Although there are many people who support the new store, some students find themselves not agreeing with the new addition to Decorah.

"I feel that, environmentally and economically, it was not a good decision to let it open in Decorah," said Annie Markuson ('04). "The small businesses Decorah is known for make the place unique and are, no doubt, going to suffer in one way or another."

Kris Christopher, assistant manager of both the old and new Wal-Marts said, "The reaction, so far, is overwhelmingly positive."

"We've gained a lot fans due to our new features, but also improvements on the old things that people liked about Wal-Mart," said Christopher. "During the first few weeks, we've gotten a lot of positive feedback on the look of the store, as well as the improved space.

"Every business has to expand and grow if it wants to stay ahead of the competition," said Christopher. "This is just a logical step in the process."

Due to the growth, Wal-Mart was able to retain all of its old employees, and hire 150 new employees.

There have been many people in the surrounding areas who voiced a negative opinion on Super Wal-Mart. A lot of the community has feared that the new super-center will eventually destroy the smaller stores in Decorah, specifically many specialty shops and the K&S grocery store.

"I think it is probably a wait and see," said Jim Sims, owner of RadioShack. "The grocery stores will most likely see the biggest impact. They have always had electronics and have been our competitor for fifteen years, so that's not going to change."

According to Terry Ramlo, grocery department manager for K&S, "It [business] has dropped some, but we are hoping it will pick back up. The main thing it does is take traffic away, but February is usually one of our slowest months of the year."

Christopher said, "As far as helping the community, I think we will be doing the city of Decorah a service. By providing the town with a few new resources that they haven't had, we will be filling a need they would have had to get elsewhere."

When asked about the impact the new Wal-Mart would have on the other community stores, Christopher said, "Decorah takes care of its businesses. They were afraid when the original Wal-Mart came to town for the same reasons, and today there are just as many businesses in Decorah as there were in 1986, the year the original Wal-Mart was built."

The same sentiment was echoed by Nancy Rogers, the supervisor of McDonald's, who has teamed up with the new Super Wal-Mart.

"The community has embraced it since it has opened, and it will only help our business in the long run," said Rogers.

Though other students really enjoy the new location, some are less-than-happy about the new store.

"It was wrong for Wal-Mart to do what they did," said Lucas Mangels ('04), "but I can see why the city did it. If you want to attack Wal-Mart, you shouldn't attack individual Wal-Marts, but as a whole and like any other monopoly-type company."

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Fred Smith

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