By GEORGE CHANDLERLisa Shin’s letter suggesting that the Smith’s Marketplace would have a “WalMart effect” on local businesses revisits an important issue.
The Trinity Site Revitalization Project Advisory Committee, of which I was a member, and which advised the County Administrator and Council on this project, considered this question at some length.
My take on it following this discussion is that although there would be some loss of business by local retailers to the Smith’s it would be more than compensated by the increase in local shopping because people would no longer be leaving town to purchase staples. Owners or managers of some of the biggest local businesses supported that conclusion in public meetings, and stated emphatically that they expected to benefit from the Smith’s Marketplace.
Retail is risky, there are no guarantees. I supported this project because it was clear that the only way to improve the local retail environment was to get out of the box we have been in since the County abandoned the 1960’s notion that we should not develop retail because it would compete with the lab for resources.
Over the last 40 years, the county and the business community pursued just about every economic development strategy known, with little success. The Big Box route was the last one in the tool kit, and
called for a leap of faith not only for the county and existing retailers, but also for Smith’s, which alone among big boxes was positioned to recognize a unique opportunity and think outside its normal corporate strategic box.
If you love this community and want to make it work, then make the effort to support the local retailers as well as Smith’s, all of whom are making a big gamble.