I’d say it was the new road, which opened up access.
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The public commons has been reduced to consumption.
Just as while we were once a society and a community, we are now an economy, and while once citizens, now we are consumers.
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Agree, the mall destroyed downtowns, and their sense of community, which also included the post office, museum, courthouse, town square, playhouse, nightclub, etc.
And Walmart replaced quality and brand loyalty with loyalty to low prices.
But Hutto was already on US-79, which was a major artery between Austin and East Texas. It isn’t like Hutto was difficult to get to, or even out of the way, being only about 45 minutes from Austin. SH-130 has the highest numerical speed limit in the nation (85 mph) because it is a bypass for people who want to go around Austin on their way south on I-35. Plus it is a toll road, meaning it costs you extra money to get on and off, so you aren’t going to be stopping there for errands.
Maybe you are right, maybe it is that SH-130 opened up access to people who want to work in San Antonio but live in Hutto (home of the fightin’ hippos!). But I can’t figure out why SH-130 would cause a town to explode like that. Either way, Rick Perry and his buddies are making a lot of money off that tollroad.
Maybe the toll road connects employment centers to an adjacent bedroom community.
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I think by far the greatest impoverishment Walmart inflicts is with the inferior quality of their cheap shit. My avatar is a tribute to them, a pair of multitool pliers I broke by the strength of my own grip. And I’m no Hercules. I boycott. Them for their abysmal quality control. Also, I tried boycotting them for political reasons once, but all the remaining local merchants had "I stand with Scott. Walker. Signs in the window. So to heck with them as well.
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Boy, you have that right. A few years ago I unintentionally offended a guy by bad mouthing Walmart, explaining how they killed the small towns and challenging him to go there and pick up any small appliance that wasn’t made in China.
I’m a bit of a hypocrite though, I can turn left at the highway and drive 17 miles to Walmart for groceries, or as I occasionally do, I can turn right and drive 11 miles to a tiny mom and pop grocery store that usually has what I want. If I need a fan or a coffee maker there’s really only one place to go. When I need building supplies I can drive 50 miles to Lowe’s or pay double at the local hardware store.
Good article.
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" Apparently this happens all the time; shoplifters know that Wal-Mart policy doesn’t permit store associates to chase down thieves. “If they make it past the registers, you just have to let them go,” Carlos, one of the night shift employees, told me. “"
Knowing now that I can get “free stuff”, still have no desire to ever go. BTW, are they also forbidden from calling the cops? What’s up with this?
They don’t want their employees injured–or shot. They aren’t the only company that has that policy; my daughter worked for the Gap and they also would not prosecute shoplifters who got out the door.
But don’t they have security guards for this?
Fabulous article. But the gratuitous insults (against Walmart) miss an important point. Walmart doesn’t kill small-town businesses, any more than lawyers corrupt everything decent in American life. It’s the shoppers who abandoned their local (and smaller, more-expensive and inadequately stocked) local stores. Just as it’s us, average citizens, who keep our lawsuit-crazy culture in business by hiring the sharks every time we bump a knee.
If there’s blame for the monopolizing effects of Walmart, it goes straight to the pocketbooks of its customers. I don’t shop at Walmart because of the horrific labor practices–and because I’d rather pay a little more to merchants I know and like. But Walmart is obviously delivering something people want. And, as the author points out, they’re the only game in town for a lot of folks.
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Kind of like a slow motion plague of locusts.
In Stillwater Oklahoma, population about 50,000 where my brother lives, there was early a Walmart opened there on the suburban style strip retail running on the north side of town. It was the big discount store there as it was in a lot of small cities. But Stillwater is also the home of OSU, and fairly dynamic city, and big enough for more than one big discount store. So a few years ago Target bought land on the west side of town with the intent to build a store there and give the people of Stillwater choice of discount stores. But Walmart quickly bought property across from the Target property and got a new 24 hour Supercenter up while Target plotted. With two Walmarts in town there was no room for a 3rd store by Target. So the Target store was never built. And so Walmart maintains a monopoly for discount stores in Stillwater. (I should note, that it’s been a little over a year since I’ve been there. so maybe things have changed, but last I knew there was only Walmart in Stillwater).
That’s always my impression of them. I feel like I’m walking through a giant dollar store. Sure the prices are cheap, but you’re pretty much getting what you pay for.
I’ll admit, I’ve never gotten Wal-Mart. In absolutely every way imaginable, it feels identical to K-Mart to me – shoddy service, dirty stores, terrible meat & produce, an abundance of CPC’s (Cheap Plastic Crap), depressing florescent lighting, poor quality made-in-China appliances, cheap off-brand electronics, and a generally miserable shopping experience. And yet K-Marts across the country are virtually empty while Wal-Marts across the country usually involve a half-mile hike from the parking lot since they’re always packed. I don’t get the appeal at all. (Unless, as this article describes, it’s truly the only store in town.)
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In San Angelo, TX there are currently two Super Wal-Marts. There are plans in the works for a third one plus one of their neighborhood grocery stores. Residents of the smaller towns surrounding San Angelo come to town to shop there. Right across the street from one of the Super Wal-Marts is a Sam’s Club warehouse store. Next to the same Wal-Mart is a Lowe’s. There is no lack of business in any of the big box stores. However, the most popular grocery store is an HEB.
Next up: how the American people became “The People of Wal-Mart.”
After WM has put every other retail shop in any small town out of business, (or as close to it as they can come)
Where else is everyone going to “gather?” The local Drive-in, maybe?
Megalo Mart. Hank Hill hate to shop there.
That’s the problem. You can want to patronize your local merchants, a hardware store, for example, but the price they have to charge to remain in business is so high that the big box retailer kills them. How much can customers afford to pay to keep local retailers in business? I know they’re your friends and neighbors, but at some point your own self interest wins out.