I never understood it. Austin Residents huffed and puffed themselves silly over a proposal for a massive super Walmart to be built in their aging and barren community. In a part of town that once thrived with activity, shopping, and restaurants, the little strip between Anderson Lane and Mopac was in need of a network style makeover. Where there was once Bealls, a skating rink, Hooters, and a huge sporting center surrounded by a mall, now, it was a mass of fried food drive through eateries and kids toys.
So when Walmart stepped in to build one of their largest stores complete with groceries, a garden and automotive center, one would think residents would have been pleased. Au contraire. Residents and Austinites were indignant and opposed to a greedy company like Walmart taking up space in their community.
Well, you wouldn’t know they were so offended by the line of people and smiling faces over the .68c per pound turkey, or the .25c per pound navel oranges I saw today. This new Walmart created jobs and could have created more had the community not stifled its development to just products and groceries, smacking down the garden and automotive centers. As a major anchor vendor, new businesses have rented spaces in the shopping center getting traffic moving again in both directions rather than just out of the neighborhood.
I know I’ll be shopping there. And, I know those same people who thought they were so repulsed by the idea of Walmart will be too.
