DARK WAL-MARTS…
The stories of abandoned Wal-Marts (and the communities they once exploited like Bunkie, La.) have been told here before, but a new term has entered the American lexicon: Dark Wal-Marts. Once you’ve crushed the competition, you can move on.
Twenty years ago, Wal-Mart opened a store in Bunkie, La., a small farming community whose main claim to fame is being the birthplace of renowned jazz drummer Zutty Singleton. In the view of Bunkie entrepreneur Craig Pujol, that’s fitting–he says the gigantic retailer’s primary effect on Bunkie was to pound the small-business community as hard as Zutty wailed on his snare drum. “They ran 20 mostly locally owned businesses out of town,†Pujol says.
Pujol’s own 50-year-old family-run business, a Western Auto franchise (a retail shop that sells everything from tires and motor oil to garden equipment and sporting goods) had to adapt to survive Wal-Mart’s arrival.
“We had to completely change our business,†he says. “Our bread-and-butter became rent-to-own electronics and furniture.â€
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
[...] DARK WAL-MARTS… The story of abandoned Wal-Marts (and the communities they once exploited like Bunkie, La.) have been told here before, but a new term has entered the American lexicon: Dark Wal-Marts. Once you’ve crushed the competition, you can move on. Keep reading… [...]