Say What?

Regarding Moscow's experience with Wal-Mart [Pullman Mayor Glenn] Johnson says, "everybody else has co-existed over there." Oh really? K-Mart didn't last long. The Emporium moved into the space that Penny's created when they left and now the Emporium is gone, leaving a major hole in the Palouse Mall (along with other mall vacancies) Winco took K-Mart's space but that did in Tidyman's. Many downtown businesses such as Myklebusts and Ken's Stationery have closed.

- Tri-State owner Gerard Connelly, "HIS VIEW: Mayor's reaction to Wal-Mart naive," Moscow-Pullman Daily News, December 16, 2004

Connelly said sales at the Tri-State in Moscow jumped 43 percent the first year Wal-Mart built its store.

- David Cole, "Experts offer Wal-Mart survival tips; When Clarkston gets a super center, other retailers may need to re-evaluate their methods," Lewiston Tribune, May 6, 2008

Gerard "The Man of a Thousand Faces" Connelly's position on Wal-Mart seems to change with regard to both the audience to whom he is speaking and the proximity of one of his stores to Wal-Mart. It does make for entertaining reading.

I'm wondering, however, why Clarkston needed a forum on Wal-Mart. There's already a Wal-Mart in the L-C Valley, as well as big boxes Costco, Home Depot, K-Mart and ShopKo and mini-box "category killers" Pier One Imports, Famous Footwear, Petco, Eddie Bauer, and Ross.

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