The Impact of Wal-Mart on Small Towns

The growing presence of big-box retailers in small towns has sparked considerable controversy. A recent PBS documentary, “Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town” by Micha Peled highlights this debate in Ashland, Virginia. The community’s split over a proposed Wal-Mart highlights many of the issues Ashland faced. However, the dispute is not limited to Ashland and is occurring throughout the United States and the world. Drawn from this documentary, the following discussion summarizes many of the issues communities face when Wal-Mart comes to town.

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2001 National Main Street Trends Survey

In its sixth annual survey of emerging trends in historic Main Street commercial districts, the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s National Main Street Center has found compelling evidence of the continuing economic rebound of historic downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts. The major results of this survey are summarized in this article.

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Realistic Expectations for Downtown Retail

After reading and hearing about economic development proposals for a while, one gets the impression that retail is often an automatic component of downtown development. If a major industry or company moves into downtown, merchants aren’t too far behind. If a city engages in revitalization efforts or streetscaping projects, open-air cafes, taverns and clothes stores will follow. All of this done with the hope that more jobs and more revenue will be generated. This article summarizes Christopher Boring’s thoughts on what type of businesses will flourish in downtowns.

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Tourist Prospecting Using GIS

Analyzing tourism customers can be a complicated process. As these visitors may be traveling great distances, it can be more difficult to acquire customer information than with a traditional analysis of local residents. Nonetheless, understanding these customers requires obtaining information about their places of origin, as well as data about their demographics
and lifestyles. This article discusses how a technology called geographic information systems (GIS) can be used to solve these problems.

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Reusing Vacant Department Stores in Small Communities

An empty department store downtown or on the edge of a small community sends a message that something in the local economy isn’t working right. Whether it be excessive retail competition or declining market demand, the ghostly appearance of an underutilized building is something most residents simply don’t want to see in their town. In January, a meeting was held by the University of Wisconsin-Extension, Calumet County to explore the reuse of a Pamida store that recently closed in New Holstein. Case studies were presented on how downtown
and suburban department store buildings have been reused in Wisconsin and elsewhere in the country. The discussion is summarized in this article.

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Smart Growth as an Opportunity for Downtowns: Position of the WI Downtown Action Council

The Wisconsin Downtown Action Council is a statewide membership organization that supports the physical, economic and social revitalization and management of downtown areas throughout Wisconsin. The organization recently released a position paper on smart growth and the opportunity for downtowns to be recognized in local comprehensive planning efforts. Their position on smart growth is presented in this article.

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Using GIS to Measure Patterns of Retail Sprawl

The growth and expansion of our communities have changed patterns of retail development over the last several decades. Traditional stores that once were located downtown have given way to big-box stores that are sprawling at the urban fringe. In response to sprawl, a variety of planning initiatives have appeared under the rubric of Smart Growth. While we could evaluate communities using qualitative criteria, we can also examine their growth in a quantitative manner. By examining changes in the amount of development, we can see where and how much growth is occurring. As this pattern changes over space and time, the analytical capabilities of a technology called Geographic Information Systems (GIS) becomes quite useful.

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How Independent Stores can Survive in Your Community

At the recent National Small Stores Institute in Nashville, Bill Pearson, a retail consultant and presenter at the conference, described the continuing plight of small retailers. However, more than simply detailing the challenges small independent retailers are facing, Pearson shared several basic strategies that he finds most successful independent retailers are embracing. He suggests that those independents that survive and prosper will be those who: 1) recognize and act on their competitive strengths and weaknesses; 2) understand who their customers are and what they want; and 3) identify and fill a viable niche in the marketplace.

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