Thursday Oct. 27 a new Wal-Mart opened its doors in Northwest Austin. While this might not seem like news, the location was a controversial issue for many Austenites who felt that the mega-corporation had no place in the neighborhoods of Austin.
Activist for a Responsible Growth for Northcross (RG4N) had many concerns with a Wal-Mart in the center of a residential area including traffic, local business losing sales, crime rates increasing and potential litter issues. They have been protesting the plans since 2006 and after court battles and lawsuits there was a compromise.
The original plans included a 24-hour supercenter that would be two story 200,000 sq. ft. building and include a three story parking garage. The compromise was a single story 98,000 sq. ft. building over half the original size and the store is closed from 1 a.m to 5 a.m. Creators of the store called the downsized store the “Neighborhood Market by Wal-Mart.” Wal-Mart also has been taking steps to refresh its stores and the new Northcross store was built with environmentally friendly features and created 250 jobs. The new Wal-mart also does not have a warehouse for inventory, as trucks come in with the products they are directly put on the shelves.
Comments on KXAN website express both side of the issue, some people feel that Wal-Mart will decrease property value due to increase crime rate while other believe that it will increase property value due to convienence. Read more comments at the following link.
As a student with a college budget I was very excited about the opening of the new store. The store was a 5 min drive from my home and as I walked into the new Wal-Mart and was greeted by an employee in the familiar blue and a smile I was ready to shop. The first thing I noticed as I walked in was the size, much much smaller than most Wal-Marts. When I started shopping I was disappointed by the lack of choices. The cereal aisle was one-fourth of common Wal-Mart stores cereal aisles. The more I shopped the more I found my self being disappointed and hoping I had gone to HEB for my groceries. In the end the experience was less than satisfactory and I am left thinking what a two story Wal-mart would have been like. I guess it just wasn’t meant for Austin.
If you have checked out the new Wal-Mart tell me what you thought and if you haven’t do you think the compromise was fair?
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| Original Plan-Wal-Mart Picture |
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| Actual Northcross Wal-Mart |
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