Small Businesses Trounced by Wal-Mart?
By Olivia dela Torre at 6 May, at 13 : 45 PM
Whenever Wal-Mart enters a new market, it has the ability to create new jobs. However, according to some detractors the market outwits and undersells its neighborhood.
According to a study at Loyola University which tracked the economic effect of West-Side Chicago Wal-Mart on a local community, they found out that within two years, 82 local businesses had closed its doors. Steven Barrison, executive vice president of the Small Business Congress in New York City, also pointed out on a separate study the effect of Wal-Mart on Local Markets. He found out that “for every two jobs Wal-Mart creates, three local jobs are destroyed.”
That may be part of the reason that Wal-Mart is finding its ways to change the hearts and minds of the people. This time, they plan to be more intimate with the local markets. And so, the company is downsizing their route. Instead of building massive supercenters around America, Wal-Mart is aiming for a closer feel with smaller looking stores. They are going to fit in with their customers and competitors without compromising their promise of broad selection of products at a low cost.
In that way, customers have their choice. According to Michael Dart, head of private equity and strategy at Kurt Salmon, “customers will come to Wal-Mart’s smaller format for those frequent buys and they go to the Big Box for the periodic buys. That way, they’re a fit for a greater number of occasions, therefore a bigger share of wallet.
