Watts Up With That?

Lately it seems that we have a lot to worry about. During the cold war, it was Russia, communism, and the bomb. Now we seem to have a more complex world with more threats. I’ve listed what I think are the top three here, and you can see instant results. Voting is done anonymously and also has a vote stuffing preventer built in.

If you think another item should be added to the question, or if you have commentary about the poll, please post a comment. I’ll publish the results with commentary in a later blog. Thanks for voting.

I’m not blogging a position for nor against Wal-Mart, but I am providing some observations for consideration and discussion.

We’ve already had a Wal-Mart like superstore that offered groceries, pharmacy, hardware, clothing, and dry goods, all under one roof in Chico, It was called Fred Meyer and was where Lowe’s sits now.

The Fred Meyer store was almost identical to the Wal-Mart supercenters that are in the midwest and eastern US, which is what Wal Mart is planning for it’s proposed north and south Chico superstores.

The Fred Meyer Chico store was too far away from it’s supply base in Oregon, and the only store in California, making its supply logistics quite expensive. Fred Meyer corporate management planned to expand further into Northern California, but never implemented the plan, esentially orphaning the store in Chico and it was too expensive to keep supplying. Thats why it failed, not because locals disliked it.

For everybody whom fears Wal-Mart will destroy Chico’s retail economy, I’d point out that we survived the creation and demise of Fred Meyer just fine and there is little difference between the two chain stores concepts, layouts, and offerings.

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