Simple answer, absolutely not. First, there are two possible building sites located in the downtown area. Second, eventually the village sandpit area will most likely be rezoned commercial and likely put up for sale.
Wal-Mart obviously thinks than can make big bucks by building a store in Saranac Lake. But only by building a 121,000 (or 100,000 downsized) sq foot store that stocks 60,000 or more items? A more reasonable sized store located in the downtown area cannot be profitable?
Wal-Mart is not interested in compromise nor are its local supporters. They must not want a store very badly.
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Wal-Mart has not been prevented from building in Saranac Lake. But neither Wal-Mart nor its supporters want to compromise. Perhaps Wal-Mart should have followed the example of a very profitable business in New Zealand and Australian towns called The Warehouse.
The Warehouse locates deliberately in the heart of downtown. Why? Because Stephen Tindall of The Warehouse group knew that eventually people would come to hate you for destroying their downtowns. According to a book by Jason Jennings "Imagine for a moment what decaying and decrepit downtowns in the U.S. might look like if Wal-Mart, Kmart and other giant discount operations had chosen to build their stores in the center of towns and cities instead of outside of town. Stephen Tindall of The Warehouse group could have easily copied the American model and built huge stores on cheap land outside of the hundreds of New Zealand and Austrialian town and provincial centers where its stores are now located. But Tindall's LONG-TERM VIEW WAS THAT EVENTUALLY PEOPLE WOULD COME TO HATE YOU FOR DESTROYING THEIR DOWNTOWNS. Instead The Warehouse prefers to build stores smack in the middle of the city. Frequently conducted social audits show that this policy generaly finds 80% of the other merchants reporting increased sales following the opening of a Warehouse store."
Isn't it interesting to note that today many people hate the Wal-Marts of the world for DESTROYING THEIR DOWNTOWNS? They should have done what The Warehouse did, built in downtown. When is Wal-Mart going to wake up and smell the coffee?
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