Sunday, August 13, 2006

Has Wal-Mart Really Given Up?

Wal-Mart, Inc. does not have a very good record on being upfront with people, whether they be employees, supporters or anyone for that matter. A company that routinely flouts the law, with a certain level of impunity, cannot be trusted no matter what assurances they give. Rumors are rampant that this talk of giving up on locating in or around Saranac Lake and/or the Adirondacks is nothing more than some sort of PR ploy. It is a shame that Wal-Mart was not even willing to discuss locating downtown in a downsized store. Unfortunately, Wal-Mart has only one way of doing things and because of that they are losing customers all around the USA. They fact that the company cannot adapt was proven when they failed in Germany. Only time will tell that they have truly given up in the Tri-Lakes area.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Has Wal-Mart REALLY given up on Saranac Lake? Well, if they have they are making contradictory statements. 1) They have said the Wal-Mart deal in Saranac Lake is dead. 2) If the circumstances changed they would be interested. So which one of the two is it? Is the deal PERMANENTLY DEAD or not? I suspect Wal-Mart is waiting in the wings deciding what their next move is going to be. Everyone should note that "Yes Wal-Mart" signs are still in peoples front yards. If Wal-Mart is indeed pulling out of town, then why are those signs still up?
By the way it was mentioned by Rick Gonyea in the ADE article that he passed out about 500 signs. He seemed to think that that was a lot of signs. Actually, that's VERY FEW signs. Just suppose everyone requesting a sign came from Saranac Lake Village. The village has approximately 5,000
residents. If every household asked for 1 sign per family--then
4.500 HOUSEHOLDS DIDN'T ASK FOR A WAL-MART SIGN!! And from what I understand, some folks asked for more than 1 sign, and many of those signs are found OUTSIDE of town. So 500 signs is really a very low number.
Is Wal-Mart gone yet? Probably not. I'd wait a few years before I had any celebration. And even then I'd be cautious. This company is THAT SNEAKY. Do they care about Saranac Lake? Don't you believe it for a minute. Stockholders is the only thing they care about.

Anonymous said...

those "Wal-Mart Yes" signs will be up until the snow covers them - this may be the first year I'm hoping for an early snow.

Anonymous said...

Boy-O-Boy! It seems that the Wal-Mart Yes signs are still a source of anxiety to you – Good! I guess I will keep my WAL-MART YES sign up until snow flies or even later as a means of protest against having to travel outside of this community in order to meet my family’s retail needs. I will encurage my friends and neighbors to do likewise. Currently about 90% of my shopping is done outside of Saranac Lake and I think I will be shooting for 100% in the coming years. I guess the 10% will hardly be noticed downtown however as most sane individuals get their shopping done elsewhere anyway. WAL-MART YES, Plattsburgh/Malone YES, Boycott YES!

Anonymous said...

Tri-Lakes:3
Wal-Mart:0

Anonymous said...

Yes Wal-Mart signs are HARDLY A SOURCE OF ANXIETY! But they do tell us that Wal-Mart has NOT LEFT THE AREA YET. This is a company that lies and lies and then lies again. And the amount of Yes Wal-Mart signs tells us how many Adirondackers ACTUALLY WANTED WAL-MART TO COME HERE. The answer? Very few! 500 signs being passed out is hardly a show of support for this large retailer.
The last comment said it all:
Tri-Lakes:3
Wal-Mart:0

Anonymous said...

Has anybody heard of free enterprise? If you don't want to work at Wal-Mart, don't. If you don't want to shop there, don't. It’s your right. But its not your right to impose your ideals on what legal business should or should not exist. That’s what capitalism is all about. I'm a native of SL and a business owner. I am ashamed at the ignorance of this town and manipulation of its business owners in an attempt to protect their own interests and not that of the greater good. Wal-Mart would provide much needed competition. Businesses that learn to adapt will be better for it and provide better service and quality. Price gouging will finally stop. Don't worry, we will always have those high end specialty stores in Saranac Lake that provide all the things that you don't go to Wal-Mart for. My feeling is Wal-Mart should just side step all the petty politics and locate outside of the town limits. Most of us would be more than willing to drive a few miles.