Experience shows Wal-Mart not a blight

To the Editor,

Having the luxury of being able to afford to be in a southern climate for the winter that has two Wal-Mart Supercenters within ten minutes of each other I would like to make the following comments:

I attended the showing at the Dormann Library of the anti Wal- Mart documentary film - it was during the showing of this film that the 800 cars an hour was eluded to. I have spent the last three months in an area with a much greater population than here in Bath but neither of the Wal-Mart Supercenters that I shopped at appeared to have any trouble with that many cars coming and going. One of these stores has been built very near to two major supermarkets and is also situated on a two lane road with a traffic pattern very similar to Route 54. After 18 months neither of the supermarkets has closed and the plazas they are located in have seen an increase in consumer traffic. The supermarkets have, however, smartened up their stores and lowered their prices to be more competitive and obviously are still making a profit. When the Wal- Mart Supercenter opened in Painted Post I noticed that Wegmans lowered their prices considerably in some areas in order to remain competitive, and I am sure they are still making a profit.

I am quite sure, with a sensibly designed traffic pattern like the one I observed in the south, there will be no traffic problems on Route 54. Furthermore, I also had occasion to shop at another Wal-Mart situated on the outskirts of a very upscale town in Alabama - this store too is situated on a busy two lane road just like Route 54 - here again there were no traffic problems. This particular town has some very strict bylaws and in order to build there, Wal-Mart had to provide some rather ornate landscaping all around its perimeter including ornate wooden bridge over a drainage ditch and a concrete footpath too. I am sure we too could make a similar request.

With regard to Chinese manufactured merchandise - there is not one store, no matter how big or small that does not sell Chinese made goods including the high end stores. I would also mention that we have a global manufacturer here in Bath that is Dutch owned and definitely does not keep all of its profits from the goods it makes here, in this town, the same applies to the big box Dutch owned supermarket. Their employees obviously do spend some of their earnings in Bath and if we had a Wal-Mart, would probably spend a lot more here.

There have also been some quite negative remarks concerning Wal- Marts employment practices - I don't see Wal-Mart as being any different to any other large retail store - they all operate with a minimum of full time employees that by law have to have benefits, and employ mostly part-times that require no benefits but I don't remember seeing any negative letters regarding these companies. Wal-Mart will provide some much needed jobs in this community even though many of them will be part time, and they will also generate some much needed sales tax revenue.

I also noted in the Corning Leader of April 3 that Steuben ARC is contemplating a $4.5 million construction project - presumably in this same area. They too will have to follow the same strict environmental guidelines that Wal-Mart will be required to follow by State law.

I don't recall ever seeing any negative letters on environmental issues in the local press regarding run-off when the large local car dealer - also on Route 54 in the same area - greatly increased its parking area to house all the additional vehicles it now sells and services, which now covers, I presume, an area similar to that of the proposed Wal-Mart.

Since I moved here in 1985 when Bath was an attractive village with a thriving downtown area, it has slowly deteriorated. We do have a first class plumbing and hardware store, an excellent florist on Route 54, a wonderful bakery, some eateries and some excellent hairdressers that serve our everyday needs, but little else. These people are working very hard to maintain their businesses but I am sure would welcome more customers which will most surely come with the added traffic from our surrounding areas that a Wal-Mart would bring.

All of the companies and organizations that I have mentioned have to meet the rules and regulations set down by our state if we believe these to fall short of what we want for our area we should be complaining to the State about their rules, not the ones who follow them.

We need more jobs and more people coming to our area to promote growth. I cannot say I have seen any sensible proposals or alternatives put forward instead of that for the Wal- Mart Supercenter, which we know will do both.
Jean Lorentz
Bath