for some reason this isn’t public knowledge yet but a little bird told me today that Walmart has shown interest in building another one of their SUPERCENTERS close by – in fact – pretty much in my backyard… 3/4 of a mile away from my house. apparently it is not enough that i can literally travel 6 miles north or 6 miles south and have my pick of Walmarts.
my question is, “why isn’t it public knowledge?” there should be a vote on such a development especially based on our location. having a commercial retailer like this going in will bring in SO much more traffic to an already over-populated intersection. there are NO other commercial retailers around us because the area isn’t built for it. but for some reason Walmart thinks it rules the world.
the proposed placement is right on K-7 & Johnson Drive where the old Woodsonia Elementary stood proud. it would have an exit and entry right off of Johnson Drive, K-7 and neighboring housing developments. and because of this it will pose danger to children because of traffic, stranger-danger, etc.
it is true that sometimes developments like Walmart can benefit smaller towns, by bringing in revenue, but in our area – we are not small… we are not poor… we are NOT desperate for Walmart to save us. seriously… this Walmart would basically be in the center of $350K+ homes. which makes this whole development a 100% profit-maker for Walmart and the landowner… and of no benefit to Western Shawnee. it will hurt us by dramatically lowering housing costs, lowering the resale value of homes. and sorry to say, make us look trashy. (oh and my house is no where near $350k – those are on the opposite side of Johnson Drive).
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well little do they know, this little firecracker (that would be me) will do pretty much anything to keep this from happening and for those of you who live nearby – it will affect you so i am requesting your help! more details will come later but i plan to write the mayor of shawnee and begin a door to door signature petition. if you would like to help us in telling the City of Shawnee, NO to Walmart in Western Shawnee let me know or – click here – and sign my online petition.
my efforts could fail but i am not willing to go down without putting up a little bit of a fight. and a united community cannot be silenced.
(i am guilty of feeding the beast by shopping there from time to time and i am not saying Walmart is a bad business – but when it begins creeping into your lap there is something wrong)
- what are your thoughts on commercial retailers taking over even well-developed communities?
- what are your thoughts on commerical development in general?
- are dollar signs all that matter?
- is it just the times we live in or can we do something
- should we do something?
maybe it is one of the upscale walmarts like they have here in plano, in the midst of 500K homes…they have a sushi bar and cafe, a wine gallery and wood floors. and no sticky conveyor belts. for a walmart, it’s pretty nice. and i hate walmart.
they know they dont need to save shawnee, they want your income, and know johnson county people are too proud to go to wyandotte, and you have to admit the one on SMP is a little ghetto now.
with the west/south expansion of joco, it makes sense for business.
fight it if you want – at least you won’t regret not doing something either way it goes. although i am sure you will not be alone in the fight.
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i doubt it will be one of those upscale walmarts… very much doubt that. if it were – i would be less upset… and i would also be less upset if it were one of those smaller “neighborhood walmart grocers”. but since it is worded as Walmart Supercenter – i am sure it is just a run-of-the-mill ghetto walmart. johnson county people shop at Target. not Walmart. and you were one of them. haha.
i am not even sure i care so much that is a walmart… i think i would be just as upset if it were a Target or something similar. it just doesn’t fit and i am not a supporter of placing commercial retail just to place it. the other walmarts, targets, etc. around town are amongst other competing retail – not homes.
i like a good fight. so i am going to fight it.
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You know, I’m torn on the whole Wal-Mart thing because it is much more affordable for certain things and certain populations NEED it. But it doesn’t sound like this area needs it. Just to give you some hope, they wanted to build a wal-mart in a similar area here in NC and the town VETOED it! Not gonna happen! By the way, I’d love to see one of those ritzy Wal-Marts. Interesting.
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Somewhere along the way, a few years ago now, I decided to never shop at WalMart ever again. There are so many stories about how poorly they treat their workers and their suppliers. It’s been probably three years since I’ve spent money at one of those stores. And I tell people to not shop there. I figure that when people stop shopping there, despite the low prices, they will get the message because it will hit them where it hurts most, in their profit margin. I currently refer to the organization as the evil empire.
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