Yesterday Walmart announced they would be significantly slowing expansion in 2008, canceling over half of 270 planned new stores. One of the canceled stores was planned for southeast Raleigh. WRAL quotes one citizen:
“Southeast Raleigh is being left out in the wilderness, so to speak,“ said resident Dwight Spencer.
...
“We were looking at Wal-Mart as a hope”
But this kind of philosophy is disheartening at best. The low paying jobs that Wal-Mart would provide would be offset by the closing of local small business that act with a greater interest in the communities they do business in. Wal-Mart has been consistently accused of poor labor practices, including limiting hours to keep employees at part-time status, retirement plans that are mainly invested in the companies own stock.
Big Box retail does little to propel an area’s economy and Walmart is no different. Local economies are best stimulated by manufacturing and research and development, businesses that bring investment to the area, rather than big retail that offers low-paying non skilled labor and sends profits somewhere else. South East Raleigh is expected to grow faster than any other part of our city in the coming years. If the citizens there want to stimulate the economy, we can hope our city leaders think about long term programs to get jobs that are substantial enough to support the people there and their families.
The 25 acres will continue to be owned by Wal-Mart with the potential for a store in the future.
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