Wal-Mart makes my boss sad for our gene pool

He told me so. I said it should probably make him sad for our sweatpants pool. (Punnier if you say it out loud.) This made me think of it:

I’m sure it’s been around the Internet a time or three, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it. I did a quick Google, and found a forum post with the complete text of the article it’s from. See it after the jump.

(fyi, it’s an article about a retail war between dollar stores! I’d really be interested to map the spread of dollar stores and correlate it with the decline of five-and-dimes. It’s weird how the language changes. Think of pennycandy, for another example.)

From here:

Daily Town Talk

April 21, 2005 Thursday

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 13A

LENGTH: 685 words

HEADLINE: Dollar store war?

BYLINE: Robert Morgan

BODY:
Local store finds success and major competition
By Robert Morgan

Kenneth Williams opened a store on Lower Third Street in Alexandria when no one else was looking to do business in the area.

Now he’s looking at direct competition as a national discount chain is building a store right across the street from where he opened his new Dollar Palace at 2500 Third St.

Williams said he’s been doing his homework, preparing for that competition from the new Family Dollar store that will open later this year.

Family Dollar, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., has 5,600 stores in 44 states, according to its Web site.

Florence Stanley, spokeswoman for Family Dollar, said, “It looks like we’re targeting a late summer opening, probably August.”

The store will be of average size, a total of 9,100 square feet with 7,700 square feet of sales area, Stanley said.

Family Dollar has three other stores in Alexandria and one in Pineville.

The size of the corporation he’ll be competing against has not escaped Williams, who said, “They are a multi-billion-dollar company. We (Williams and his wife) are just two little people here.”

But standing this week in the store he built from a former auto parts business, he said, “I am cautiously optimistic. A lot of our customers have said they will not shop (at Family Dollar).”

He said there is a sense of community loyalty because Williams chose to invest in a business on Lower Third at a time when major companies would not.

In a letter to The Town Talk published Monday, Iradean Dupar-Gatson suggested the new business smacked of unfair competition because it will be part of a national chain.

While some members of the community agreed that it hardly seems fair that a national chain would open a store across the street after Williams took risks to get his business started, those interviewed by The Town Talk said they probably will shop at both stores.

“Well, I was talking to Kenneth, the owner, about it the other day. He said (Family Dollar) looked at it two years ago and decided not to open a store because they didn’t think it was safe. I guess they feel like it’s all right now,” Malcolm LeFears of Alexandria said.

LeFears, who said he shops at the Dollar Palace almost daily, said, “I don’t think it’s fair. They wouldn’t take the chance he did.”

But he said, “I’ll probably shop at both of them. I know (Family Dollar) has more clothes than he does.”

Viola Coutee of Alexandria said she shops at the Dollar Palace “quite often” and likes the store.

Coutee said the new Family Dollar store will be competition for the Dollar Palace.

“I hope it doesn’t bring them down,” she said.

She said, however, she already shops at other Family Dollar stores in Alexandria and will probably shop at both Williams’ business and the new store when it opens.

“I just think it’s wrong. It’s hurting the little man,” Edward Jackson of Alexandria said.

But, like the others, Jackson said, “I’ll shop both of them.”

Debra Jackson of Alexandria said she sees nothing unfair about the new store locating on Lower Third Street.

Debra Jackson said she likes shopping at the Dollar Palace because it is convenient and casual.

“I don’t have to get all dressed up like I’m going to Wal-Mart or something,” she said, adding she shops at Williams’ store “to pick up my cleaning supplies.”

She said, “I’ll shop at both of them, whatever’s convenient for me. I’m not going to pick and choose between them.”

Stanley said her company surveyed the community before deciding to build a new store.

“We found the consumers there that are looking for quality products at low prices, (such as) the merchandise we carry,” she said.

Williams said his shelves are stocked with many items that are requested by customers.

“We carry a lot of items that are geared to the community,” he said. “They’re not going to do that.”

Still, he said, Family Dollar stores that are already in Alexandria carry some items at lower prices than his store does.

“We are lower on some items than they are. And we carry items they won’t carry,” Williams said.

GRAPHIC: Kenneth Williams is cautiously optimistic his store, Dollar Palace on Lower Third Street, will continue to do well after Family Dollar opens a new store right across the street. Leandro Huebner, The Town Talk; Eddie Winston Jr. with Patrick’s Post Tension of Shreveport installs rebar in the foundation of the new Family Dollar store under construction on Lower Third Street. It is expected to open in late summer. Tia Owens-Powers, The Town Talk

LOAD-DATE: April 22, 2005