Wal-Mart wins over some in Va. town

KILMARNOCK, Va. — A decade ago, this tiny Northern Neck coastal town thought it had slain its Goliath.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was rumored to be interested in opening a store in this town of 1,244, one that resembles the 1950s more than modern-day Washington 140 miles north.

Main Street is lined with mom and pop shops and family-owned restaurants, many of which fly American flags out front and still allow customers to keep a tab. People are friendly. Neighbors go around to knock on the back door of the house — never the front — and residents don’t have a reason to lock their cars.

Kilmarnock fought back against what it felt would be an impediment to its small-town way of life, one that had only a handful of chain stores.

Business owners feared the behemoth Wal-Mart would run them out of business and increase crime. They bought an expensive economic analysis study that found the community wasn’t large enough to support the store.

The developers backed off.

By 2006, the world’s largest retailer was drawn back to the town of families, wealthy Northern Virginia retirees and summer tourists. By then, the land had been rezoned, perfect for a big-box retailer like Wal-Mart.

There was nothing town officials could do to legally keep Wal-Mart out. So they embraced it, much to the chagrin of the local business community and the residents that packed the firehouse for a town council meeting.

Kilmarnock, like large cities and small towns throughout the country, debated what kind of impact the world’s largest retailer would have: Would it destroy the town’s character and business community or help build it up?

The Washington Times set out in 2006 to measure that impact in Kilmarnock, following the town and the development of the 156,622-square-foot store, which has now been open just over a year, to judge what really happens when Wal-Mart comes to town.

Today, Kilmarnock and Wal-Mart are more than a year into their relationship. The doomsday scenario — the presence of Wal-Mart would drive small businesses out of town, increase crime and turn Kilmarnock into a town of neon-coated chain stores — hasn’t played out to the extent once feared. But residents and business owners are beginning to see the changes Wal-Mart has brought about so far.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s success, colossal size and voracious appetite — worldwide, it opened an average of more than one store per day in 2007 — has made it a cultural icon and lightning rod for criticism.

Most Americans love or hate the world’s largest retailer. They either are drawn to it for its low-priced goods and the convenience of having everything under one roof or hate it for its perceived greed, labor practices and massive power to out-price its competitors.

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