News on Walmart

[Kansas Cowgirl]

So what is the latest on the Walmart? According to the Walmart site, it was not on the list of future stores that were canceled. My mom is in management at a Walmart. She says that the Ulysses store now has an actual store number. What information I received, they were waiting on the highway project, that is now under way. Due to the current economic status, they pushed back a lot of store building, but they are still going to build them.

[Former Ulysess Resident]

Kansas Cowgirl wrote:

So what is the latest on the Walmart? According to the Walmart site, it was not on the list of future stores that were canceled. My mom is in management at a Walmart. She says that the Ulysses store now has an actual store number. What information I received, they were waiting on the highway project, that is now under way. Due to the current economic status, they pushed back a lot of store building, but they are still going to build them.

The recession has put it on hold according to a post the mayor made on facebook, as I recall. It was a few months ago after he got back from Topeka. I do understand the Biodiesel plant will be built in Grant County though.

[Former Ulysess Resident]

Its going to be a huge boost in sales tax revenue for the City of Ulysses and the county too when it is done. But check out the CIty website. I haven't but I'm sure there is more up to date information on there.

[What]

There is still a lot of conflicting opinions on the ethanol plant.

[Investor]

I've heard that the C of C first pushed people to buy stock for a group of businesses on Main Street. Then when people bought into the idea of building up main street, the C of C maybe jump into bed with Walmart to get them into town. If so, then this may be the kiss of death for those main street investors (as Walmart coming to a town is normally very hard on the "Mom and Pop" type business). Does anyone know any latest news about those main street investments?

[What]

What main street? There's very little left there to go. Walmart's already taken it. People just drive to Garden, Dodge, Liberal or Guymon to go to Walmart. Go to Garden City Walmart on any given Saturday and see how many are there.

[Former Ulysess Resident]

Investor wrote:

I've heard that the C of C first pushed people to buy stock for a group of businesses on Main Street. Then when people bought into the idea of building up main street, the C of C maybe jump into bed with Walmart to get them into town. If so, then this may be the kiss of death for those main street investors (as Walmart coming to a town is normally very hard on the "Mom and Pop" type business). Does anyone know any latest news about those main street investments?

It doesn't matter, because Garden City is only 45 minutes away. Walmart going in at Ulysses will actually benefit Ulysses in a big way because of all the towns like Hugoton, Johnson, Lakin, Sublette, etc can just go to Ulysses, not have to fight bigger crowds, and not have to drive as far. Win Win situation there. The reason that the local stores in Ulysses struggle so much is that they don't have the selection, and in many cases, are much higher priced. But they can still attrack a specific piece of the market by competing on the quality of customer service, and that is what Walmart will force them to do. They can win business by providing superior customer service. And they really don't have the incentive to do that right now. And those people that go to the locally owned stores will not have to spend money on gas to go out of town, nor will they have to spend money to eat while they're out of town, and there will be a huge increase in sales tax revenues for Ulysses and Grant County. The important thing after that is accountability of those elected to spend that money wisely and within the law. The RadioShack franchise in Ulysses, if its still there, will also have to compete for sales in Electronics with Walmart to some extent, which can never hurt. It gives people more choices and it brings more people to Ulysses. It will also force Perry's tire to compete because Walmart also does Tires. It will be beneficial in so many ways if people that run local businesses embrace the challenges and opportunities that a Walmart would bring. Walmart is also a new opening for possible for manufacturers that look to expand after the recession is over, because Walmart buys many of their items from Manufacturers that are local for timeliness purposes and cost cutting purposes.

[Interested]

Plus it will bring in more wet backs both to work there and to shop.

[What]

Walmart will not compete with the business on Main Street. It is a discount store. People that will purchase clothes and furniture and portraits and whatever else at Walmart, will drive to Garden or Liberal now to do the same. If someone in town wants the higher quality product they will shop Main Street. You drive to Garden do you see a bunch of vacant store fronts and just a Walmart? No you see all of the other nice clothing stores, and Sears, and Penney's and many many more.
Walmart will force local retailers to be more customer service oriented.

[esparza90]

There isnt much business on main street anyways. What happened to most of them? Its just depressing to drive there.

[esparza90]

What wrote:

Walmart will not compete with the business on Main Street. It is a discount store. People that will purchase clothes and furniture and portraits and whatever else at Walmart, will drive to Garden or Liberal now to do the same. If someone in town wants the higher quality product they will shop Main Street. You drive to Garden do you see a bunch of vacant store fronts and just a Walmart? No you see all of the other nice clothing stores, and Sears, and Penney's and many many more.
Walmart will force local retailers to be more customer service oriented.

What quality? More like homemade-quality.

[hello]

Former Ulysess Resident wrote:

<quoted text>It doesn't matter, because Garden City is only 45 minutes away. Walmart going in at Ulysses will actually benefit Ulysses in a big way because of all the towns like Hugoton, Johnson, Lakin, Sublette, etc can just go to Ulysses, not have to fight bigger crowds, and not have to drive as far. Win Win situation there. The reason that the local stores in Ulysses struggle so much is that they don't have the selection, and in many cases, are much higher priced. But they can still attrack a specific piece of the market by competing on the quality of customer service, and that is what Walmart will force them to do. They can win business by providing superior customer service. And they really don't have the incentive to do that right now. And those people that go to the locally owned stores will not have to spend money on gas to go out of town, nor will they have to spend money to eat while they're out of town, and there will be a huge increase in sales tax revenues for Ulysses and Grant County. The important thing after that is accountability of those elected to spend that money wisely and within the law. The RadioShack franchise in Ulysses, if its still there, will also have to compete for sales in Electronics with Walmart to some extent, which can never hurt. It gives people more choices and it brings more people to Ulysses. It will also force Perry's tire to compete because Walmart also does Tires. It will be beneficial in so many ways if people that run local businesses embrace the challenges and opportunities that a Walmart would bring. Walmart is also a new opening for possible for manufacturers that look to expand after the recession is over, because Walmart buys many of their items from Manufacturers that are local for timeliness purposes and cost cutting purposes.

Walmart will not be good for anyone. If you think Ulysses is dead now....Wait till Walmart is here. They will destroy almost every mom & pop business and not because of higher prices but because they are Walmart. You can look at RadioShack in Ulysses and their ipods, etc are the same prices at Walmart and offer better customer service than Walmart.
Walmart is a tragedy waiting to happen..especially with the younger population. Many of them don't care what happens to Ulysses or it's people. Older, more educated and experience citizens worry constantly about this issue.
I just hope Walmart stays away from our beautiful little community because it won't stay that way for long if they come

[esparza90]

hello wrote:

<quoted text>
Walmart will not be good for anyone. If you think Ulysses is dead now....Wait till Walmart is here. They will destroy almost every mom & pop business and not because of higher prices but because they are Walmart. You can look at RadioShack in Ulysses and their ipods, etc are the same prices at Walmart and offer better customer service than Walmart.
Walmart is a tragedy waiting to happen..especially with the younger population. Many of them don't care what happens to Ulysses or it's people. Older, more educated and experience citizens worry constantly about this issue.
I just hope Walmart stays away from our beautiful little community because it won't stay that way for long if they come

Great pessimestic view on Ulysses' future.

[Concerned American]

What wrote:

Walmart will not compete with the business on Main Street. It is a discount store. People that will purchase clothes and furniture and portraits and whatever else at Walmart, will drive to Garden or Liberal now to do the same. If someone in town wants the higher quality product they will shop Main Street. You drive to Garden do you see a bunch of vacant store fronts and just a Walmart? No you see all of the other nice clothing stores, and Sears, and Penney's and many many more.
Walmart will force local retailers to be more customer service oriented.

I was in Dairy Queen the day McDonalds first opened (where the Chinese place is now), There were no customers except me for the whole time that I was there. Some time after that, they closed their doors for good. I'll be interested in how good the main street businesses do after Walmart opens.

I have learned of a Ulysses family that had their son's drug prescription filled at Grant Country Drugs for $54.00. Later they went to Walmart in Garden City and had the prescription refilled (same number of pills) for $4.00. While this clearly must be a name brand vs. a no-name brand situation, the fact remains that $4.00 pills bottles would be expected to hurt Grant County Drugs business. Someone please check for me the day and/or week that Walmart opens to see how Grant County Drugs is doing.

[The Border Bandito]

Grant County Drug will do okay. If you look at a similar small town, they also seem to be able to keep the downtown area. Look towards Pratt to see how our downtown will be. Granted, Pratt is on a major highway, but I doubt that their downtown is helped a lot by that.

[Reformcongress]

Concerned American wrote:

<quoted text>
I was in Dairy Queen the day McDonalds first opened (where the Chinese place is now), There were no customers except me for the whole time that I was there. Some time after that, they closed their doors for good. I'll be interested in how good the main street businesses do after Walmart opens.
I have learned of a Ulysses family that had their son's drug prescription filled at Grant Country Drugs for $54.00. Later they went to Walmart in Garden City and had the prescription refilled (same number of pills) for $4.00. While this clearly must be a name brand vs. a no-name brand situation, the fact remains that $4.00 pills bottles would be expected to hurt Grant County Drugs business. Someone please check for me the day and/or week that Walmart opens to see how Grant County Drugs is doing.

Grant County can leverage that by telling their customers that they can go to Walmart for the generic version for that price, and gain trust from their customers. If they do it right, it won't hurt them.

[Reformcongress]

It is like any business. For Example, if Best Buy doesn't carry something that RadioShack does, Best Buy sales associates, the good ones, refer their customers to RadioShack for those items. I've seen RadioShack do the same thing. But there is a difference in the market for the two companies. RadioShack carries a whole lot of things that Best Buy doesn't and vice-versa. So the sales associates that know their competitors will gain more trust by just being honest and saying, we don't have it, and then telling their customers where to buy it. That is just one thing competition does. I'll tell you right now, If I'm looking for A/V Hookup Cables, RadioShack is where I'm going, because they carry Monster brand cables, their own in several grades in a store that is usually closer than a Best Buy. There aren't any Best Buys near Ulysses. Best Buy has failed to have that "neighborhood" store image. RadioShack has that competitive advantage that sets them apart from Best Buy just like Grant County Drug has.

[Straight on my head]

walmart wont ever come here......its lame *click*

[Amber]

When I see it I'll belive it

[what]

There are different types of people in the retail shopping area. The cheap folks that shop price no matter what. They don't care if the quality matches the price, the just want cheap. Then there are the people that want the best value. They want the best quality that can be bought to stand the test of time. Walmart is going to take those cheap don't care about quality people and leave the good customers to the smaller move quality oriented retailers.

If you think all Main Street has to offer is "Homemeade" then you have not bothered to shop the stores in the district and you have no business commenting. Grant County Furniture has some great pieces, and if they don't have it they will find it. Jason will spend hours helping you and showing you different options. Trendsetters has some of the cutest clothes. They just had an awesome sale with summer items at 50% off. Main Artery showcases many local artists and has some great pieces of art, as well as occasional classes and activities for the kids. Obsessions is a great store to shop for gifts and other items. Southwest Kansas Sales is the only place to go for Alltel/Verizon whatever it is now. Those ladies are more helpful then trying to call direct for help. There are hair salons, bakeries and other outlets on Main Street. Don't get on here and complain about how Walmart is going to hurt the locals when you don't even bother to shop the locals. I personally feel that Walwart can only help drive more traffic into town and give a broader customer base to those main street stores and other retailer around town.