by Carolyn Paradis

Created on: March 31, 2009   Last Updated: April 04, 2009

Remember the kerfuffle when Wal-Mart first came to your town? Small businesses were wiped out, traffic patterns changed, the downtown core became a ghost town. It all happened here as well. Twenty years have passed and new businesses have replaced those that closed. Trendier places, more ethnically oriented; nice to visit. And so the downtown area is reborn.

There used to be a faint suggestion of disdain for those who shopped at Wal-Mart; folks who wouldn't be seen entering the place. I'll bet many of those same folks are first in line at opening time in these days of layoffs, foreclosures, wage cuts and uncertainty.

I've shopped there from Day One and will continue to do so. Sure, there are drawbacks. If you shop there regularly you've probably stood in line, muttering about opening more tills. You've probably had to go back outside in the freezing wind and rain to find a shopping cart. Maybe you've had to hunt up and down long, long aisles to find someone in a red shirt to tell you where to find a box of fireplace logs or seat covers for your new pickup truck. I have. I've even grabbed other customers in desperate attempts to get help. I once tried to buy a swing set for my granddaughter's birthday present. Two hours later I still didn't have what I wanted...the warehouse had been searched, stock boys had disappeared into the nether reaches of the store, never to be seen again, the outdoor garden section was consulted, Head Office was phoned, Customer Service was complained to bitterly (by me), and I was near hysteria as the Big Day was almost here. I finally ended up getting her a playground slide. She loved it.

And yet, I love the place. I shop there every week. You just can't beat the prices on dog food, coffee, toilet paper, cookies, Coke, small appliances and all the other things we need, or think we might need. I get my craft supplies there...my paints and brushes, my wool and beads. Half the price I'd pay at a craft supply store, IF there was one in town. I buy clothes when they are on sale, especially undies...they do have a great selection at prices that won't bankrupt you.

I like their colorful, sturdy recyclable shopping bags, which hold so much and make handy diaper bags, beach bags and storage bags as well. I've even used them for gift bags. At $.99 each, they are a bargain in themselves. I like being able to park my shopping cart at the back of the store and pop in for a Big Mac and a coffee at the in-store McD's. I like the big, clean washrooms, the chatty lady who measures fabric in the sewing section, the super-helpful elderly gent who mans the paint mixing machine and helps with directions and advice on anything and everything. I like being greeted as I enter the store, and I really like it when there is a shopping cart empty and waiting. I like the bargain section at the front of the store where you can stock up on Folger's coffee, antifreeze, bottled water or whatever else is extra-specially priced that day.

Before Christmas last year I bought a very large potted Norfolk pine for only $9...it served beautifully as our Christmas tree and now sits out on the back deck, as lovely as ever. That tree would have cost ten times that much at a garden centre.

I live 10 miles from the local Wal-Mart, which is just far enough to make the weekly shopping trip an Outing. Something to look forward to, something to plan for. And now they are building a Super Wal-Mart here. A place where you can buy anything. No need to shop anywhere else, ever again. Will the town survive? Will the downtown area become a ghost town again? Will small businesses close, or will we all survive? I don't know, but I sure want to be there on opening day.

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