Put your money where your heart is
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I’ll never get used to it. Ironically, that’s what I thought the first time I saw it, and now that it’s changing, I can’t imagine what it’ll be like.
I’m talking about the view driving down Polson Hill on U.S. Highway 93. Approaching the town from the south, you’d never know the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi lies just over the rise, beckoning to travelers with its clear blue waters. On a clear day, snowy mountaintops glisten in the distance as far as the eye can see, and fluffy clouds add the finishing touches to this masterpiece. The view is so breathtaking, in fact, that I often coast down the last slope into the outskirts of Polson, willing my eyes to soak up every drop of beauty.
While it wouldn’t be fair to say all that is going to change with the construction of a Walmart Supercenter on Polson Hill, things are not going to be the same. Flathead Lake isn’t going anywhere, and no one’s trying to move the Mission Mountains. But the addition of a 150,000-square-foot structure and a parking lot at least as big, with fluorescent lights covering the whole shebang, can’t help but detract from the natural wonders of our valley — and that’s the least of our worries.
When Walmart revealed plans for the supercenter in 2005, several locals concerned about the possible impact on the Polson community and businesses banded together to form a nonprofit, grassroots group intent on preventing uncontrolled growth from coming to their town. They called themselves “Lake County First,” and in 2006, the group commissioned a study through the Retail Research Group to examine the potential effects on a few existing businesses should Walmart actually go through with building the supercenter. The study found that a supercenter would have a significant effect on local grocery stores, and while I am not a business owner, the numbers aren’t encouraging. (See page 7 for the full story on the new supercenter, including details of the 2006 retail study.)
So what about this new development in our little lakeside town is encouraging? The bigger store will require approximately 50 more workers, and those jobs are certainly needed in Lake County. All the construction will require workers, and there are plenty of locals experienced in the field. Tourists and travelers who otherwise wouldn’t stop in Polson might be enticed to stop for supplies at a Walmart Supercenter — after all, the store offers just about everything you could want on a summer vacation in Montana. And if they stop at Walmart, maybe they’ll be hungry, too, and head into town for a meal at a locally owned family restaurant. Or maybe they won’t, because from Walmart, they can jump right on Highway 35 and head toward Glacier National Park.
The truth is, only time will tell how an even bigger box store than we now have will affect our community. In the meantime, we should show our local businesses a lot of love. It’s a common sentiment around the Mission Valley that buying local is good for us — it helps our neighbors who are business owners; it helps our neighbors who supply products to those local business owners; and it ultimately makes the Mission Valley a better place to live for all of us. And sorry Walmart, but buying local ensures better value for us, the consumers.
As one reader pointed out in a letter to the editor last week, the Walmart tagline “save money, live better,” is only true today. Tomorrow, your new socks will be unraveling, and in a few more tomorrows, your neighbor’s convenience store will be bankrupt. That result may seem inevitable, but it doesn’t have to be. At this point, construction of the new Walmart is under way, and there seems to be little recourse for those who believe a Walmart Supercenter is a serious threat to a small-town Montana way of life. But as the same letter-writer stated, “You don’t have to shop there.”
What a simple solution.
The store is set to open next fall, which gives local shoppers a year to think about where they want their money to go: the mom-and-pop clothing store that’s been in town for a generation, or to the world’s largest public corporation (according to Forbes Global 2000). One shopper won’t change the world, but one shopper could be the beginning of change. Think about it.
