Comments on: Development on Sheldon’s Southwest Side?

By: jake

jake — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 15:20:50 +0000

I like to support local business. I try to buy as many things as I can in town. The one thing I will not tolerate is poor costumer service from a local business. That is supposed to be their strong point. Small businesses should remember that. For the most part Sheldon businesses do great.

By: Lee Ann

Lee Ann — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 05:35:38 +0000

Tom, I guess I agree with you. If we’re going to grow, we need all kinds of stores. I never did like Walmart, but what is funny is I used to work for Target and I love Target’s treatment of their employees. So I guess if I thought about it more, I’d rather have a Target than a Walmart. But I guess its six of one and a half dozen of the other.

If we are going to get this town growing, I guess we do need all kinds of stores and opportunities. If we were already grown and bigger, a Walmart wouldn’t make much of a difference. I guess I’m just thinking about now when it is still small. If we could get another manufacturer here, a nice restaurant out near the highway, and a few smaller businesses opening up, we would be starting to grow, and then I don’t think a Walmart would hurt. Spencer didn’t die out when Walmart came in. It drew other stores to a strip mall over there.

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 03:25:26 +0000

You know, I read some of these comments about not wanting a Walmart, or I take that to include a similar store, like Target, Menards, Lowes, or even a bigger Shopko, that type of ‘chain’ store, and I ask myself, ok….tell me how many towns have died out b/c of of one of these. Or…how many have actually grown. How many of these stores when they locate in a comunity, has the corporate office done its own research, and come to a conclusion that that town is not going to die out. So they invest in that town. Lets face it, if you go to another town to shop at a Walmart, do you also go to another store there to make a purchase? I think perhaps we all do. Be honest with your selves, what is REALLY going to make Sheldon, grow? When you ask someone if they would like to live here, do they ask, “Do you have a mom and pop store or do you have a shopping center”? What is the draw? When they enter past on the expressway, do they see the sign for gas that is most times .20 more than 60 miles south or do they see a reason to pull into Sheldon? We can talk all we want about our downtown, and I am for keeping a fantastic downtown, however, we still need to get physical bodies in this town to grow. Ask yourself, what brings them here? When towns around us get a Walmart, or a Menards, did the rest of the town die? NO. In fact take a close look at some of them: Spencer: Walmart and Menards arre both there, yet drive thru their downtown, they fixed the streets some store fronts remodeled. Sioux Center: Walmart went there, guess what, so did Culvers, Pizza Hut, and more. And again look at their downtown, it looks pretty darn flurishing to me! So, to me, this argument that getting a large store like Walmart, or Menards or even some other, is not what REALLY hurts a downtown. We are trying to get our town to grow, it means bodies, one way or another. is there an attitude in this town that competion is going to hurt, I believe there is, a BIG one, it might start with those in charge. Did building a bigger HyVee and a Fareway, help or hinder Sheldon, I submit it helped. Will some downtown business be affectd by larger stores, sure they will. That is definetly unfortunate, I feel for them. But that is where people loyal to the community for years and years come in. Check sometime what you really save buying out of town, I recently purchased a set of tires, locally, and out of curiosity thought I would check what a “big store” (sams) would sell the same tire to me for, guess what, Sheldon beat them out by 15.00 per tire, so.. when someone tells me it is “always cheaper” elseware…Not so. (Did the same thing last week with a freezer,,, same thing.) so I say, bring on the competion, if we can beat them now, we can beat them when they get here. And it will bring in much needed bodies, that bring in revenue!!

By: Possum Belly

Possum Belly — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 17:30:24 +0000

I can find a WalMart without going to Sheldon. The Hy-Vee, Bomgaars, and probably Casey;s and Kum and Go or whatever you call them around here all probably put some mom and pop grocery and department/hardware stores out of business. I worked 6.5 years for WalMart in Worthington, Spirit Lake, and Grand Junction CO. It was a company that treated me far better as a person than I was treated at RMT, Den Hartog(Hospers),Budd Z’s. And I had to treat my employees a lot better too than I would have had to treat them elsewhere. I don’t think the truck stop is a good idea, as gasoline is finite, and sooner than later, it will close and the land under it that could have produced will be covered by concrete. And with exception of the employer in Hospers, it paid me far better too than the others($11.11 an hour in 2004).

By: Lee Ann

Lee Ann — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 06:36:01 +0000

Possum Belly, do you really want a Supercenter in Sheldon? I know it sounds like a good idea. but I have heard of a lot of towns with problems after Walmart moves in. I think I’d rather have them about 30 miles away, all around us.

In Chadron Nebraska, a Walmart Supercenter moved in, they had cheap prices, one stop shopping. Everybody was excited about it. One year later, all the small town stores had closed up. the downtown area died. Then Walmart raised their prices 17% across the board. And they had no competition, and no small stores to take back their businesses. I think we could do a lot better in Sheldon without a Walmart.

By: Possum Belly

Possum Belly — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 04:30:54 +0000

Put the truck stop next to the new WalMart Supercenter!