RUFFIN PREVOST Billings Gazette | Posted: Friday, April 13, 2007 12:00 am
CODY - With no word from Wal-Mart on when work is expected to start on a planned Worland store, some local merchants are continuing efforts to make their businesses more competitive against the retail giant.
Though Wal-Mart's plans for a store in Worland have been known for more than a year, the company is apparently in no hurry to build, having yet to finalize a sale based on a purchase agreement with local landowners.
"It's pretty early in the process at this point for a timeline of when we would break ground or have a grand opening," said Josh Phair, a Wal-Mart spokesman.
"We're still working through the entitlement process and getting our permits, and once that's finished up, we'll have a better idea of when people can expect things to happen," he said.
Phair said he did not expect problems finding qualified workers in Worland, saying the company had "thousands of applicants for just a few hundred positions" at a recently opened Wal-Mart distribution center in Cheyenne.
Worland City Planner Dale Ellsworth said land owned by Earl Bowers Farms has been annexed in anticipation of the project.
Wal-Mart representatives have submitted a site plan and landscaping plan, both of which have been given a green light, contingent on approval of a final plat, Ellsworth said.
Ellsworth said he has not had much contact with Wal-Mart officials and does not know details of when the company plans to start construction.
Kathie Nomura, of Earl Bowers Farms, said the company has a purchase agreement for about 12 acres of land at the eastern edge of town, but does not know when the company plans to close the sale.
"It's ridiculous," she said. "I get people asking me about it every day. But you know nothing until they are ready to tell you," she said of her communications with land brokers working for Wal-Mart.
Asked about local reaction to the planned Wal-Mart, Nomura said that "some businesses aren't terribly happy about it, but the consumers certainly are."
Mike Willard, executive director of the Worland-Ten Sleep Chamber of Commerce, said some local businesses are apprehensive about competing with Wal-Mart, while others see the company's arrival as an opportunity.
Willard said the chamber, along with the Washakie Development Association and Northwest College, was working to gauge residents' opinions of local businesses in an effort to assess their competitiveness.
Le Ann Baker, director of the Washakie Development Association, said the absence of reliable information about Wal-Mart's plans hasn't kept it from being a hot topic with local business owners.
"Any time you have the world's largest retailer looking at your town and saying they're coming, it certainly starts a lot of discussion," she said.
Baker said her agency has focused on helping "ensure a positive co-existence" with Wal-Mart, adding that "there are all kinds of people on both sides of the fence" about whether Wal-Mart's presence is helpful or harmful.
Danel LaRose owns a Cody scrapbooking store and also works as a management consultant specializing in employee training and development.
"There's a lot of intimidation when a big retailer comes in, but small businesses can compete," she said.
LaRose said small businesses can't compete with big retailers on price, so they must focus instead on strong customer service and keeping inventory fresh.
"Also, they have to be able to move quickly. That might mean changing window displays or creating new advertising and marketing, or adding new inventory," LaRose said.
Large retailers are often slow to react to sales opportunities and changing demand, she said, but small business owners can capitalize on direct communication with customers.
LaRose said many small businesses in rural communities have had the market to themselves for a long time, but can no longer afford to take customers for granted.
"Change is hard for a lot of people, especially if they've been running a business the same way for the last 20 years and it's worked well. But if they want to stay in business, they will have to adapt," she said.