Shop local?  Where exactly are you finding everything you need in Powhatan?  Shoes, clothing??  Am I missing some stores somewhere?  It’s the county’s own fault they are missing out on so much revenue.  There is a way to balance this if people would stop arguing long enough to figure it out.  Oh and the hometown experience doesn’t exist at the local pharmacies.  I moved my business to CVS the day it opened.

Shop locallly always - It is not easy but it can be done. It took a little time and effort, but everything I need is right here in our county now and without WalMart.  My efforts have given local business my money.  Is it really convenience you seek or laziness? 
I don’t have anything against bigger and better, but I do have an issue with taking business away from our local businesses.

Surely no one can be worried about Food Lion suffering.  They have two stores within a few miles of each other.  They’ve had a hold on the Powhatan market for years now and if they still want to be profitable they’ll be competitive.  The same goes for Powhatan and Plaza Pharmacies.  They’ll have to learn how to compete, maybe by capitalizing on that small-town, personal service they’re always lauding (though I’ve not been a witness to it.)  If you look around the Midlothian Walmart there are a lot of businesses that seem to be thriving.

I left Chesterfield County 15 years ago to move to Powhatan for less traffic and virtually no noise and light pollution. My stress levels have gone down and I’ve been happier than I ever was in the 20+ years I spent in Chesterfield.
What Walmart supporters seem to forget is that they’ll have to offset the job and revenue numbers by the numbers of jobs and revenues LOST when local businesses close. The pharmacy and Food Lion at South Creek, which employ dozens of people, will surely suffer. The NET EFFECT will be much less.
Also, who’s to guarantee Walmart will hire Powhatan residents? Those jobs could be filled with folks from Chesterfield, Amelia, Goochland, Cumberland, and Henrico for all we know.
By allowing Walmart to build here, the county is as good as forcing all of us to become residents of Chesterfield. Would they want to live there?

The problem with Powhatan County is that the county and others dont want changes in powhatan ever.They complan about driving to MIDLOTHAIN to work or buy things but wont let wlamart come here for jobs and convince for powhatan people like me that cant travel far.Powhatan is a beautiful county but time for a change to live way better than before.We need walmart,hardees,buger king and alot more restnaurt too.lets see all these new places come here now… thank you carl taylor of Amelis

R. Reese, A simple way to reduce your costs is to stop driving SUV’s.  I travel 35 miles into Midlothian each day to go to work in a small car to save gas.  You shouldn’t complain about fuel costs when your driving two SUV’s.  On top of that you want a Walmart in Powhatan so you can save money by not traveling as far.  It’s people like you who will turn Powhatan into Chesterfield.

R.Reese,

I agree, I think Powhatan County should FOCUS on jobs primarily. Jobs are CRITICAL. If business doesn’t employ a large amount of people that live right here in the county, then don’t do it at all. That should be our motto—focus on jobs and build our tax base so we can build and sustain and build our community for the long term.

Also, no short term jobs here—if you can’t offer a LONG TERM position (more than 2 years)  that’s going to last and prove it then don’t come here—there should be a law to deny short term or high turnover positions, there are too many of them—they don’t make money for the population and they don’t offer job security, nor do they help the county tax wise, because ultimately the working population supports the long term unemployed.

No small numbers of employment. If you can’t offer at least 10 jobs don’t bother coming here. There ought to be a requirement for a ratio of profit-to-jobs so we know we’re employing people in profitable locations.

Walmart earns a MILLION DOLLARS PER MINUTE—as do the gas distributors…There ought to be more than just a token few people working for a GOOD wage not just an average one there. If we’re going to export all of our money to China—the cheapest producer and make the most profit in return, then Walmart workers ought to at least live well while it lasts.

Joseph

I drive two suv’s quite a distance in and out to shop in chesterfield.  This gets quiet costly to me. I am looking forward to saving money on gas with the one stop shopping store. The benefits in large box stores such as sams will probably follow.  Why not spend our money here and let us benefit with new jobs to boost our county.

It’s Ms. AA actually.  I understand the arguments against Walmart, I do.  I personally abhor the place and haven’t set foot in one in ages.  I have many reasons for my feelings.  However, that does not mean I don’t see the value of having the Walmart in Powhatan for the many citizens who will/would shop there.  It’s a tough situation for sure, but in the end how can we say no to this kind of store but yes to others?  That just doesn’t seem fair.

One thing we need to be doing in Powhatan is charging businesses to do business here and generate some revenue from them. How about starting with gasoline ?

James River Petroleum charges 67 cents PER GALLON on average. Most of what your paying goes into their pockets. The gas station owners themselves make very little money at all, because they usually have a huge gas station mortgage to pay for at the end of the month.

That means for every ten gallons you pump, the distributor makes 3 or 4 dollars PER PATRON, not counting the cost of 100 gallons of gas it takes to get the tanker here. An 8,000 gallon tanker does a super amount of damage to the roads on a daily basis by the way. They then claim their tax money back from the IRS at the end of the month ! That’s how they make their real money, with your tax dollars. Where does it go ? Their pockets.

If 100 people pump 10 gallons every hour at a single gas station, whoa nelly ! The original cost of gasoline is typically around $1.97 per gallon at the terminals which are in Richmond. When the price goes down the distributors keep their prices up so they can make even more profit. They love it when the price goes up, because their profits go up as well. They hate it when the price goes down or when it gets cold, because you get more gas for your money.

Let’s levy a county mandated “Business Profiteering Tax” on gas stations - without a tax per gallon for citizens every time they pull up to the pump - the owners and distributors are swimming in money, we the county SHOULD be reaping the rewards from their profits ! We should be getting something for the TAX MONEY we’re spending to allow them to come here and take away our money.