By Michael Copley
Staff Writer

The fight against Walmart in Powhatan, and the argument that drives it, is an emotional knee-jerk reaction void of facts, Walmart representatives said.

Walmart spokesman Keith Morris said it’s troubling anytime people support or oppose a plan “before any specifics of the plan” are made public.

He said “I feel the same way about people who are inclined towards something without knowing all the facts…All you have is perceptions meeting head on, and there might not be a right or wrong when everything is based on perception.”

Morris points to other locations, places that have struggled with the same issues Powhatan faces now, when he talks about Walmart’s effect on communities. In Powhatan’s case, he pointed to Ashland.

He noted a recent Richmond Times-Dispatch article that features Ashland’s still-functioning business community, in a town that fought Walmart almost a decade ago.

“If there are some [communities] that have failed [because of Walmart] then let’s put the cause and effect on the table,” he said. “But no one has done that yet.”

But Powhatan Grow Smart Leader Greg Ownby dismissed Morris’ analysis. He said “Yeah [opposition in Powhatan] is not based on the facts [Walmart] gives us.”

And Ownby has examples of his own. He mentioned Farmville- a place where he says the local business community has suffered in Walmart’s wake.

An open conversation is likely the best way to address concerns and dispel alleged bad information, and Morris and others representing Walmart said the retailer is “cognizant” that people want to be informed, and made assurances that “There will be a lot of dialogue” with the Powhatan community.

“There’s a lot of real fear out there based on raw emotion,” said Morris, “That’s where the need for an open community forum comes from.”

But he said Walmart has to wait to have that conversation until the “business end of things has gone through.”

“Until we get there it doesn’t benefit anyone to have a meeting,” Morris said. “People would be coming there to hear tangible facts and if you’re not prepared, you look like you’re hiding something.”

And Ownby seemed comfortable with the idea of public meetings. “[Walmart] gets their turn to educate people with their facts and figures.”

Rob Shin, a spokesman for Walmart, talked to the Powhatan Chamber of Commerce in October but sources said his presentation- and his failure to answer specific questions- left more questions than answers.

Walmart committed to provide the board of supervisors with a cost-benefit analysis. Asked in mid-October about the status of that report, Walmart representatives said they were “Not prepared to answer that now,” but said it should be completed “in a about a week or so.”

District One Supervisor Joe Walton said last week he hadn’t heard anything from Walmart recently about plans to provide that study.

But those Walmart representatives had unofficial information they were ready to share.

One representative, who was not allowed to speak on the record, said some people “just like shopping at larger retailers,” while some prefer small, locally owned merchants.

He said a Walmart in Powhatan would not take away from existing businesses. Instead, a Powhatan-based Walmart would, in his estimation, keep shoppers- who now go to big-box retailers elsewhere-in the county.

“A Walmart in Powhatan isn’t going to change people’s spending habits. It won’t change people’s tastes,” he said.
Morris added, “People are leaving and taking their retail dollars outside the county…Our store can help fill a huge void. Local merchants stand to benefit from people staying in the county to shop.”

Ownby said that might be true but warned the drastically lower prices Walmart can offer might be too low for even “die hard” local shoppers to resist in hard financial times.

At an October 23 architectural review committee meeting that included Walmart designers, architects and the retailer’s lawyer, Ed Kidd, Powhatan committee members said they were “happy Walmart is looking here- happy any business is looking here.”

But they were clear that a Walmart in Powhatan would have to meet county standards aimed at keeping the big-box feel out of Powhatan, including a ban on franchise building design.

“We don’t want to see big box- visually,” comittee members said. “Take the big-box look and make it feel like smaller pieces.”

Walmart designers told committee members the prototype developed for Powhatan has a “pedestrian-friendly feel,” with more “visual interest” in its store design, including reduced signage, window features, canopy features, landscaping and lower entry ways.

Morris said “The design, as it exists now, is the first of its kind in the greater Richmond area. This will be even nicer than the Midlothian Village design.”

Kidd said the store design is the same as one intended for the Zion Cross Roads area, and a recent Walmart documentary shows stores in other parts of the country with the same scaled back, earth-tone design.

Kidd told the group it is “Hard for a national retailer to have store plans that never get duplicated.”

But Powhatan committee members challenged Walmart representatives “not to be something corporate in Powhatan. Be something new that other localities push to emulate. The work on the architecture end could attract a different kind of client than you have had in the past.”

Ownby said Powhatan Grow Smart has started looking past Walmart and the impacts to local merchants, and towards “bigger picture issues” and the potential for big-box development in the future.

Ownby said he plans to ask officials to defer judgment on Walmart’s rezoning request until a new comprehensive plan has been adopted.

Walmart’s Plan
According to store representatives, the Powhatan Walmart would be the smaller of two design types- a 150,000 square foot store with a 15,000 square foot out parcel on the south east corner of the property.

No specific plans exist yet for that out parcel. Keith Morris said it is a matter of looking at who is interested in occupying that space- “who’s not there that would like to be there,” he said. Morris indicated the occupant would likely be a small sit-down restaurant or a bank.

Walmart’s attorney Ed Kidd said his client will not likely give up plans for that out parcel. “From a cost perspective, it allows Walmart to recoup some of the cost” on what he said was a pricey land acquisition deal. “And they have limited it to one out parcel.”