Salt Lake City, UT. Debating a New Wal-Mart

New Wal-Mart [Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)]

Two important points should be considered concerning Wal-Mart’s proposed redevelopment of the K-Mart site on Parleys Way:

1. While the store has rightly been called a “supercenter,” the proposed building is nearly identical in size to the existing K-Mart (125,000 square feet). “Supercenter” refers to a merchandise strategy that offers a broader array of products than normal Wal-Mart discount department stores and not necessarily to a minimum store size.

2. Wal-Mart does not need the requested rezoning to operate in the existing facility. The company owns the K-Mart building and can invest at least 30 percent of the existing building’s assessed value to remodel the building. Wal-Mart believes the community and its customers would be better served with a new modern store, improved parking and landscaping where none now exists.

If Salt Lake City denies Wal-Mart the right to build a new store, our neighborhood will still get a Wal-Mart store, only a repainted version of the tired old concrete-and-block warehouse that has detracted from the area for 30 years.

Fred Fairclough Jr.
Salt Lake City

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, May 12, 2008

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