And JOBS! will be created. Of course those jobs will be part time. and barely minimum wage...but...jobs of some sort.
And the article also says that Wal-Mart will take 35% of the market share...so what does that leave for any small independent business that might have existed?
Wal-Mart now has an expanded "neighborhood" business model now to soak up what ever was left that they didn't get from their mega stores.
so it goes...

Sam Adams ever expanding gut and disappearing neck are proof positive that there are no food deserts in Portland.

Wal-Mart's no worse than any other big box store. Its problem is its blue-collar stigma, not its products--Target and Fred Meyer sell the exact same kind of products.

The "food desert" thing is funny. People want and need *cheap*, and when the going gets tough, the tough go to Wal-Mart and WinCo. The average Portlander cannot afford to feed their families at New Seasons or Whole Foods; but those latter two are exactly the kind of thing being aimed for. Next time you're in New Seasons, take a look around at who's shopping there: those with good income, and those drawn to the bug light of "hip".

Ecohuman is a lot more perceptive than I am, I guess. To me, the people pushing a grocery cart all look about the same . . . . unless they're down under the Burnside Bridge.

Rumor has it that Wal-Mart is looking very seriously at the large bakery site between Williams and Vancouver (at Fremont)for one of its "Neighborhood Market" concept stores.

This will certainly shake up the trendsters in the Williams corridor, and will certainly irritate the cyclists who will inevitably have to share traffic lanes with minivans full of bargain shoppers.

Can't wait to see the culture clash.

Just think, this will give people a reason to re-elect Adams.

He's not so bad compared to WalMart.

Maybe it should be referred to as CreepMart.

Walmart just bought the old Haaggen property on Murray in Beaverton near my place. It will be welcomed. I will save gas not having to drive to Cornelius or Vancouver.

I'm thinking if they want a store in Portland, eight is about the right place to start the bidding.

And the best part? We can start the rumor that Wal-Mart is making and selling free-range Soylent Green: http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1919

Everybody's getting into the act: the Target over at Washington Square has added groceries to their lineup.

But that whole "food desert" hype is really misleading: they define as a "desert" any area inhabited by x number of people that doesn't have a full-service grocery within a radius of something like a mile.

Heck, the city's full of small groceries like the one a few blocks from my house - not "full service", but you can buy bread, milk, fruits, veggies and other stuff there. And you can grab a deli sandwich, fresh-made.

And I don't know about Freddie's, but Safeway and Albie's and New Seasons all offer home delivery (though I'm sure there's a small fee involved).

There are already two stores on 82nd that have been there for a few years. I doubt a few more stores will hurt anything.
What "small, independent businesses" are going to be hurt by Walmart that havent already been hurt by other corporate chains in the area like Target, Winco, Safeway, Fred Meyer, etc?

Max, I know for a fact that New Seasons very recently quit offering home delivery. Quite nicely verified at lunch time yesterday with the large number of former delivery vehicles being parked in the lot of the Cedar Hills store. I think the rising price of gas will make home delivery less and less likely.

Dovetail in the report on CNN this morning that Oregon, along with Mississippi, have the highest percentage of Population using Food Stamps in the country: 20%.
That is One out of every Five folks, not a proud "We're Number One!" moment.
So when you can bring in opportunities to have shoppers have access to stores and save money, there is nothing wrong with it.
It's called competition.
I was at the San Francisco City Hall two weeks ago on business. While walking out of City Hall, folks were having a Huge anti-Wal Mart rally on the West Steps to keep Wal Mart out of SF. I watched and asked one of the protesters about this "Grassroots" Organization... it was funded by the Food Workers Union Local. She was warehouse person from Safeway over in the East Bay, being paid by the union to protest. So much for pure intentions.

Lucs:

Good update. I did see one of the NS vans driving up SW Taylor's Ferry last week, but come to think of it, it's been a few days since I've seen one.

Thriftway uses a private delivery service (the name of which escapes me at the moment).

There are options, though, which render the "food desert" thing a bit suspect, in my view.

Question: has NS actually halted delivery, or are they using those trikes that deliver office supplies to Portland City Hall?

I've attended several Charrettes around town in the past decades. More recently when they begin each sessions with "What do you want, need in your neighborhood?" Invariably it is "more grocery stores". Then the facilitator (love that title) says "oh, you have a 'food desert', huh?". Then the second thing use to be "we need a theater", but that's changed with the media change. The story is almost all the same. But in reality, when a good planner or a local citizen has analysed things properly, the followup finds that stores are only 5 or 10 or 15 blocks away; there are choices.

PDC, CoP identifying "Food Deserts", you're going to die, is merely a means of using taxpayer dollars (Urban Renewal and all the other tax subsidies available) to attract competitors. Whatever happened to the free-market system?

We have what they want.

"Oregon, along with Mississippi, have the highest percentage of Population using Food Stamps in the country: 20%."

That says, 'ready workforce'. It also says, 'large market segment' because by low-balling, they'll immediately garner the food-stampers, cheapskates, and bargain-hunters.

Plus, if they've been paying attention to local politics, it's ever so clear that the local elected officials are for sale...I don't know the going prices, but it can't be that bad if a second-stringer like Merritt can play with the puppets.

Hey...Anti-Sammy candidates! Here's a really good source of potential campaign financing!

And ready and available land for outlets. Well, say no more. I'll bet the local "job-creators" will have friends and family in the appropriate niches to help a poor maligned (rightfully, I might add) retail giant along.

So...Who will be Wal*Mart's point person?

Please select a shark from pool #1, have leins to your property ready.

Re: Food Stamps

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/05/03/about-1-in-7-americans-receive-food-stamps/tab/interactive/

The entire US is a large market segment.

Walmart doesn't compete. It enslaves its suppliers and dominates entire commodities markets. Sure it delivers cheap, factory-farmed food and gadgets to the masses but -- as a community -- we will end up paying for the lack of diversity and quality down the road.