ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 18, 1996 TAG: 9607180078
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER note: below
SOME RESIDENTS SAY Wal-Mart's new supercenter may pose a threat to the mom-and-pop culture of Franklin County.
There were babies and balloons and a giant blue M&M and baked goods and it was a big deal.
A Wal-Mart Supercenter opened its doors in rural Franklin County Wednesday, the fifth such store to open in this region in the past few months. Other new Wal-Marts have been built in Roanoke, Christiansburg, Martinsville and Salem.
Take away the people inside them, and one Wal-Mart store closely resembles any other.
But in Franklin County the Wal-Mart is unique, because there's never been anything like it here before.
Except for several small strip shopping centers in Rocky Mount and one at Smith Mountain Lake, there's been no big commercial development in the county.
So, 150,000 square feet of merchandise galore stirred up much interest Wednesday. The 800 parking spaces were full soon after 9 a.m.
Alicia Stocker, 8, of Rocky Mount was walking with her mom inside the store when she shrieked: "This is perfect!"
Said her mother, Michelle: "We've been deprived. This has been long awaited."
Smiles and carts full of goods ruled the day inside the Wal-Mart, which is just east of the Rocky Mount town limits on Virginia 40.
Lori Shauer of Redwood said she's glad to finally have one-stop shopping so close to her home. She'd been traveling to Roanoke to shop up until Wednesday.
Asked if Wal-Mart, the king of the national store chains, will erode the mom-and-pop culture of the county, she said: "It's small town here, but change happens. You can't keep everything the same."
Jeff Carpenter, who lives at Smith Mountain Lake, thinks the Wal-Mart will have an impact on small businesses in the county.
"It's going to bury the shopping center down the road," he said.
Over in downtown Rocky Mount Wednesday afternoon, several merchants were doing business as usual.
Many in the county believe the downtown area will suffer the most from Wal-Mart's presence.
But don't tell that to Bob Mills, who runs Angle Hardware on Franklin Street.
"You can't take that ol' woe-is-me-here-they-come attitude," he said. "That'll do you in every time."
Mills said he hopes to expand his store and keep offering the handshake-and-a-smile service that Angle Hardware has been stressing for close to 100 years.
The store was, in fact, busy on Wednesday.
Mills was helping Bob Clinage, a Smith Mountain Lake resident, try to find a faucet fixture.
"I bypassed Wal-Mart to come here," Clinage said.
Lois Cooke of Rocky Mount also stopped in to get a couple of things.
She said she'll shop at Wal-Mart, but she'll keep shopping at Angle Hardware, too.
"It's real down-home here," she said.
Lou Rivard, the director of the new supercenter, said Wal-Mart wants to be a positive - and active - player in the community.
And Rivard backed up his statement.
Wednesday morning, during a ceremony to open the store, he announced that Wal-Mart is contributing several thousand dollars to local agencies such as We Care of Franklin County and the United Way.
"The community's been very positive about us coming here," he said. "We feel welcome."
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ROGER HART Staff 1. Bob Mills, right, owner of Rockyby CNBMount's Angle Hardware, helps Bob Clinage. Mills will have to
compete with Wal-Mart.
2. Angelina Mastantuono of Rocky Mount is puzzled by the total
new full-time cashier Tara Meeks produced during the grand opening
of the first day of shopping at Wal-Mart in Franklin County. color.