Economic death

To the editor:
Were those bells ringing in the holiday season the past couple of weeks or were they a death knell for small businesses in Fort Frances and surrounding environs?
The latest debacle begins with the letter “W” and will end with a “T” (for tragic) as small businesses in the district take another nail in their readied coffins.
No truer words were spoken than from Mayor Glenn Witherspoon of Fort Frances, as quoted in the Dec 10th issue of the International Falls Daily Journal: “There could be some casualties; we know that.”
So, who will step up to become the first sacrificial lamb to the slaughter making Glenn’s prediction come true when Wal-Mart comes to town? Maybe it will be Betty’s, a landmark community and family business when they are driven out by artificially-low prices for cloth and broadloom, craft items, and clothing at Wal-Mart.
Maybe it will be one of the pharmacies once prescription prices become hallowed at Wal-Mart. Maybe it will be one or the other or more. For sure, there will be “casualties.”
But who cares? The mayor went on to say, “. . . hopefully the increased traffic will offset those tragedies and the good businesspeople will get stronger.” Apparently there are some “bad” businesspeople that need to be driven out of town. Who are they?
Well, it looks like it won’t be the ones who deserve to be driven out, much less kept out. Wal-Mart, apparently, is coming to town.
Was the “hearing” for the rezoning strategically scheduled just prior to the holidays when people’s minds were on other things? Apparently that was the public’s only opportunity for assent or dissent, according to Fort Frances CAO Bill Naturkach if the rezoning bylaw is not appealed. Mind you, it would have to be appealed by, coincidentally, New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31. How convenient.
If the bylaw isn’t appealed, then all Wal-Mart has to do is submit a “site development plan.” Then, according to Mr. Naturkach, and the town council, it’s done. It’s over.
In the same Dec. 10th article in the Daily Journal, Naturkach said, “There will be no public hearing on the document. The public hearing opportunity was last night.” In other words, if you had the audacity to be looking forward to spending holiday time with family and friends, then you don’t deserve a schedule that is fair and reasonable to hold a proper hearing.
Again, according to Mayor Witherspoon, the community wants more diversity in shopping. Is this the best Fort Frances can do, invite Wal-Mart? Where is the diversity in one-stop shopping to the detriment of small business and small rural communities? That isn’t diversity. It’s economic death to small business and rural communities.
I did some research based upon Development Thunder Bay data on Mayor Witherspoon’s numbers when he stated a Wal-Mart could draw about 40,000 people from surrounding communities. The primary trading area, or PTA, of Fort Frances includes a population of about 10,000. Add the population of the secondary trading area of about the same population and it doesn’t add up.
The best numbers, if one is more than extremely optimistic, is about 20,000 people. That is assuming every man, woman, and child drives, walks, or pushes their own baby carriage to shop at Wal-Mart.
Furthermore, Nancy Reilly of Thunder Bay has written to the Fort Frances Times to extol the virtues of Wal-Mart. Frankly, she’s off the mark, too. Perhaps other businesses can capture enough of the market and trading area in Thunder Bay to survive.
Thunder Bay, with a population of 120,000, has 14 times the population of Fort Frances. She mistakenly says that a Wal-Mart in Fort Frances would provide 300-400 jobs. Wal-Mart in Thunder Bay has 400 employees. Do the math. That means that a Fort Frances Wal-Mart would provide no more than 30-40 jobs.
Further independent research, will, according to various U.S. economic studies, reveal that for every two jobs that Wal-Mart creates, three are lost. That means for the mostly minimum wage 30-40 jobs at a Fort Frances Wal-Mart, 40-55 people can expect to lose their jobs elsewhere in Fort Frances’ small business environment.
Are these the “casualties” and “tragedies” that Fort Frances and surrounding communities are willing to accept for the price of a Wal-Mart?
Sincerely,
Al Hunter
Rainy River
First Nations