Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Wal-Mart fills another space in Galesburg plans

It looks as though Wal-Mart is a few notches closer to the end of the leash keeping them from building their new über-store and mall in Galesburg, IL. This probably won't affect me greatly, as I already travel to The Burg about six or eight times per year (it's so far away... a whole 15 miles! ;-) ). And, when I go to The Burg, I usually pop into the Mart of Wals, anyway, because they have the lowest price on cat food and kitty crack (those pouches of treats). Plus, I like to see what ends up in their super-discount-markdown-to-a-dollar aisle -- it's fun to see what even the lowliest of us won't buy.

On the greater positive side, the big deal that makes this news front-page material for the Register-Mail is that they've persuaded Menard's, a builders' warehouse and wholesaler, to move into the new strip mall with them. Menard's is prettier and is really good competition for the Lowe's chain in our area. So far, Galesburg has not had a real competitor for Lowe's... the only other hardware & builders' supply places in town are the small, independent businesses, who've maintained their places by providing the best contractors for the job, despite the efforts of Lowe's to lure them away.

Anyhoo. I've liked shopping at Menard's over in Burlington, but that place is twice as far away as is the Burg's stores, so I don't get to make random checks on the prices of the toys I want, and I usually have to wait until my bestest friend is going over to get more stuff to repair the work on her house that the contractors couldn't be bothered with finishing. This way, I can go over on my own, from time to time, to pick up stuff I don't really need yet, but will eventually have to hire somebody to apply to my own home. When I get around to that.

So, with both the Mart of Wals and Menard's moving in just across the overpass from the regional trauma center, when I get out of the hospital after having severed my leg in a tragic power screwdriver accident, I can go directly to shop for more power tools and a new pair of pants, and repeat the cycle.

Let's hear it for discount supply chains! Woo hoo!

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