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Wal-Mart moving out of a Louisiana town


dimebag1980

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This is something you don't see every day. A town where Wal-Mart has operated for over 25 years will no longer have a Wal-Mart presence... period.

I remember when, after many years, the Wal-Mart in Haughton closed. The reason it closed, however, was to buidl a Supercenter in Bossier City when the Supercenter concept was still new. It made sense, no doubt, since people from Bossier City made up most of the Haughton store's customer and employee base.

I suppose Homer is just too small to support Big Brother Wally World anymore.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...6/NEWS/60526009

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You know, Wal-Mart completely leaving a Louisiana town is something I'm pretty sure I've never even seen. You get so used to hearing about new Wal-Mart's literally everywhere, that hearing about Wal-Mart closing a store is pretty weird. What is the town of Homer like economically? And how much will Wal-Mart leaving affect the town and its people?

Here in Covington, a standard Wal-Mart(not a supercenter) closed about 5 years ago, but that was because a new Wal-Mart Supercenter was being built further down on HW 190. And now, another Wal-Mart Supercenter and a Sam's Club could be under construction as early as July in Covington as part of the Colonial Nor du Lac "Lifestyle Center" on HW 21.

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It doesn't happen very frequently but it does happen. A similar situation has either occured or will be occuring in Arkansas as well. They are upgrading one towns Wal-mart into a Supercenter and another close town will be losing their Wal-mart. I can't remember for sure but I was thinking this was in southeast Arkansas somewhere.

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What is the town of Homer like economically? And how much will Wal-Mart leaving affect the town and its people?

Homer is a stagnant town, located closer to Monroe and El Dorado than Shreveport. As for how it would affect the people there, I'd assume negatively. It's been there for that long and suddenly it's closing... the nearest Wal-Mart now would likely be El Dorado I believe.

Here in Covington, a standard Wal-Mart(not a supercenter) closed about 5 years ago, but that was because a new Wal-Mart Supercenter was being built further down on HW 190.

Exactly. This seems to be the trend. Wal-Mart closes old stores and opens Supercenters, and in some cases, like the Texarkana, AR, Wal-Mart, they expand an existing Wal-Mart store into a Supercenter.

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Homer is a stagnant town, located closer to Monroe and El Dorado than Shreveport. As for how it would affect the people there, I'd assume negatively. It's been there for that long and suddenly it's closing... the nearest Wal-Mart now would likely be El Dorado I believe.

Well, I hope Wal-Mart leaving doesn't affect the town too badly in terms of economics. Though I'm sure many of the smaller stores around the town will get much more business with the big giant gone.

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Well, I hope Wal-Mart leaving doesn't affect the town too badly in terms of economics. Though I'm sure many of the smaller stores around the town will get much more business with the big giant gone.

No doubt! I'm sure the "mom and pop" operations in that area are foaming at the mouth! And who knows, it could posssibly even signal the revival of some long-gone stores who Wally World ran out of business years ago.

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No doubt! I'm sure the "mom and pop" operations in that area are foaming at the mouth! And who knows, it could posssibly even signal the revival of some long-gone stores who Wally World ran out of business years ago.

That would be great to see. I guess when you think about it, Wal-Mart leaving isn't all bad. It could be a major positive for many businesses. And it's always nice to have a town filled with some privately owned businesses with some character, than a town completely taken over by corporations and national chains. :thumbsup:

That's something that's hard to find in America these days.

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I need to correct a mistake I made in this thead.

I said Homer is closer to El Dorado and Monroe than Shreveport. Well, it may be fairly clsoe to El Dorado, but I believe it is closer to Shreveport than Monroe. It appears to be just northeast of Minden, which is a suburb of Shreveport-Bossier. Minden does have a Wal-Mart Supercenter, which I know because I prefer that store over the one in Bossier City. Hopefully this won't add a lot of shoppers to the Minden store, because I like that particular store the way it is.

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I need to correct a mistake I made in this thead.

I said Homer is closer to El Dorado and Monroe than Shreveport. Well, it may be fairly clsoe to El Dorado, but I believe it is closer to Shreveport than Monroe. It appears to be just northeast of Minden, which is a suburb of Shreveport-Bossier. Minden does have a Wal-Mart Supercenter, which I know because I prefer that store over the one in Bossier City. Hopefully this won't add a lot of shoppers to the Minden store, because I like that particular store the way it is.

I looked Homer,LA up on Wikipedia to get the location of the town on a map. Are most of the cities in this area declining or stagnant in growth? Just driving across Louisiana on I-20, once you get out of the SBC area, everything seems to be pretty stagnant.

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I looked Homer,LA up on Wikipedia to get the location of the town on a map. Are most of the cities in this area declining or stagnant in growth? Just driving across Louisiana on I-20, once you get out of the SBC area, everything seems to be pretty stagnant.

Once you get through Shreveport-Bossier, things begin to decline a bit. Then you get to Minden, and Minden is growing a bit now which is good to see. It's beginning to gain more and more people who are moving from Shreveport in an eastern suburban push. The traffic coming into the city from Minden in the mornings is pretty amazing. Until I moved out here between Bossier City and Minden, I had no idea this many people commuted from the east. Anyway, once you get past Minden, everything drops off dramatically. The towns between Minden and West Monroe are basically dried-up towns, and Homer appears to be one of them.

Even Monroe-West Monroe has recently begun to dry up and that's hard to watch. Considering that area had so much going for it as recently as 3-4 years ago, to see all these companies moving out of that area is pretty depressing. The largest loss to Monroe recently was State Farm's claims center. That center provided jobs for hundreds of people. Hopefully Monroe will be able to keep CenturyTel, though.

I'm not sure if you realize, but Monroe played a huge part in the early days of Coca-Cola. The first bottler of Coca-Cola was based in Monroe, and Delta Airlines even started in that city some decades ago.

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Even Monroe-West Monroe has recently begun to dry up and that's hard to watch. Considering that area had so much going for it as recently as 3-4 years ago, to see all these companies moving out of that area is pretty depressing. The largest loss to Monroe recently was State Farm's claims center. That center provided jobs for hundreds of people. Hopefully Monroe will be able to keep CenturyTel, though.

I'm not sure if you realize, but Monroe played a huge part in the early days of Coca-Cola. The first bottler of Coca-Cola was based in Monroe, and Delta Airlines even started in that city some decades ago.

It is a shame to see the Monroe area drying up. You look at pictures of the city from the 1930's-'60's, and it looks like a city with so much going for it. Now, even driving through Monroe on I-20, you get a feeling that the city is just spiraling downward with no or little bright spots left in its future.

And I didn't know about Monroe's major role in the growth of Coca Cola. That's very interesting. I did know that Delta Airlines started there, and I've always thought that was pretty cool. You don't here about that very often.

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It is a shame to see the Monroe area drying up. You look at pictures of the city from the 1930's-'60's, and it looks like a city with so much going for it. Now, even driving through Monroe on I-20, you get a feeling that the city is just spiraling downward with no or little bright spots left in its future.

And I didn't know about Monroe's major role in the growth of Coca Cola. That's very interesting. I did know that Delta Airlines started there, and I've always thought that was pretty cool. You don't here about that very often.

I suppose you don't hear about the Delta thing too much, because they're probably not too happy it started there and then flew away (pun not intended.) But that's just a guess... who really knows why!? It seems most cities Monroe's size would milk that for all it's worth.

And yep, Monroe played a big role in the beginning days of Coca-Cola.

Here's an excerpt from www.monroe.org that mentions the Biedenharn family, the first bottlers of Coca-Cola:

"The Milners sold the building to the Biedenharn family who owned the first Coca Cola bottling company in Monroe."

Monroe has the Biedenharn Museum, which contains a lot of Coca-Cola memorabilia.

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Hey Brian. I have never been to Ruston. That area has dried up as well ? Besides La.Tech, do you know what help drive it's economy ? I heard it has some really nice areas.

Oh heck no, Ruston is rocking along. The University certainly helps, but Ruston has one of the highest par-capita millionaire counts in the state. There is a lot of industry in that area, especially the trucking industry.

Ruston is a very nice place to visit, no doubt. I forgot all about Ruston in what I said. Between Minden and Ruston the towns are pretty dried-up, and then again from Ruston to Monroe. I certainly don't want to make Ruston look bad, because it's actually got a lot going for it. They even have a trolley in that town now.

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They don't. They have A trolley. :lol:

And I believe it's on a bus chassis, not rails.

Ahh, well see thats different! Either way though, it's nice to hear Ruston has so much going for it right now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

As it turns out, the people of Homer might not let Wal-Mart go without a fight... apparently the thought of driving to Minden just to shop for groceries isn't their idea of fun. I know I love the Minden Wal-Mart because it's not busy at all and it's in a beautiful, hilly area. I'm not sure how far Homer is from Minden, but it doesn't appear to be very far. Afterall, the Wal-Mart in Minden is on Homer Road. As it turns out, Homer Road goes straight from Minden to Homer. Not too bad if you ask me. I'm 15-20 minutes down I-20 from that Wal-Mart and it doesn't bother me... although most people form Homer probably aren't used to commuting so 20 miles may sound like a long way to them.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...1/60610001/1002

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Figures compiled from public and private records and sources indicate the community could lose about $1.5 million annually in direct and indirect revenues when Wal-Mart closes, according to statistics presented by J.T. Taylor, president of the Claiborne Parish Chamber of Commerce.

That's tough, especially for a small town. I hope they're able to find a solution to this that makes everyone happy, but I have a feeling someone is going to lose, and I just don't see Wal-Mart being the loser.

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  • 3 weeks later...

FYI:

Today was the official "last day of business" for the Wal-Mart store in Homer. According to the Shreveport Times, shoppers from Homer will now have to shop in either Minden, Shreveport, Bossier City, or Springhill if they want Wal-Mart.

So what are the plans for the site of the Wal-Mart store itself? Will it just be demolished?

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So what are the plans for the site of the Wal-Mart store itself? Will it just be demolished?

:dontknow:

I never saw mention of that. But if I had my guess, based on the old Wal-Mart stores left behind in Shreveport when new Supercenters were built, I'd assume it's just going to sit there. That town is drying up, so I doubt anything will replace Wal-Mart.

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:dontknow:

I never saw mention of that. But if I had my guess, based on the old Wal-Mart stores left behind in Shreveport when new Supercenters were built, I'd assume it's just going to sit there. That town is drying up, so I doubt anything will replace Wal-Mart.

That's what I figured. I didn't think anything big enough to replace Wal-Mart would move into Homer to fill up the store, and when the stores aren't replaced in cities like that, they normally just sit there. Even if the town is drying up, I'm sure everyone there would rather see the building gone with the company, rather than just letting it sit there.

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That's what I figured. I didn't think anything big enough to replace Wal-Mart would move into Homer to fill up the store, and when the stores aren't replaced in cities like that, they normally just sit there. Even if the town is drying up, I'm sure everyone there would rather see the building gone with the company, rather than just letting it sit there.

The old Wal-Mart stores here, fortunately, have been filled over the years. But for a long time many of them just sat there. One in particular was remodeled a few years ago into a really nice Super 1 store. Another one was turned into a climate-controlled storage place, a couple have been truned into divided retail space, and one has been used as numerous things including the "KTBS 3 Event Center" before they finally decided to start holding their annual events at the new convention center.

I really feel bad for Homer, but I also understand that the purpose of running a business is to make money, and Wal-Mart clearly wasn't making enough money. I'm sure it was more trouble than it was worth, considering they had to pay the employees and run the store, and they likely weren't making much in return.

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