Sprawl and Small Businesses Essay

On July 2, 1962 Sam Walton opened the very first Walmart store in Rogers, Ark. Each week, more than 140 million Americans shop at Walmart. The company has over 11,000 stores in 28 countries. In fact, just recently the company opened a new store in my neighborhood. All summer I watched them build and build and I would say to my mom, “I can’t wait for them to finish so we can stop having to go to that ghetto Walmart.” I know “ghetto Walmart?” but it’s the truth. There was one other Walmart in my neighborhood and it was known as the ghetto Walmart. So when I received the essay assignment I knew immediately where I wanted to go. At ghetto Walmart the norms became abnormal and the abnormal things started to be accepted. The Walmart Company knows how to get costumers to come into their stores, I’ll give them that, but something just went wrong with that one.

Stores are cause and affect, if they offer more chain stores it will draw in more jobs; and bring more

The economic boundaries for the southern part of Oklahoma City can run the gambit from residents below poverty level to those that would be considered to be upper-class in their monetary value. There are neighborhoods that many would not feel comfortable after dark because there has been a rise in crime to those areas. The zoning of these homes are single story, quarter acre lots that are approximately one thousand to fifteen hundred square feet. These impoverished areas have small, older homes that are two to three bedroom homes that are unkempt and, at times, are cockroach infested. The houses are built closely side by side and do not have much open space throughout the neighborhood. Most of these homes show signs of decay related to the amount of repairs that need to be made to the home. Many of the residents are renting and cannot afford to make the necessary repairs or have landlords that are unwilling to comply with the safety of their occupants. The stores in the south part of Oklahoma City are ones that cater to a lower income, such as, Payday loans, Buy For Less, Ross, Payless shoes, Wal Mart, etc.

Over the years, gentrification has been given many definitions from simply referring to, “…instances of new arrivals who were buying and bidding up old housing stock”, (Sanneh, 2016) to, “…disinvested areas of the city that are now experiencing rapid and significant increases in land and real estate values” (Jennings, Terrell, Douglas, Barnett & Harding, 2016, pg. 9) and many more. As noted previously gentrification is occurring throughout the world and the Midwest is not immune. The process of gentrification tends to go like so: visitors stumble upon a disinvested area that they take an interest in. Whether because the rent is cheap or the area is vibrant, they fall in love and decide to pack up their home and relocate. This scenario, from one point of view, can be seen as a story of a person deciding to broaden their horizon and see what other parts of the world has to offer. While the other point of view may see this as a possible financial burden, a cause for the major changes in the place they call their home and the likelihood of displacement.

Because businesses were struggling in the late 1990’s, Malcolm discusses the issue in a public report to draw the attention of those affected. Gladwell writes in his report, “But today [speaking of 1996], with the retail business in crisis, it is a gold mine. The time per visit that the average American spends in a shopping mall was sixty-six minutes last year—down from seventy-two minutes in 1992—and is the lowest number ever recorded” (99). In 1990, the average age for readers of The New Yorker was 46 (New Yorker). Not to mention, the average household income of those readers in 1990 was higher than the

Every year, Walmart is accused of increasing crime in areas within which it builds Walmart Supercenters. Yet, research and data analyses largely disprove these claims, as they reveal that other factors such as

Once we have succeeded in our mission to promote shopping locally even more, “for rent/sale” signs and vacant buildings will be a scarcity. In their places will be store fronts with friendly faces there to greet you at the door and help you find just what you were looking for, whether it be for yourself or someone you love. Main Street will be buzzing with activity. Shoppers will be carrying around their purchases in colorful bags, enjoying a conversation with their close friends and family, and experiencing just what Pratt was missing; the feeling of community. And with all of the fun and exciting events, they will remember the joys of shopping rather than the hassle it can cause.

This report will be on the research I have discovered first hand as well as through statistical data that compares and contrasts the neighborhoods of Greenbush and Burke Heights, both located in Madison, Wisconsin. When researching these two neighborhoods, I focused on the neighborhoods housing statistics, demographics of their residents, and the money circulating within the neighborhoods. Another aspect I paid attention to while comparing the neighborhoods was the economic and employment opportunities available within the communities. These benefits directly correlate to the amount of capital that is available for residents. Lastly, I took note of the entertainment, retail, and physical possibilities that prevailed in these neighborhoods.

There are hundreds of small towns in America today, where one would be lucky to even find a delivery pizza place, much less a big box retailer (Morris 37). These towns don't have many residents, and those that do live there usually have to travel far to reach a store that has everything they might need or want. Big box retailers are a solution to this problem. When they set up in a small town, not only do they bring many more choices and much more convenience to the people of that town, but it has been seen that wherever big box retailers go, those towns tend to grow in size. For many small towns struggling with revenues and support from their citizens, big box retailers are a good thing (Mazur 16).

For generations, Americans has been brainwashed by the media to believe that what is displayed on television is the ideal perception of what real beauty have manipulated American citizens of what style looks like. Furthermore, with their many brainwashing strategies, that means more and more consumers spending beyond their budget. Our perspectives have been heavily influenced by what they believe is nice, but can we afford it all? With unrealistic combination of goods in store, plazas, and mall, consuming has become a bad behavior of some. In support of my argument of the “Overspending”, author Gladwell’s article “The Science of Shopping” also argues that stores adjust to fit the needs and wants of the shopper are evidently presented. With that being said, we have no idea when we are being manipulated into unrealistic shopping behavior that is influenced by the way the advertisement is presented in visual sight. Author Gladwell gets a “retail anthropologist” and “urban geographer” named Paco Underhill to give breakdown points of how he helps brand name stores influence consumers into persuasion of buying more. However, most of us fall short of that discipline, while being persuaded to overspend during our store visits.

From an etic lenses, American society can be perceived as overly repetive and/or simplistic; with retails chains that seemingly defy state and even county boarders. From an emic lense; for the most part, these chains provide the American community with a sense of "comfort" ("In Praise of Chain Stores") but in turn can also act as catalyst for ill-advised hostility. Citizens in which hold misplaced sentiments towards the concept of retail chains believe that the store "really is all that matters", therefore, developing a sense of mistrust towards "what the chains sell". This widespread misconception can cause an upbringing of speciaility stores that shelves items that mimic "exactly what the chain sells" only without the brand name attached. It may also cause low-value stores to "stay empty" due to the chains placed conveniently on the other side of the street.

Imagine driving through a town where there is no car dealership, no furniture store, no grocery store, and nowhere to buy clothing, shoes, toys, or electronics. What seems so bleak and empty could be the future of many ordinary American towns. Online

For my observation, I decided to go the Town Center Mall in Boca Raton, Florida to observe the advertisements that are present in our community. I went to the mall to conduct research because I need to make a purchase for a vacation, so I thought this was the perfect place to go. Each store I walked into, there were advertisements for instant savings, but the further I walked into any store, the prices climbed higher. Truthfully, I was shocked by the amount of people who did not care that they were being bamboozled. Initially, we were told at the front of the store that there were discounts, but we had to find out on our own that the prices raised exponentially. This was the exact reason why I wanted to conduct my observation at the

An emerging issue is that of urban sprawl. While some aspects of urban sprawl has been seen since ancient times, this phenomenon has started gaining the most momentum in the past century, aided by the advancement of technology, especially with the rise of mass produced automobiles, houses and highway systems. Many people unknowingly contribute to this environmental problem, as is the nature of it. Urban sprawl deals with the growth of the suburbs, the area between the urban and rural areas of a city. Most of America’s largest cities and states, in terms of population, are prime examples of urban sprawl. Opponents of urban sprawl usually cite the government as a major cause of sprawl. The government may be a major catalyst of

Stores like Wal-Mart are famous for keeping their prices so low. This is one reason why they are able to maintain a grip on the consumers of an area. They accomplish this by keeping the cost to produce and transport the goods low. In January, a study by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. found that, “an individual family could save $589 a year on groceries by shopping at a supercenter. Overall, shoppers could save $3.76 billion in merchandise nationwide.” (Blazier, A, 2004) A major reason they can keep prices lower than mom-and-pop run businesses is their ability to buy merchandise in bulk. Buying in bulk works the same way it does for a consumer. The more of a product that is purchased, the less the cost is per unit. Consumers see this every day when they go to stores like Sam’s Club or Costco. When they buy their merchandise in bulk, they are able to offer it to the consumer at a lower price. (Kale, 2011) This is what could eventually drive the mom-and-pop owned businesses out of the area, and draw a negative criticism from the public. The interesting thing about this criticism is that the public complains about Wal-Mart