Between The Lines
Adam Rudnick's reporter notebook
Businesses generally favorable of Arlington Walmart
January 28th, 2010 at Thu, 28th, 2010 at 1:22 pm by AdamBusiness owners and managers have told me that they have conflicted feelings when it comes to a new Walmart being constructed in Smokey Point.
I just got done writing a story on how some of those businesses are viewing the superstore, and I was surprised to see that most were fairly optimistic about the 154,000-square-foot store going up near 172nd Street NE.
One of the superstore’s biggest proponents that I interviewed were Anita Black, owner of the Glass Cottage, and Bill Tackitt, owner of Aces Casino and 14 Buzz Inns (including one in Smokey Point).
I would think small business owners would be more scared and pessimistic about the Walmart taking away business, but that wasn’t the case at all.
“There’s not as much competition with the Walmart as you might have in other places,” Black said. “I don’t see our stained glass being in competition. I know that in certain circumstances businesses near Walmart are affected by it, but where they’re putting it here will have less impact on the area around it.”
Black went on to say that people tend to be afraid of chains, but added that the city has addressed a lot of those concerns.
“I try to go with change and not fight it,” Black said. “It’s going to happen. I’m hoping that it will be a good thing for the city of Arlington.”
Tackitt told me point blank that if the Walmart was not going in, paired with a recent tax reduction the City Council gave him, his Aces Casino would probably have gone out of business.
“If it wasn’t for (the Council), I don’t believe (Aces) would have been open right now,” he said.
Check out the Feb. 3 edition of The Arlington Times for a full story on the Walmart.
My previous story on the store coming in to Walmart is available here.
Adam Adam Rudnick has worked as a reporter in Snohomish and Skagit counties since graduating from Western Washington University in 2006. Since then, he has written for a number of daily and weekly publications, most recently The Arlington Times and The Marysville Globe.
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