Battle brews over Powhatan Wal-Mart

A battle is brewing over a proposed Wal-Mart in Powhatan.

Wal-Mart representatives and a member of Powhatan Grow Smart present their views on the 150,000-square-foot store, which is still in the early planning stages, in a Powhatan Today article published today.

In it, Wal-Mart spokesman Keith Morris begins to lay the defensive groundwork for what will likely become a pitched public relations battle between the company and its community critics.

From the article:

Morris points to other locations, places that have struggled with the same issues Powhatan faces now, when he talks about Walmart’s effect on communities. In Powhatan’s case, he pointed to Ashland.

He noted a recent Richmond Times-Dispatch article that features Ashland’s still-functioning business community, in a town that fought Walmart almost a decade ago.

“If there are some [communities] that have failed [because of Walmart] then let’s put the cause and effect on the table,” he said. “But no one has done that yet.”

But Powhatan Grow Smart Leader Greg Ownby dismissed Morris’ analysis. He said “Yeah [opposition in Powhatan] is not based on the facts [Walmart] gives us.”

And Ownby has examples of his own. He mentioned Farmville- a place where he says the local business community has suffered in Walmart’s wake.

According the article, local planners have ensured the building design will not have a big-box presence but will follow other recent Wal-Mart designs that have more landscaping, earth-tone colors, and reduced signage—similar to the controversial Wal-Mart recently approved in Culpepper.