Walmart State of Mind: How is your State mood?
In my recent post entitled Walmart State of Mind, I stated that Walmart accounted for over 50% of the state’s total retail sales in seven states. Several readers were shocked by this information and requested more detail. Happy to oblige:
States where over 50% of total retail sales are Walmart
Oklahoma – 66.8%
Arkansas – 64.7%
Kansas – 57.5%
South Dakota – 52.4%
North Dakota – 51.5%
Nebraska – 50.6%
Louisiana – 50.4%
States with 40% to 50% by Walmart
Indiana – 45.9%
Iowa – 45.6%
New Mexico – 45.6%
Missouri – 45.1%
Utah – 41.8%
Arizona – 40.0%
Several states have imposed serious zoning constraints on Walmart; however, the list of “affected” states is substantial. Draw your own conclusions, but I suspect that Mom-and-Pop retailing is probably not doing too well on Walmart’s playing field. There is always a tradeoff when it comes to competitive pricing and convenience. Could this tradeoff be the loss of a “sense of community,” meaningful employment opportunities, entrepreneurship and even hope? I certainly hope not, but if you think “big” is good and Walmart’s retail sales growth are good for our society, then the 13 states listed above might be places where you wish to retire.
Richard W. May
Thérèse Saint Clair