Wal-Mart moving to Centerville Marketplace

CENTERVILLE — Wal-Mart, the retail behemoth — some would say bully — is coming to town in the Marketplace shopping district now occupied by Target, Home Depot and other large retailers.

Construction is set to begin this summer on 30 acres east of Target at 400 West and Parrish Lane, a company spokesman said, with opening likely in spring 2005.

Assistant City Manager Blaine Lutz said Wal-Mart has the property under contract with owner Security Investment. "Our understanding is they want to buy the entire 30 acres and maybe not develop all of it for retail. They haven't filed an application with the city yet."

The area to the east of 400 West is now open land since a nursery moved out last year. A housing development is proposed for much of the land, Lutz said, adding the city hopes Wal-Mart doesn't use all 30 acres and leaves some for a buffer between its 200,000-square-foot store and the homes.

"We'd like to see some kind of commercial building put between a large store and the housing, so homes aren't bumped up against a large parking lot," he said. "What's been proposed there is a planned unit development with large-square-foot homes and common areas."

Lutz said the housing development is designed to appeal to retirees who want large homes and don't want to worry about maintaining large yards.

Wal-Mart, which industry analysts say gets $1 out of every $7 Americans spend on retail merchandise, has gained a reputation for hurting small existing businesses with its low prices and large selection of goods.

Although Centerville does not have a large traditional shopping district, nearby Bountiful is likely to be affected, Bountiful City Manager Tom Hardy said.

"I think it's fair to say they will have a negative impact on existing businesses and the pain will be felt and distributed throughout the area," Hardy said. "People won't buy more just because there's a new store in the area, they'll buy the same amount and the losers will be the existing big-box stores.

"There will be a great big winner and a lot of losers, that is, stores whose market share is taken by Wal-Mart," he said. "It's very possibly a net negative to the community."

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