Wal-Mart buys Kmart property

Friend or foe, Salt Lake City's second Wal-Mart is coming — but not for at least another three years.

Although the retail giant recently purchased the Kmart on 2705 E. Parleys Way, Wal-Mart says it will let its competitor stay on the property until the end of the lease in 2008. The extra time, Wal-Mart community affairs manager Ryan Horn said, will give the store time to work with the community on "different options besides moving into that store."

"While we simply could move in and turn it into a Wal-Mart Supercenter, we feel like Salt Lake City and the surrounding neighborhood deserve something a little better than that," he said. Possibilities include a redesign of the store or a smaller-scale Wal-Mart version, like a neighborhood market.

The city is planning to work with Wal-Mart to create a more aesthetically pleasing store, outside of the typical, so-called big box. Alison McFarland, Salt Lake's economic development director, said the city hopes it can be a mixed-use project or even broader.

"That's kind of a gateway to the city, so we want to make sure designs are compatible with the area," she said.

The location is off the I-80 freeway in a large shopping center near the mouth of the canyon. The city has requested an appointment to meet with Wal-Mart and discuss a new design option for the store. For example, the Wal-Mart in Park City has a copper roof and architectural towers depicting mine shafts.

Although the store has a reputation of wiping out local small businesses, officials from Sugar House, a primarily independent business district of Salt Lake, say it's too early to speculate what kind of impact Wal-Mart would have on the local stores.

A November 2004 PBS documentary titled "Is Wal-Mart good for America?" found that Wal-Marts get 84 percent of their business from existing stores. But because the Parleys Way Wal-Mart would replace an existing large retailer in an area already zoned for commercial use, the store probably won't wipe out smaller competition, some officials say.

"With all the problems that Kmart has had, we're probably very relieved that Wal-Mart would step up and make it a win-win situation," said Lane Beattie, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce.

In 2002, Kmart filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which led to the closing of 600 stores. "Hopefully, they'll have a more stable company at this point in time. It should end up being a positive edition. It's hard for us to see how that cannot be an advantage."

But Mark Holland, chairman of the Sugar House community council, said: "There's a world of difference between Wal-Mart and Kmart."

But he is "noncommittal" on his support or opposition, for now.