From Deseret News archives:
New Centerville Wal-Mart makes 5 for Davis County
The new store, which brings the county's total to five, is known as a Supercenter, sports three colors of stucco, two kinds of brick, stone and columns and is more reminiscent of a shopping mall or town-center storefront than the traditional gray, blue and white cinder-block warehouses Wal-Mart has been known to build.
"It's been a lot of fun and hard work putting our beautiful store together," said store manager Amy Teichert before the store opened.
The store, located at 200 W. Parrish Lane, will be open 24 hours and features tire and lube service, pharmacy, grocery and apparel.
The crowd waiting to enter the store at 8 a.m. mostly comprised Wal-Mart employees. Nowhere to be found were any protesters.
From the time it was announced the store would make a home in a former alfalfa field, residents spoke out against the store, claiming it would negatively affect the city, traffic and area businesses.
Several traffic studies in 2004 — one by Wal-Mart, one by Centerville and one by an opposition group — showed that signals will need to be improved at 400 West and Parrish Lane, said Centerville city manager Steve Thacker. Because the Utah Department of Transportation's policies won't allow the signal to be changed until after Wal-Mart is open, the department will conduct a "warrant study" to gauge the impact the store will have on traffic.
In the meantime, Thacker said in a news release, Centerville police will monitor the intersection during peak times and provide manual traffic control as needed.
Back in April 2004, most of the 500 people in attendance at a public hearing turned out to oppose a conditional-use permit for the store.
Afterward, it was common to drive through Centerville and see people wearing silk-screened T-shirts with a red circle and diagonal slash through the words "Wal-Mart."
But the city eventually ruled that Wal-Mart has a right to operate in the city's business district, which is already home to Target, The Home Depot, various restaurants and eventually a Kohl's.
Construction began on the 204,270-square-foot building in September 2006. That building now has about 380 employees.
Now, Davis County is home to five Wal-Marts: Layton Supercenter, which opened in 1991; Clinton, which opened in 2004; a Layton Neighborhood Market, which also opened in 2004; Syracuse, which opened in January; and Centerville.
That's pretty good coverage around Davis County, Teichert said.
"We should be able to offer great customer service throughout the local area," she said.
Though the service Wednesday consisted of free cake for patrons and fully stocked shelves of untouched merchandise, Wal-Mart has made contributions to the surrounding community, Thacker said.
The company donated $100,000 worth of topsoil to the city's newly opened Freedom Hills Park, the site of a former gravel pit. It donated $10,000 toward a playground for Porter Walton Park, $3,000 each to the Centerville Police Department and South Davis Metro Fire Agency, $1,500 to Bountiful, Woods Cross and Viewmont high schools, $1,000 to Centerville Junior High and $500 to each of the four elementary schools in town, Thacker said.
E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com
