By Jack Houvouras
HQ 58 | SUMMER 2006
The cover of this edition of the Huntington Quarterly features 10 locally-owned businesses from the downtown Huntington area. We chose to profile these companies for several reasons. First, their stories of success are compelling. Second, small businesses like the ones in our cover story are the backbone of our state’s economy, comprising 95 percent of West Virginia’s workforce. Third, these business owners are to be admired for what they give back to the community. And finally, because they are the complete antithesis of large chains such as Wal-Mart.
With the exception of a recent emergency, I have not stepped foot in a Wal-Mart in five years. Why? Because I can’t afford to …
On average, when a new Wal-Mart opens, 100 stores in the surrounding area go out of business. A good example of the megastore’s impact is what occured in Iowa in the 1990s. Ten years after Wal-Mart arrived the state lost 555 grocery stores, 298 hardware stores, 293 building supply stores, 161 variety stores, 158 women’s apparel stores, 153 shoe stores, 116 drugstores, and 111 men’s and boys’ apparel stores.
Despite a highly-publicized “Made in the U.S.A.” campaign, 85 percent of the stores’ items are made overseas.
In 2001, sales associates, the most common job at Wal-Mart, earned on average only $13,861 a year. In addition, less than half of the company’s employees receive health care benefits.
Despite being the largest employer in the United States, Wal-Mart ranks last among major discount retailers in corporate contributions. While the average U.S. corporation donates one percent of its earnings to charity, Wal-mart donates just four-tenths of a percent.
As we know here in Huntington, Wal-Mart typically looks to locate its stores outside the city limits to avoid paying business taxes. And, like most chains in America, the money that is earned in a community like Huntington doesn’t stay here for long. In Wal-Mart’s case they actually transfer the cash daily from the local bank to their corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas.
In recent years Wal-Mart has evolved into a monopsonist, an economic term meaning they possess the power to affect market price through quantity bought. This of course is a death sentence to the small business owner.
On the other hand, you have businesses like those profiled in this issue who operate much differently. For the most part, these owners leave money in the local bank for more than 24 hours, offer a good salary, pay their fair share of business taxes and contribute to charities throughout our community. I don’t ever recall seeing a Wal-Mart Little League team in Huntington or their name listed as a contributor to Huntington Museum of Art.
In the end, Wal-Mart exists only to benefit its stockholders – which comprise the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans – and no one else. Unlike the locally-owned businesses profiled in this magazine, they feel no loyalty to the community’s from which they profit.
So why do so many Americans patronize Wal-Mart? Well, they may not be aware of all the facts behind the megastore. But perhaps the biggest reason is because everyone in this country loves a bargain. Even wealthy people who can afford to pay an extra $10 a year for light bulbs at the local hardware store can’t resist a bargain. However, what every consumer needs to ask themself is “How much am I really saving?”
Numerous studies have found that for every job created by Wal-Mart at least 1.5 jobs have been lost. I would go a step further and propose that for every dollar you save shopping at Wal-Mart, you are paying at least $1.5 in increased taxes, health insurance premiums and other drains on the local economy.
I choose to shop locally because it is important to our community’s future. I would urge each of you to do the same. Support the businesses featured in this magazine as well as the countless other locally-owned stores throughout our region. You really can’t afford not to.
