Students here at Poland Regional High School are part of a small community. With roughly 2,800 people in Minot, 2,500 in Mechanic Falls and 5,000 in Poland, you can safely say we’re no big city. Within our three towns, there are many families and locally owned businesses that keep the community running. They also help define the community.
Over the past ten years, there have been some bigger businesses making their way into our towns. They offer more products, perhaps even better products, and their service is unmatched – they are next-door neighbors of the school, in fact. But they are not locally owned. The change has been slow and steady, so it's easy not to notice – unless you take a long, hard look at your hometown.
Where once stood an old warehouse, now stands Dunkin Donuts, Subway, a bank, a natural foods grocery store, a physical therapy center and a Family Dollar. We're not talking mega malls, but we are talking about brand name businesses we see advertised around the world. They are popping up in more and more places around the state, and throughout the country. But as delightful as getting that warm cup of coffee before school is, could these businesses slowly kill off the local ones that have been around for years? Are they paving the way for even bigger business to make our towns look like any other place in the USA?
The Subway situated next to Dunkin Donuts, less than a half-mile from our school, has become a hot spot for athletes looking for a meal after a long practice. The Family Dollar is perfect for picking up last-minute things you may need around the house (or a Roundtable party, for that matter). But we can all say that the Dunkin Donuts is grabbing most of the attention from students and faculty members of our school. Every morning in the PRHS lobby I sit and watch how many people come in with Dunkin Donuts. Within minutes I have lost count.
(Which reminds me, why is it that students get such beverages as Coffee Coolatas or Iced Coffees when it's freezing outside? It just never clicks in my head. You’d think, “Oh it’s cold outside, I had better get something warm to drink.” Nope. OK, maybe it’s just me.)
A more important question is whether national chain stores are taking over our towns and putting family-owned businesses out of work. The students and faculty alone keep that Dunkin Donuts afloat. PRHS must be responsible for several hundred dollars of revenue there before the bells ring for A or F blocks. So what's next, if we're all creatures of habit and convenience? Burger King? Pizza Hut?
How about the Big Daddy of them all? Wal-Mart, welcome to Poland!
But first , let's talk about why these national chains succeed. With a full cash register at the end of every day, Dunkin Donuts plans to stay here for a long time. New students will always come in. And they will soon realize that the “icky stuff” Dad drinks all the time is actually pretty good. More consumers equals more profit and more word-of-mouth advertising (which doesn't stop the television or radio commercials). If a Burger King moved into one of the open buildings on Route 26, would it get business? You bet it would! You think caffeine and sugar are addictive? Never underestimate the power of salt, grease and fat!
The same economic principles apply to Wal-Mart. They provide products that people use, prices that people can afford, and they are right there, just a quick drive away. Every day.
Despite its track record of swallowing up locally owned and operated business, Wal-Mart is and has been leaving a rather positive mark in connection with its name. Wal-Mart has become one of America’s “bests.” If the game is capitalism and a free-market economy (our game of choice in America), Wal-Mart is winning.
In a very lengthy article I stumbled upon on the Internet, a man named Paul Kirklin had a lot of positive things to say about Wal-Mart. Here's his opening paragraph:
“Wal-Mart is one of the great shining examples of what a market economy can achieve. If I were to give a tour of the United States to visitors from a socialist country, who are used to experiencing chronic shortages of almost everything, Wal-Mart would be one of the first places I would take them. It is a perfect symbol of one of the most remarkable things that we have — an enormous variety of high quality, low cost products that are available to virtually everyone throughout the United States.” You can read the rest of his article at (http://mises.org/daily/2219).
Wikipedia offers some chilling stats on Wal-Mart – draw your own conclusions:
“In 2005, Walmart had $312.4 billion in sales, more than 6,200 facilities around the world—including 3,800 stores in the United States and 2,800 elsewhere, employing more than 1.6 million 'associates' worldwide.” Those statistics are six years old. It's a safe bet that Wal-Mart has not slowed down, even during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
If you fear Wal-Mart, rest easy. There's one in Oxford and another in Auburn, 20 miles apart, so it doesn't appear to make a lot of sense to put one in the middle.
On the other hand, if you love Wal-Mart (that would be an interesting PRHS poll), you may be overjoyed to avoid those trips to Oxford and Auburn. Think about it. Add a Wal-Mart to the Dunkin Donuts, Subway and Family Dollar … you may never, ever leave Poland!
Just don't call it your hometown. That baby is long gone.
*Photo credit to http://www.onefastbuffalo.com/Post.aspx?ui=10&title=La %3BMadeleine %3BEmbraces %3BFrench-ness&postid=129*
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