Local Grocers Respond to Walmart Invasion

As of this summer, San Angelo is home to two Walmart Supercenters, one Walmart Discount store and two Walmart Neighborhood Markets. In light of the abundance of these stores in the community, as well as Green Grocery and Café’s recent closure, San Angelo LIVE! sought answers concerning the role of new Walmart stores in the local economy. Therefore, LIVE! spoke with executives of several grocery stores in San Angelo as well as Walmart itself to find out how the new Walmart additions have affected the competition.

Super Mercado's Response

Super Mercado is the only locally owned grocery store in San Angelo according to owner Justin Claiborne.

 “Of course, [the new Walmart stores] have knocked a little bit of customer count and business out of, I would venture to say, any locally owned business,” Claiborne said. “The size and population of San Angelo can’t withstand it, but Walmart, when they did their study on San Angelo, they assumed that the population was going to really explode with the oil market, and it has not. We’re already gaining business back from them, but it’ll knock you down about 20 percent a week until the new car smell wears off.”

Claiborne made the point that Walmart is not a locally owned business, so much of the money spent at the store is allocated out of the city.

“As far as the city allowing [Walmart] to put that many in there and come in, I think it was absurd,” Claiborne said. “All they’re doing is hurting San Angelo’s economy, and they’re giving it to people who don’t even know where San Angelo is.”

Claiborne predicted that some of Walmart’s stores in the city are going to close. He said that a few of the stores, including the Walmart stores on Sherwood Way and Knickerbocker, are “having trouble.

“Walmart shut over 200 of those neighborhood markets down just last year that were only opened for a year’s time,” Claiborne said. “So they don’t put much forethought into where they put those, and they don’t really understand the grocery business. Walmart has been trying to get into grocery retail for years, and they’ve never been able to really understand the concept of it.”

These aforementioned 200 closed stores, Claiborne said, were based in Texas, and many stores were only operating for a year before they shut down.

Claiborne said that he is “not real fond of Walmart.”

“For what you’re buying from them, everything’s second rate,” Claiborne said. “The quality’s terrible.”

HEB's Response

Lynn Shipley, Unit Director of HEB, claimed that the addition of the new Walmart stores would affect HEB in two major ways. The first result of these additions, Shipley said, “is a challenge to always do our job better and elevate our game to take care of our customers in a more efficient fashion.” The second impact on HEB is due to the convenient locations of new Walmart stores for many customers. According to Shipley, “that’s going to be the biggest area [in which] we’ve seen a change.”

San Angelo LIVE! asked Shipley how HEB reacted when the store heard these Walmart stores were opening.

“We started working to really focus on our customers,” Shipley responded. “No more than what we had before, really. We can always do better, and we take any competition very seriously. Walmart’s a great organization, and we respect them. It goes with the territory.”

Market Street's Response (Previously Albertsons)

Market Street is San Angelo’s newest grocery store thanks to the recent conversion from Albertsons. Store director Craig Sopetto focused on the store's unique appeal when compared to its competition, including the new Walmart stores.

“I think [Walmart] overbuilt for the City of San Angelo, but that’s just my personal opinion," Sopetto said. "We offer something completely different. I encourage everybody in San Angelo to come by, visit and see what we have to offer and take that with them.

Walmart’s Response

San Angelo LIVE! reached out to Walmart for information concerning its role in the economy. Anne Hatfield, Walmart’s Director of Communications, gave the following response on behalf of the chain of stores:

“San Angelo is a growing city, and with that growth comes the increased need for convenient and affordable access to the household items and groceries people need for their families. Our new stores are a response to that growth to make sure we are serving our customers.

San Angelo is now home to five Walmart stores (two Walmart Supercenters, one Walmart Discount store and two Walmart Neighborhood Markets) that provide approximately 1,000 jobs in the local community. Our stores generate sales tax revenue for the city, which in turn helps pay for the city services that all residents enjoy. Our stores are also a magnet for small businesses, who like to set up shop near our stores and take advantage of the high visibility and foot traffic.

To put it in greater perspective, Walmart makes significant contributions to the overall economy of San Angelo and the state of Texas in many ways. Allow me to illustrate:

• We are one of the state’s largest employers, providing jobs for more than 171,000 associates statewide.
• We have hired more than 13,000 Texas veterans during our company’s Welcome Home Initiative to provide 250,000 veterans nationwide a job.
• We spent $50.7 billion dollars with Texas suppliers during fiscal year 2016.
• We supported more than 146,000 Texas supplier jobs during fiscal year 2016.
• We collected $1.7 billion dollars taxes on behalf of the state of Texas as part of transactional sales of taxable goods and services for fiscal year 2014.
• We paid $416.3 million dollars in taxes to the state of Texas.
• We gave a total of $117.2 million dollars in cash and in-kind donations from our stores, clubs and the Walmart Foundation in 2015."

However, many people locally feel the addition of the new Walmart stores likely contributed to the closure of Greens’ Grocery and Café, a locally owned business that announced it was shutting down Monday. For more about the closure, read San Angelo LIVE!’s previous stories here and here.