As of Aug. 31, 2004, the United States contains 1,387 Wal-Mart stores, 1,615 Supercenters, 542 Sam’s Clubs, and 75 Neighborhood Markets. As of the fall 2005, Oberlin, Ohio will contain its very own Wal-Mart next to what used to be the Ames, just south of town.

“The success of our existing stores in this region and the sizeable population base around Oberlin that right now have to travel to find Wal-mart stores made the location a good choice,” said Keith Morris, community affairs manager of Wal-mart.

The area that the Wal-Mart is moving into has been zoned especially for commercial stores so it isn’t up to the town whether or not the store moves in, but it is “the objective of the city council to ensure that they work cooperatively with the town and not just come in and then abandon the site within five years,” said Daniel Gardner, chairman of the city council.

“I haven’t felt any pressure from the College, but individuals in town have both expressed a great interest in having the Wal-Mart and others a great interest in keeping it out,” said Gardner.

Many of these opinions have to do with how the store will affect Oberlin economically. Although many fear that the Wal-Mart may take business away from the small stores in the town, both Gardner, and Morris are optimistic that this won’t be so.

“It shouldn’t come into direct competition with the existing stores given what kind of businesses they are compared to the goods that the Wal-Mart will offer,” said Morris. “The fact that this is a college town will also work to the advantage of the other stores.”

Not only does Morris feel that the Wal-Mart will not negatively affect Oberlin, he has hopes that it will boost the economy. “The new Wal-Mart will create approximately 350 new jobs, the majority of them full time. Furthermore, a lot of people who start on hourly wages in Wal-Mart move up into manager positions,” Morris said. About 75 percent of people who work in salaried positions in Wal-mart started with hourly wages.

“When the supercenter opens, it will keep more consumers in that area to shop, which can only benefit Oberlin’s existing stores people will tend to spend more money here, in restaurants and gas stations and other businesses,” Morris said. In only a year, these questions will be answered when the Wal-Mart store in Oberlin becomes a reality.