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Shop owners keeping it cool over Wal-Mart's Supercenter

By FOSS FARRAR
Traveler Staff Writer

Downtown merchants say "Beat the Blues with Chocolate" may be just the remedy for what ails Arkansas City in February.

That's the working title for a new festival that aims to bring people downtown for sensory treats. But it may be looked at as having another subtle purpose as well: To let the town know that its merchants are still alive and well, despite the impending arrival of a new Wal-Mart Supercenter on North Summit Street.

"There is some fear," said merchant Kim Ebert, referring to the store's planned opening in March. "There's some reason for fear, and it's probably a good thing we aren't sticking our heads in the sand."

But instead of taking a negative approach on the store's arrival, merchants are taking positive action, Ebert said Friday.

"We want to show what we have for the community," she said.

The festival will feature chocolate treats and blues music, including a live concert by the 5 Man Trio. It is being planned by the Arkansas City Area Chamber of Commerce, of which Ebert is a member and past chairwoman.

Festival events tentatively are scheduled every Saturday in February and include a chocolate scavenger hunt, chocolate cooking classes, a chocolate film festival, library events, a chocolate sampler and contest and a concert where wine and chocolate are served.

Meanwhile, about a month after the final festival event on Feb. 25, Wal-Mart plans to open its new supercenter. The grand opening is scheduled for March 22, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman said Thursday.

It will be a huge store with between 300 to 500 people workers, said Melissa O'Brien, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman. Some of these will be employees transferred from the current Ark City Wal-Mart store. In addition, another 200 or so jobs will be added.

Local merchants say they can't compete with the size or resources of a Wal-Mart, so they focus on providing what Wal-Mart doesn't: niche products and service.

"They are the biggest, and the richest so you cannot do battle with them; you have to do your own thing," said Gayle Coulson, who co-owns Village Market with her husband Jim. "Hopefully the community realizes that there are choices to be made."

Village Market is one of the three main grocery stores in town that will be competing for business with the supercenter's grocery department.

"Our meat department already has a reputation," Coulson said. "(Our senior citizen customers) like the smaller stores and we give senior discounts twice a week, on Wednesdays and Thursdays."

Village Market also has a loyal customer base including those who live in the neighborhood of the store, she said. "We do home deliveries every Tuesday for orders taken on Monday," she said.

In short, the store offers customers personalized service, Coulson said. In addition it regularly gives back to the community, as do other local stores in town.

"I'm sure there are a lot of people who are so excited about a supercenter that they can't wait to get there," she said. "But they have to realize we're the same people they go to for contributions."

Schools, churches and organizations that help the needy regularly solicit the local grocery stores and downtown stores for all kinds of donations, of both food and money, she said. "There isn't a week that goes by that we don't get solicited."

The manager of a downtown drug store said he wasn't too worried about Wal-Mart.

"This Christmas, our slogan was 'Don't get lost in the crowd,' " said Mark Meador, the front-end manager at Graves Drug Store. "We have a personalized service; we wait on our customers. That's what our business was founded on."

Graves has been a fixture downtown for nearly 60 years; it was founded in 1947.

Meador gave an example of personalized service: Graves offers free gift-wrapping year-round -- for Christmas, birthdays and anniversaries.

"I'm not concerned about (the opening of the supercenter)," Meador said. "Our customer service (includes convenience): You can pull up right in front of our store. You don't have to walk a half mile to get to the store, and another half mile to get to the pharmacy."

Pharmacists at Graves take time to explain new medications to customers and answer questions, he added. Many medications now are purchased using prescription cars and the co-payment is regulated by insurance companies.

"If you have a $10 or a $30 co-pay, it doesn't matter where you go to fill prescriptions," he said.

Ready or not, the Wal-Mart Supercenter is about to open, Ebert said. And it would best serve the local merchants not to dwell on any possible negative effects.

"We should continue with a positive spin at a time when it's a little nerve-racking right now," she said.