Graham Needs Walmart
It wasn't too long ago that the Richard administration was touting the job growth for Fort Wayne because of the revitalization of the Southtown Mall Property. Since the opening of Menards the administration has made no reference to the project.
I am of an inquiring mind so I drove to the home center to see if I could figure anything out. Since I'm writing about it you can be sure found a few things that made me go hmm.
First, when you walk into the store and look around you will see that the staff tends to have the feel of retired factory workers coming in from the county south of the location more than intercity workers commuting from the north.
Second, the customer base is eerily similar to the makeup of the staff.
The south side of Fort Wayne is not seeing the economic rewards from Menards that the Mayor promised. Without a sizable number of intercity employees economic revitalization can't happen. Mayor Richard needs Walmart to do what Walmart does to put money in the economy of south Fort Wayne.
I am of an inquiring mind so I drove to the home center to see if I could figure anything out. Since I'm writing about it you can be sure found a few things that made me go hmm.
First, when you walk into the store and look around you will see that the staff tends to have the feel of retired factory workers coming in from the county south of the location more than intercity workers commuting from the north.
Second, the customer base is eerily similar to the makeup of the staff.
The south side of Fort Wayne is not seeing the economic rewards from Menards that the Mayor promised. Without a sizable number of intercity employees economic revitalization can't happen. Mayor Richard needs Walmart to do what Walmart does to put money in the economy of south Fort Wayne.
posted by Indiana Pundit at 1:14 PM
7 Comments:
How can you base an entire dismissal of this Southtown Center impact on one visit where you viewed a few employees and shoppers? As much as you would seem to want to spread doom and gloom you may want to at least give it, say even a year or so, before you make such sweeping judgements. As someone who shops there regularly I can tell you that the staff I have encountered have been, for the majority, in thier 20's and the shoppers have spanned the spectrum of FW. I have no more idea what this means than you do.
But, I know that there are jobs, there is growth, there is steady traffic in and out of the area and the blight is gone....much more than anyone could pretend in the Helmke days.
Perhaps you should pay attention to the media reports outside the blog..KMart is upating and expanding and the former Target store has a new owner with plans to revitalize.
Perhaps you are judging the area now because giving it any time at all will serve to prove you wrong.
I like this blog..except when it goes far off base to prove a certain political agenda.
Dee
I'm not dismissing the the quality or need of Southtown Center. What I said was that it hasn't turned into the rosy spin that the mayor envisioned.
He was hoping to be able to use this as a springboard for the perennial economic issue in the mayoral campaign.
While Menards is providing jobs, the majority of them are not inner city. That limits the economic impact of the city. It does not limit the economic impact for the south side of Allen County.
That is why this is titled "Graham needs Walmart". The inner city jobs will be provided by Walmart. That store should be opening about the right time for Graham to use it in his campaign.
Pundit,
You say that the majority of employees are NOT inner city.
I am not sure it matters, but where did you get that fact?
In the real world you are right. It doesn't matter. But in the world of municipal politics it matters a lot.
My facts come through a variety of sources who shall remain unnamed as well as first-hand observations.
It's all right Pundit. I get this kind of rhetoric thrown at me all the time, because like you, I do not require being spoonfed doses of "truth" by popular media outlets prior to my developing opinions based on common sense and observation. I suppose it's not much consolation though, coming from me! Everybody knows that the monkies from the Childrens' Zoo could run my blog at least as well as I.
I do think it's an interesting concept though...people requiring validation for their opinions and observations through the media. I'd rather roll my own, personally.
I don't need to know 'who' told you the information that led you to the conclusions about staffing at the store. But, I really would like to know what Facts, if any, are basing this on. I just returned from a trip to Menards to find out for myself. I asked the home zip codes of 11 employees. 1 refused to give it, 7 were 'inner city' bases on zip and other infor they volunteered, 2 may or may not have been (46807) and one was outside that spectrum. There..I am using facts to back up what I believed to be happening. If I read between the lines, you may be basing your beliefs on race and age. But, as we both know you can't tell inner city vs non-inner city based on that criteria.
But, when all is said and done... It Does Not Matter. You seem to be more obsessed with the political impact than Graham Richad is. If Wal Mart is good for his potential next campaign it will be because it is good for Fort Wayne.
The only politicians not worried about the political impact of something like economics are those who are nothing more than a pile of bones seven feet under.
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