EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second in a series of articles examining the impact of Wal-Mart opening a store in a small community. Wal-Mart has announced it plans to open a Supercenter in Ironwood Township in 2007.

By ANDY HILL

Globe Associate Editor

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. -- Has Wal-Mart helped or harmed Wisconsin Rapids?

Depends who you ask.

Three long-time business operators say the retail giant has driven out existing businesses and helped erase the community's identity -- without any real gain in jobs.

On the other hand, Mayor Jerry Bach says Wal-Mart is helping Wisconsin Rapids become a retail magnet.

"The thing that happens is they put all the other small businesses in town out of business," said former clothier Pat Pokrandt. "It took our old-line customers away. They were no longer there buying the things that we sold."

Tom Metcalf, recently retired owner of Metcalf Lumber, said "for the most part Wal-Mart has not helped this community."

Bill Beichl, who runs an insurance agency, calls Wal-Mart "a necessary evil. It certainly hasn't helped the small businesses."

Bach says Wal-Mart is driving traffic to his city. Wal-Mart orginally had a site downtown, but then built a Supercenter on the south edge of town in 2001. That store is about a third larger than the one proposed for Ironwood. The 208,000-square-foot store includes grocery, general merchandise, a portrait studio, vision center, hair salon, Subway, Papa Murphy's (a pizzeria), a family fun center (arcade), deli, pharmacy, tire and lube express, but no motor fuels.

"That site has really developed," Bach said. "Appleby's just built in front of them. There are restaurants, a game store. A Tractor Supply store just located a couple of blocks away. The parking lot is always full."

Downtown challenge

The other side of that, says Pokrandt, is that Wal-Mart and other big box retailers gutted the downtown.

"We used to have clothing stores, magazine stores, banks, theaters. It was a really wonderful place to shop," Pokrandt said. "Parking was halfway decent. Traffic was controlled pretty well.

"At one time, we had 12 shoe stores. Now you can't buy a decent pair of shoes in Rapids. There were jewelry stores."

Connie Loden, former executive director of the Iron County Economic Development Zone, says downtown Rapids hasn't fared as badly as Pokrandt describes it.

"We're a little bit different in that we have a retail mall in our downtown with a JC Penney anchor store and a Younkers anchor store," said Loden, who also operates a branch of the Hurley Coffee Company in Rapids. "We've seen a resurgence back to development there, and a lot more retail traffic."

Wal-Mart's departure from downtown presented a challenge. Bach said the city bought the former store for $400,000, and it is now a senior center and office complex.

"We ended up with between a $4 million and $5 million project," said Bach. "There certainly wasn't any degree of help from Wal-Mart in doing that."

Economy shifted

Although Wisconsin Rapids's population is about twice that of Ironwood, there is at least one similarity -- the decline of a prominent industry. For Ironwood, it was the loss of the iron mines. For Wisconsin Rapids, it has been the massive reduction in jobs formerly provided by Consolidated Papers, Inc. A foreign company purchased the big paper mill and has drastically scaled back the Rapids operation.

Metcalf observes that many people in his town still have a "mill mentality."

"Now, they're saying bring in anything that will give us the opportunity to buy something for less money -- even if it will have a negative impact on the overall economy," he added.

He agrees with Pokrandt that Wal-Mart wiped out a lot of businesses.

"Nobody has really counted up the dead," he said. "We pushed the bodies into a big hole and covered them up."

More jobs?

But did Wal-Mart bring more jobs to the area?

Wal-Mart spokesman Sharon Webber said, "We have about 320 associates (employees) there, so it does provide some good job opportunities for the people in that area."

Wal-Mart must compete for employees.

"Generally in retail, there's a wage range, from entry level to those that are more experienced," said Loden, who represents the Heart of Wisconsin Business and Economic Alliance. "Entry level's going to be around $6.50, but it ranges up to $9."

Whatever the pay level, Metcalf contends there has been no real gain in jobs because of all the jobs lost when businesses shut down, and Pokrandt says Wal-Mart doesn't pay as well as most of the businesses that it forced to close.

Major change in retail

There's clearly a change in the retail mix.

"We just broke ground with a new Home Depot," said Bach. "We're getting some names in here."

Successful competitors have changed their game plans.

"One of the things Wal-Mart tends to do is pull retail business or traffic from downtown. How you react is to play a different pitch than Wal-Mart offers," said Loden. "You most likely won't compete on price. You have to offer a niche product, or something different, such as service, or consumer education."

The mayor sees businesses adapting.

"We used to have seven grocery stores, now we have three," he said. "The hardware stores all upgraded themselves and are in business. They (Wal-Mart) have been good as far as donating to local events and that sort of thing. Wal-Mart didn't hurt the community any. It's just not a local world anymore."

According to Pokrandt, "They are takers, that's the way I see them."
Metcalf laments the sameness and lack of uniqueness brought on by Wal-Mart.

"With thousands of stores all alike across the country, the last vestiges of community identity have been wiped out," he said. "Our town looks the same as a bunch of others. And if a town is looking for Wal-Mart to be the defining moment in its economic development, then God help that town."