Wal-Mart wants the whole pie

Editor,

This letter is in response to the letter from Dave Tolley, the manager of the Polson Wal-Mart published in the Oct. 27 Leader.

One thing I agree with Mr. Tolley about is we indeed have good business people in this community; however, I disagree that they will benefit from a Super Wal-Mart. Sure, a super store will bring people in from surrounding areas to shop, but Wal-Mart will be as far as many of them go.

Mr. Tolley writes that our dollars are leaving our community. Dollars spent at Wal-Mart go to Bentonville, Ark. Lake County dollars line the pockets of the top richest people in the world. When is the last time a Sam Walton heir circulated their money in Polson, Montana? The people that keep the currency in our community flowing are the small business owners and their customers.

There are not enough people here to support a Super Wal-Mart and the existing businesses. Wal-Mart knows that. They don't just want a bigger piece of the pie. They want the whole pie.

Bentonville, Ark., is in Benton County. Benton County has a population of over 153,000. When comparing the headquarters of Wal-Mart to Polson, please don't insult us by referring to Bentonville as a "small town." (Douglas, Ariz., is in a county of more than 117,000, by the way). Lake County has a population of 26,000.

If you like the box stores, if quality merchandise is not important to you, if you don't need customer service, if you don't care about your community, your environment and your neighbors, go live on N. Reserve St. in Missoula.

Help keep Polson the unique small town that so many of us love. Think about where you are spending your money. Think about where that money, in turn, is being spent.

Jackie Trujillo

Polson