[Vision2020] The Future

[Chris Storhok]

Andreas,
You are right in that retail alone will not save the economy, but it can
give it another leg to stand on during tough times.  Moscow cannot compete
with Spokane, but rapidly rising fuel costs, the need to cut greenhouse
emission and so forth are beginning to make smaller retail hubs viable.  I
know that when we lived in Moscow we had to make a trip to Spokane at least
once a year to buy items that could not be found in Moscow.  We did not
travel up to Spokane to visit the big box stores, just the smaller specialty
stores that carried what we needed.  A smart retailer knows they cannot
directly compete with Wal Mart, but they also know that Wal Mart will not
carry several specialty items or market higher end stuff as well.  I know
that  Tri-State was hit hard when Wal Mart opened years ago, but they
changed what they carried to avoid competing with Wal Mart and the last time
I was in Moscow the store was doing pretty well.

I also know darn well that the big stores do not pay that well, most people
who work there (with the exception of management) do not really make a
career out of it.  I know of very few people who aspire to working 40 years
at Wal Mart, but it sure is a good stepping stone to a career elsewhere.
How many people on this list worked at McDonalds or some other low paying
job when they were younger?  I am certain a lot of us did.  Why do you and
others on this list insist on low end, career building  firms paying premium
wages, get a perspective on life.   What is bad is the lack of substantial
pay raises at the U of I.  The UI should be a institution where one should
be able to plan on a job to carry you through to retirement.  That is what
is really hurting the Moscow economy; after all what is the point of chasing
tenure if once you get it you do not receive any substantial reward.
Take Care
Chris    

-----Original Message-----
From: Andreas Schou [mailto:ophite at gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2005 3:23 PM
To: Chris Storhok
Cc: Mark Seman; Phil Nisbet; vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] The Future


Chris --

Though not all big-box stores are drains on the economy -- CostCo and
Bed, Bath, and Beyond are good examples -- some big-box development
demonstrably has negative effects on local economies, especially small
economies. Retail pays less and has fewer benefits than any sector of
the economy than food service.

We cannot compete with Spokane as a nexus for big-box development. Any
attempt to do so w idiocy -- we don't have the population base to
support it. Unless we bring in more shoppers from outside Moscow --
and we don't have any coherent plan to do so -- the only town that
will show any net economic benefit from another Wal-Mart is
Bentonville, AR. We cannot have an economy that cannibalizes itself:
fewer, lower-paying jobs replacing local retail* will simply Hoover
money out of the local economy -- and that's not even including the
bribes in tax write-offs it would require to make them come.

Retail cannot save Latah county. Relying on retail is a sucker's bet.

-- ACS