Walmart moving into Four Seasons Mall?
Comment: I heard today from our UPS driver that Walmart has purchasing (or had) the Four Seasons Mall. I am unable to confirm this but if so it would be a great location for a Walmart!
More on: Four Seasons Mall: Plymouth, MN
Info on the property from Hennepin County
Interesting, if true. The Strib reported recently that they were also purchasing Brookdale.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a lot of time to dig into this but I did call Fresh & Natural Foods and talked to the manager there. Fresh & Natural is kind of an anchor for the mall. The manager said they had heard the rumor of Wal-Mart buying the mall but was unable to confirm it!
ReplyDeleteI think I've reached a dead end on this!
More snooping: We drove by Four Seasons on the way home from work. The entire middle of the mall is empty. You have the Fresh and Natural store on one end and then store upon store empty. At the Southmost end there are three stores: a bridal store, Marcellas Pizza, and an oriental restaurant. We went into Marcellas and had dinner. The waitress had heard of the Wal-mart rumor but did not know anything more. The worker at the Bridal Salon (we stopped and chatted with her on the way out) told us that Wal-Mart closes on the property at the end of the month!
ReplyDeleteThe bridal store is moving/going out of business. Jennifer and I went to the Thai restaurant and saw they were having one of those two sales.
ReplyDeleteIt will be nice if a Walmart goes up there. Grocery expenses will go down for us.
This reminds me of my first time as head usher--Dewey R. told me about how the Sears there used to sell more appliances than any other in the nation. Then Sears management decided they wanted a bigger cut of the profits, and the old timers like Dewey quit.
ReplyDeleteAnd now, this is what we see......object lesson for "penny wise, pound foolish."
A community development director for Plymouth told the Star Tribune that Wal-Mart has met with him at least twice to explore their concept plan for the site. No application has yet been filed, and the project will require a rezoning to accommodate a big box store.
ReplyDeleteCity Officials in Plymouth are concerned about having a Wal-Mart superstore so close to single-family homes and townhouses, which are abutters to the project. “City staff does not believe this use fits in with the comprehensive plan for the city and specifically this area,” the city’s community development director told the newspaper. “A big box is not what was envisioned for this property.”
Last month, the city convinced Wal-Mart to underwrite the cost of a transportation study that will look at the scale of the proposed store, and if the local roadways can accomodate the traffic it will produce.
Email Plymouth Mayor Kelli Slavik at kslavik@plymouthmn.gov with the following message:
Dear Mayor Slavik,
One of the City’s 2010 goals is to ‘protect Plymouth’s strong financial position.’ The Wal-Mart superstore project will have an adverse impact on many existing businesses in the city, and will undermine your main economic goal.
Rezoning of the Four Seasons Mall is not an ‘as of right’ propostion. Plymouth can say "No" to a project like this - and should.
This project does not fit into your comprehensive plan.
As a resident, taxpayer and homeowner, my major concerns include:
- There is a clear adverse economic impact of Wal-Mart stores upon local taxes, jobs, and area businesses.
- Public safety and cost of crime: many Wal-Mart’s are open late, or even all night and are poorly guarded. They have historically increased crime rates.
- Wal-Mart stores have a negative impact on residential property values.
- The project is too “intense” for the area, the scale is too large.
I emailed the Mayor and received this response:
ReplyDeleteThank you for your e-mail. Wal-Mart has not submitted an application to the city at this time. If they do, there will be public meetings held to consider their proposal. I have no idea what they may be planning for the site. You can monitor their application status by subscribing to receive e-mail updates of city council and planning meeting agendas by signing up at the city web site. Let me know if you have any questions. ... Please let me know if I ever can be of assistance on any city issues.
This will help revitalize that area with a new Wal-Mart. It will be good for jobs in the area as well as tax revenue for Plymouth. Yes, traffic will increase, but that will help drive more customers to the other businesses in the area as well.
ReplyDelete