La Mesa's latest grocery store, the new Walmart Neighborhood Market, opened to the public on Wednesday, in an early morning ribbon-cutting ceremony. Located at 8820 Grossmont Blvd., and housed in the former Circuit City building, the store will provide La Mesa residents another option to shop for groceries fresh produce.
“The new Walmart Neighborhood Market will be another valued member of our business community, and many of our residents are looking forward to its opening and the employment opportunities it brings to La Mesa,” said La Mesa Mayor Art Madrid. “Walmart has been a good corporate citizen to many of our civic and nonprofit organizations, and I'm confident that this new store will continue to be a good community partner.”
The store will provide full- and part-time jobs to roughly 65 people, many of whom are La Mesans. The store's manager, Todd Raley, is an east county native and Santee resident.
He has been with the company since 1994, and worked his way up into a managerial position in the new store.
"I've been with the company for 18 years now, starting as a temporary associate," said Raley. "I really appreciate Walmart – they recognize merit and how hard you work, which is awesome, and it's an honor to help open up the first Neighborhood Market in San Diego."
The Neighborhood Market format has been a part of the Walmart brand since about 1998, according to spokesperson Delia Garcia.
"We're excited to open the first store here. You'll see that it's about a quarter to a third of the size of a traditional SuperCenter, and it's really designed for convenient grocery shopping," said Garcia.
The 39,000-square-foot La Mesa store features a self-serve deli with pre-packaged foods, a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, as well as meats, cheeses and prepared foods. In addition to fresh produce, the store carries a full line of groceries, including frozen foods, meat and dairy products, gluten-free and organic items. Customers can also find cakes and pastries in the bakery section. The La Mesa Walmart Neighborhood Market will be open from 6 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week.
In addition, the store features a pharmacy, customer service and check cashing center, and paper goods, pet products, hardware items and a Celebration Station, where customers can buy gift wrap and gift bags, greeting cards and party supplies.
Many local community groups are also benefiting from the store's opening. As part of the grand-opening celebration, $4,000 in grants from Walmart and the Walmart Foundation will be presented to the La Mesa Adult Enrichment Center, Boys to Men Mentoring Network, Catholic Charities and College Preparatory Middle School.
In addition, a $15,000 grant will be presented to SAY San Diego. Funds will be available throughout the year for local organizations that serve the community. Interested groups can visit foundation.walmart.com for more information
With the corporate giant opening its doors next to another La Mesa grocery store, Ralphs, many wonder if there would be pushback from the community. But Raley, a graduate of Granite Hills High school in El Cajon and San Diego State University, said he and his team can only provide the best quality they can to customers.
"We're focused on just providing the everyday low price to the customers," he said.
Worse thing Parkway Plaza could have done was have a WalMart there....how do you sell $80 jeans when there are $15 jeans around the corner...and don't get me started on all the abandoned shopping carts. Nope, WalMart is bad news. It will drive other businesses out of La Mesa. WalMart is not a good neighbor. Shop Ralphs! They have been good for our community for a long time!
Goodbye specialty shops where people actually know what they are selling and can answer questions. When I had my children's book store in the village, people came in for the fun atmosphere, to see the books, the train and the animals, but then went to WalMart for a 'better deal'. That's what WalMart does to potentially every store in town. Sure they entice you with low prices, but it hurts local business. And now La Mesa has TWO!
I don't see how the Ralph's will stay in business. That shopping center is always mostly empty. So the unemployed people hired by Walmart will be negated by the Ralph's employees that get laid off. It's too bad Bed Bath & Beyond didn't move in where Linens and Things used to be. I'll stick to Sprouts, Vons, Ralphs and the farmer's market.
A judge approved the settlement on Thursday. Los Angeles county and city prosecutors charged that Ralphs stores failed to deduct the weight of packaging on some prepackaged and weighed food products three years ago. They claimed that effectively short-weighted the item. Under the settlement, Ralphs did not acknowledge liability but agreed to pay about $1.1 million in fines and restitution. In a statement, the company says there's nothing misleading or unfair in its pricing and any "inadvertent discrepancies" were corrected immediately. http://www.dailybulletin.com/california/ci_21652204/ralphs-stores-pay-1m-settle-overcharging-claim
Can you find any lawsuits with WalMart?
:-)
If BBB thought it could have made money at the Linen & Things location they would have opened there. There is only ONE reason Linen& Things is not there anymore: It was not profitable. What seems to be lost here is that the sole purpose of a business is to make money. It is not the purpose of a business to provide jobs or serve the public.It is to make money, jobs and and providing for the public are ancillary benefits.
It and they are classic free enterprise predators. They devour uncounted small businesses, and larger but not large enough businesses, destroy neighborhoods in ways that can't be measured in dollars and thus not a concern for soulless people like Rand, for whom money, profit are the lone measures of what is "good" in life. In time we will look around and see, every half-mile, a mega-store with empty lots or shuttered small businesses between. When "the lowest price" is all that matters, we eventually lose all that makes variety "the spice of life." It's contagious, too, and can be transmitted to humans. Notice the folks shopping in Walmart (including me) vs those shopping in a local small business (including me). They are somehow different people. It seems they (me) have less, or more, "spice" in them. Remind your mayor: When a La Mesan spends $1 in a big box store, 60 cents remains in the community. When a La Mesan spends $1 in a local small business, almost 90 cents stays in the community. That's if the mayor believes money remaining in the La Mesa community is a worthwhile goal. I shop Walmart, but try to not notice that I am a co-conspirator in the destruction and China-fication of the U.S. economy. On the "bright side" the Walton family will be the last American family to go.