Do we need a big box store in town?
By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
Do we need a big box store in East Longmeadow? That's the question that will loom like a five hundred-pound gorilla in the lives of residents in this community.
With plans moving forward to put a Lowe's behind the Stop and Shop, people in this town should ask themselves once again just what kind of community they want. Is a big box store such as this one in this location truly a benefit to the town?
People used to speak of the "malling of America;" well, enclosed malls are on the way out and plazas of big box stores are the latest trend in national retail. Take a look at what used to be Fairfield Mall in Holyoke. It's not a collection of big box stores.
How does that affect the local retail scene? At least with traditional shopping centers and enclosed malls there were opportunities for locally based retailers to be in the mix. With big box plazas, that chance is diminished greatly.
Locally based retailers have the capacity to bring something more to a community than just "low" prices. Remember that many smaller retailers, depending upon what they sell, can often match or beat the prices of a big box due to lower overhead and a level playing field for wholesale prices.
I know that some people will feel that developing a parcel of properly zoned land into an acceptable business site is progress. I think the sticking point is in what kind of business it is.
If there wasn't a Lowe's literally a few miles away in Springfield and if the traffic caused by this development wasn't going to cripple the main thoroughfare in this town, I might think differently.
The reality, though, is the developers of the property and Lowe's management obviously believe there is a crying, desperate need for this business in this location.
They are wrong.
I am sure there will be supporters for this proposal and it's their right to be supporters for whatever reason they chose. I'm also sure that if the developers actually sat down with residents they would find considerable, perhaps overwhelming opposition.
I suppose there is always the thought that if developers can shove something down the throat of a town, once it is built people will cease caring to oppose it and become customers. I'm sure that there is plenty of precedence of that happening.
I also know there is precedence for active, concerned citizens finding the legal means to keep a development from happening. East Longmeadow residents need to begin thinking about their position on this important change in their community.
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