Upstart Cornwall

Cornwall Says No To Wal-Mart … Sort Of

The City of Cornwall has decided not to allow a proposed new Wal-Mart location at the corner of Brookdale and Tollgate. Read an article about it here.

I was actually watching “The Source” on Cogeco on Tuesday night and got to see first-hand what people were saying about the impact a new Wal-Mart would have on the proposed area. While it is true that there is a Home Depot across the street from the location in question - the North West corner is actually on Tollgate road and access would be from there. It’s amazing to see what a small group of citizens can do when they really want it.

I have to say that I side with the Citizens on this one. The location is just too close to residential areas to be considered viable. I hope the folks in that area of town realize that quiet ol’ Tollgate won’t exist for much longer though. The expansion of Brookdale will fix that in a hurry.

There were some great letters’ to the editor on SeawayValley.com the other day stating that Cornwall was sending the wrong message to “Big Box” retailers and that this would hurt the City. People made some good points but I get the feeling this isn’t the last we will hear from Wal-Mart.

To make my point a bit clearer: Wal-Mart is so busy in Cornwall right now with their current location that they must consider expanding. It made business sense for them to look at a place close to the highway and within the same area as the current store. With the expansion of Brookdale it will not be long before we see development all the way to the 401 so their choice of location was justified. I am pretty sure Wal-Mart will find a new spot in Cornwall. They want to make more money - so - they WILL find a new location. It’s as simple as that.

As a side note: I don’t actually shop at Wal-Mart. Call me old-fashioned but I much prefer to shop locally or in Canadian stores. It makes me feel good to support local stores. I have been to Wal-Mart, mainly for items that I could not find anywhere else - but I make a point to avoid it and I think others should to. They are expanding in Cornwall because people shop there - A LOT of people. I wonder how many of the people opposed to the new location actually shop there? Hopefully they won’t anymore - otherwise we may all be living beside a Big Box store someday.

Also - it’s great to see local TV starting to be worth watching. Cogeco is doing a great job at starting to run a somewhat daily (Tuesday to Thursday) broadcast of the events in town and I for one am watching. I don’t subscribe to newspapers (too much wasted paper) so it’s nice to have a place that provides a local commentary and news. Props to Mr. Bolton and Ms. St Ammand. Keep it up - people are watching.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 18th, 2007 at 7:37 pm and is filed under Business in Cornwall. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “Cornwall Says No To Wal-Mart … Sort Of”

1. Jason Herrington Says:
   October 18th, 2007 at 10:47 pm

   Eric,

   Is it possible to view Cogeco shows via the web? I’m on Star Choice and do not receive our local station anymore

2. Binh Says:
   October 19th, 2007 at 8:36 am

   Why are we so far behind other communities when it comes to these sorts of developments? You don’t need to look further than Brockville to see that. The city lost out big time.

3. Eric Bergeron Says:
   October 19th, 2007 at 1:52 pm

   Jason - I doubt you can catch Cogeco on the Internet - but it’s worth asking. Maybe if enough people ask they will do it.

4. Nicole Saucier Cayer Says:
   October 19th, 2007 at 4:34 pm

   I don’t have cogeco either. It would be nice if we could get it on the web.

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