Walmart Neighborhood Market stokes Rock Hill opposition

Walmart is opening mores Neighborhood Market grocery stores in the Charlotte area, but the Rock Hill Herald reports that one of the planned new stores is drawing concerted opposition from nearby residents.

The store, at Celanese and Ebinport roads in Rock Hill, would be 42,000 square feet, the size of a standard grocery store and about one quarter the size of a Walmart Supercenter. Nationwide, Walmart is expanding the concept to put more pressure on traditional supermarkets.

From the Herald: Some residents who live near the development site at the corner of Celanese and Ebinport roads have voiced concerns for several months about the potential impact the shopping center would have on property values and quality of life.
Many residents still want to fight the development but their chances are slim, said Kristen Kull, a resident of Swan Meadows – the closest neighborhood to the shopping center site.
Their last option, she said, is to convince the S.C. Department of Transportation to reject the developer’s request for some road projects to accommodate the development.

Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2014/05/27/6001310/rock-hill-council-approves-walmart.html?sp=/100/101/&ihp=1#storylink=cpy

 In Charlotte, Walmart has one Neighborhood Market store open, at 7421 Independence Boulevard. The mega-retailer is expanding locally. There's a new Walmart Neighborhood Market planned for 8800 East W.T. Harris Boulevard (building permits for the $3.2 million store here, if you're curious) and more stores in the works for Pineville, Concord and Rock Hill.