Wal-Mart: It Came, It Conquered, Now It's Packing Up and Leaving
- Some towns left without grocery store after Wal-Mart departure
- Company announced plans to shut down 154 stores this month
What Happens When Wal-Mart Leaves a Small Town?
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The Town’n Country grocery in Oriental, North Carolina, a local fixture for 44 years, closed its doors in October after a Wal-Mart store opened for business. Now, three months later -- and less than two years after Wal-Mart arrived -- the retail giant is pulling up stakes, leaving the community with no grocery store and no pharmacy.
Though mom-and-pop stores have steadily disappeared across the American landscape over the past three decades as the mega chain methodically expanded, there was at least always a Wal-Mart left behind to replace them. Now the Wal-Marts are disappearing, too.