Profit or perish: Wal-Mart returns to Carson City

The site of Carson City's Wal-Mart on the corner of East College Parkway and Hot Springs Road is a muddy field marked by the tire grooves of heavy equipment.

It's also a corner of expectations.

By the end of the year, Wal-Mart officials expect to have a 203,000 square-foot supercenter filled with discounted merchandise. City officials expect it'll generate $1 million a year in sales-tax revenue. Carson City shoppers expect to buy their discounted merchandise here, instead of driving south to Douglas County.

Local business owners are embracing the supercenter, or bracing for it, after a more- than-two-year absence. Carson City's Wal-Mart moved to Douglas County in August 2002. Several developers have announced plans to build near the new Wal-Mart, hoping to cash in on its star power and the easy access to the Highway 395 bypass.

"We find that to be true with many of our new stores," said Wal-Mart spokesman Eric Berger. "Businesses large and small tend to locate near our stores to benefit from the customer traffic we generate."

He said once the south Reno store opened, several other retail stores also moved in. He expects the same will happen in Carson City. The contractor is working on infrastructure and the store should be completed in 10 months.

Carson City Mayor Marv Teixeira said Wal-Mart will have a significant, positive effect on the local economy because it'll attract other large retailers. Teixeira said he is talking to two or three other major retailers, but he would not disclose names.

Eager in East Carson City

Pete Coscarart, co-owner of Villa Basque Deli and Café, said he expects Wal-Mart will double the number of customers who visit his 730 Basque Way restaurant. Located right beside the Wal-Mart construction, he already is devising a plan to bring in those shoppers.

"The business is going to change as we see the need," he said. "I won't do anything now but as it gets closer we'll have to change."

Coscarart said he'll expand his hours, the restaurant is already open six days a week, and put up a sign that shoppers can see from the Wal-Mart parking lot. Coscarart also wants to "make (service) quicker so that people don't have to wait."

South side worry and downtown contentment

Aloha Discount Wine and Liquor owner Greg Psilopoulos said he is hoping Wal-Mart won't hurt his business.

"I know I'm probably going to lose some business to them," he said. "I'm not gaining customers that I should have because some of their pricing is better than mine. But they don't have the selection I have."

Psilopoulos said he counteracts the competition by offering something Costco and Wal-Mart can't: a social event. He has wine tasting every Friday night at his 4555 S. Carson St. store.

Sue Jones, owner of the Purple Avocado, said her gift store is set apart from Wal-Mart.

"I try to keep my gifts unique and special enough that Wal-Mart is not really a worry of mine, because we don't carry the same type of gift items," she said about her 904 N. Curry St. store.

Competitive on the north side

Jim Mitchell, co-owner of Sears on North Carson Street, said although he sells many of the same items that Wal-Mart will sell, he's optimistic.

"We think it'll keep customers from going to the Wal-Mart south of town," he said.

Mitchell said he believes keeping traffic at this end of the city is important, and Wal-Mart will do that.

"I love the competition," he said. "It's good for business."

Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.