Walmart coming to VCU, mid-May is expected open date
The plan is to build a Walmart on Campus which is 96% smaller than your average Walmart.
Update #1 — March 30, 2015; 9:43 AM
RTD has an minor update and a timeframe for opening:
Walmart wasn’t offering a specific date last week, but estimated mid-May as a likely start time for the 4,100-square-foot store at 912 W. Grace St.
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Original — August 06, 2014
VCU students and Fan residents will have a new shopping option starting in late 2014 or early 2015 as mega-retailer Walmart is opening a store on the VCU campus at 912 W. Grace Street.
This will be a much smaller version of your traditional Walmart called Walmart on Campus. Your typical Walmart checks in on average at 102,000 square feet. The VCU Walmart on Campus is a much more modest 4,100 square feet.
From the press release.
“VCU is excited that our students will enjoy the convenience and low prices the Walmart on Campus will offer,” said Diane Reynolds, assistant vice president for business services at VCU. “With its product mix, pharmacy and services, this is a great addition to retail growth on and around campus that meets the needs of students, faculty, staff and surrounding neighborhoods.”
The store will be Walmart’s fifth Walmart on Campus, having previously opened locations at the University of Arkansas, Arizona State University, Georgia Tech and the University of Missouri.
“We are thrilled to bring one of our campus stores to VCU. We continue to find new ways to make shopping more convenient for our customers, and they have been very enthusiastic about this format,” said Brooke Mueller, Walmart director of public affairs. “They appreciate the convenience of having a Walmart so close that offers both affordable general merchandise and health and wellness services.”
The University of Arkansas has a similarly sized store at 3,500 square feet and was open in 2011. This article from when the store first opened gives a peek inside a mini Walmart.
In December of 2013 an article in USA Today about bringing Walmart to Ivy League schools meet with resistance from the majority of students interviewed.
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Richard Hayes
When Richard isn’t rounding up neighborhood news, he’s likely watching soccer or chasing down the latest and greatest craft beer.
Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
No. Absolutely not. There are so many small businesses in the area that will be affected by this. Who cares if it’s smaller? It’s still the same terrible store. People will be protesting this, and I will be one of them.
I can not vomit hard enough at this news. “Let’s put a big box store in an area where local businesses are already dwindling so we can finally finish them all off!”
Fuck off, Walmart! Will someone please create a petition? This VCU alum will sign it.
I think it’s a great idea! Not that I hate small businesses, but it will create jobs, and light bulbs are cheap there haha
I believe fan residents and FDA members need to start a petition. this is complete BULL we are a SMALL business city.
It won’t create jobs in any sort of grand scale. It’s been mentioned that they will hire 10 people to run this store. Ten people.
Everyone (who does not want to see this happen) email Diane Reynolds dlreynol@vcu.edu and state your opposition to this.
@Marcus, I am not for having Walmart either, but don’t buy into everything you hear. If they only hired 10 people, those 10 people would be there 24/7. As a former retail worker, you have cashiers, stockroom, and managers for every shift. There may be 10 people at a time working, but they would not hire only 10 people…unless Walmart was willing to pay those 10 people quadruple overtime. We both know Walmart would never do that.
I’ve started a Facebook group for a central location we all can organize and mobilize in opposition to this store. I have a feeling these comments don’t allow links, so I put it as my website address so you click on my name it should bring you to the group. Otherwise you can search for it. The group is called, “No WalMart on Grace Street!”
This is great news. All this does is keep people from driving 10 miles to a Walmart. Even more people will want to live downtown now. If you don’t like Walmart you don’t have to shop there. To try and keep them out all together is complete lunacy. Lowes hasn’t caused any small businesses to close. Wackos as usual.
let’s face it, we’ve all motored out to short dump to purchase consumer non-durables from wally world at least once in our lives. at least this small format store doesn’t feature 10 acres of surface parking. you don’t have to shop there, go see Tony at Goshen Market across Broad. these chain stores and corporate casual dining are capturing the dorm student dollars, i don’t believe they are taking business from local shops in the larger community. like another commenter said, i don’t see how this store is materially different from Walgreens, CVS, Dollar Tree and even 7-11, all of which surround campus.
“Will someone please create a petition?” Seriously, if you want change then create your own goddamn petition.
joe nailed it. It simply means the City is becoming an easier place to live. Downtown has a dearth of everyday convenience shopping options and this helps fill a gap; at least for students in the area.
This is fantastic news. It is great for the silent majority of consumers who don’t want to pay inflated prices to local store owners just to be hip. They need to get one of these in Carytown.
Those “dorm” dollars grow up to become “people who live in the fan” dollars, and “people who might raise their families in the city” dollars, and eventually they’ll wonder why there isn’t just a full scale Wal-Mart smack-dab in the middle of the fan like there is in the suburbs. If only they could get rid of all those pesky independently owned businesses they don’t understand because they never patronized them when they first came to school.
The first few years when those kids are away from their parents are very important formative years in which they discover things on their own. They may never learn that there are places actually owned by the people working in them, who take pride in that ownership, and in creating a business that fills a need for the community. Places where the company goals aren’t filling the pockets of foreign investors, or buying another yacht for six people whose offices are on the top floor of a skyscraper somewhere else, or reporting substantial year over year growth to their shareholders. Why even try that weird Little Mexico Burrito Chop (RIP) when there’s a chipotle next door? Why go to Vito’s (RIP) when there’s a Five Guys, Jersey Mike’s, Extreme Pizza, Qdoba, Panera, Tropical Smoothie, Waffle House, Noodles and Company, IHOP Express, and Croutons within 2 minutes walking? Why even bother with that Goshen Mart, I can just go to Wal-Mart.
From earlier: “like another commenter said, i don’t see how this store is materially different from Walgreens, CVS, Dollar Tree and even 7-11, all of which surround campus.”
This is it, looking at the photos from one of their other stores, it looks like a CVS and 7/11 had a baby. I don’t think it’s going to do much for downtown, but I don’t think it is going to do damage that the surrounding chains weren’t already doing (or conversely, that students weren’t already doing by selecting which store to go to).
This is the end, beautiful friend – the end. Any corporate chain other than Walmart. Folks don’t get it. This is only the beginning. Today at VCU tomorrow on every corner. Richmond, Charlotte, Wilmington wherever. We’ll all be the same friggin town soon unless people draw a line. I think this shows abysmal judgement on the part of VCU.
VCU is becoming more and more like a shopping mall with a few classes. But I guess we have all seen it coming with the corporate chains that moved in. It’s like NoVa-ization in full effect here in RVA. I feel bad for the incoming students. There’s less and less reasons to hang out on Grace Street.
When I first came to Richmond, Grace Street was like a mini-NYC, with lots of ethnic food and interesting shops (including Exile), The Biograph, The Lee X-rated theater, biker bars, old and new mixture of architecture, different religious/political/cultural messages besides consumerism, The (old) Village Cafe, and local and national bands playing several venues within walking distance. Yeah, it was seedy…and independent and fun!
I miss the Red Light Inn
Not everyone can afford to shop at high-end stores for necessities. This will be great for students and locals alike. And it will generate revenue and taxes in the city instead of in Henrico.
Surely I have missed the part of this article that said the employees are hired to roam campus with guns to your head, forcing you to shop at Walmart?
Have any of you been to a prosperous city outside of Richmond? Clearly you have not if you don’t think “big brands” are all over those cities.
Be grateful you live in a country (and city) that allows you to make the FREEDOM OF CHOICE when it comes to your shopping needs.
I’ll take it. I remember, as a freshman at VCU, needing some Tupperware for my dorm room, a pair of jeans, and a CD. Kroger is overpriced on kitchen goods (and is also a national chain anyway), clothing shops in Carytown are more expensive than I spend on clothes, and at the time I wasn’t blessed with knowledge of Plan 9. So I rode the 6 bus to Willow Lawn and walked to the Target on Broad Street, where I knew I could get all those items. I patronized a business in Henrico County instead of the City. Had this store existed, I wouldn’t have done that.
The homogenization of retail is a national trend. Manhattan is full of Starbucks and Chipotle. Washington, DC has THREE URBAN WALMARTS. Fighting against this is short sighted; it would drive away a business that is interested in our City and reduce options for people who would like to spend their money locally. You can let Walmart customers continue to drive to Henrico, or you can keep them here.
Just curious what everyone thinks: in the end, will the City see greater property tax revenue on this building vs. the VCU office that was there? If so, that’s probably the biggest gain.
This is bad news for Pants Plus
How much are you all really spending on Tupperware? If you’re so pressed for cash that you go to the county to purchase trivial goods that are marginally cheaper, just check out Fantastic Thrift on Main. I bet it beats Walmart’s prices any day.
i guess no one took the classes about how big box retail kills everything else…
i for one will boycott the fuck out of this place. theres nothing i need there that i cant get from anyplace else. i havent been to a walmart since 2000. theres no need. i wonder how much VCU is gonna pockey from this?
Tupperware and things like that can all be found at the dollar stores which are all around campus. Wal mart is a deplorable company. It owns more of our economy than we do. They statistically erode jobs in local economies rather than create them. They exploit and underpay workers. Not to mention this will be the thing that completely erodes the last remaining block of a corridor that is nationally renowned for historic significance. VCU kids may want it but most will only be here for a few years. The citizens by and large do not want this in the city. We don’t even want a small one because it’s letting them in the door. They are one of the worst companies in the entire world. Some of y’all need to do a little more reading and research about company ethics.when these places erode roomies than freedom of consumer choice also erodes and consumer choice is not as important as ethical practices anyways. If you do not live in the city, vote in the city it plan to stay in the city after college perhaps you should step back a little and let the people of This community speak on what they want. Meanwhile, VCU does not own these streets. Citizens do but apparently that forgotten. They have a campus intertwined with a city which means they are supposed to work with the needs of citizens. Something they usually fail at but this is way over the top. Also, I think some of you may want to look into how cool the city was before VCU was given carte Blanche. Why are we but fighting harder to keep the last Temne at of what makes us richmond and unique. Wal mart doesn’t make a city. There are many cities that actively work to keep wal mart out for what it does to local economy. A city is made by unique culture and sub cultures and backgrounds and people working to make something special. Wal mart, Waffle House, chipotle Panera etc etc etc are not special. Maybe people done know that when they’ve only grown up on countries but the education is all there if you want it. These kings a te kit. Cool. They suck. It’s why the suburbs suck. And we are bringing it here. People are going to want to move over this.
Also VCU does not pay property tax and if this is a VCU owned building than it’s likely wal mart won’t have to and that’s just insane.
The reason their isn’t a wal mart smack in the middle of the fan like the suburbs is because WE ARE NOT THE SUBURBS. No one that wants to live in the fan is ever going to think that or ever has. That’s exactly why we live here. The suburbs are drab and flavorless and lack culture and beauty and uniqueness. You’re logic makes no sense.
Sorry I misunderstood comment I last responded to. I see we are saying the same thing.
I’m big on “buying local,” but I also see no problem with WalMart moving into an area full of students on tight budgets.
I do understand the opposition.
I have a close friend who owns a business in this area. He’s had his business operating for 22 years now. He’s fought (and won) lawsuits against VCU for trying to take over his property (on Harrison Street). He recently told me, though, that he is considering to sell his business to a national retail/restaurant. He stated that what has happened to the neighborhood is inevitable.
Makes me sad to see him throw up the white flag after such a diligent fight.
Tax revenue generator for Richmond City! Will allow us to compete for consumers who prefer large chains with neighboring counties. Plus more appealing for young 20s to graduate or move to live in downtown RVA. Families tend to avoid downtown of any city so this helps bring more ppl to the city
I’ve seen what happens when Walmart moves in, at first it’s great but once they’ve had enough with out notice empty buildings sit vacant due to a move out after many of the local small business owners are forced to close their doors for good. Small businesses will be greatly affected, let’s preserve RVA and keep Walmart out….
We all have become too complacent with convenience. Younger generations are already having everything handed or taken care of by their by parents and they have no urge to search because why search when it’s already there thus decreasing self sufficiency. It also doesn’t matter the size of the walmart for me it’s the company in general. Also if you want more rax revenue for this city put it on the other side of 95. It can be more greatly appreciated there and provide more revitalization to that area. I feel also if it were a Target or even Kmart it would not be such an issue. Also if having a Walmart conveniently located near makes people want to move to the city, I kind of don’t want that type of person there. Also it would be a great idea to put it somewhere that needs the traffic as sixth street market place or further down grace. I honestly hope this pilot program does not pan out favorably and I really think that my university I attend should start consulting its students more.
It is important to remember Richmond’s
long history of big retail when making proclamations like “Richmond is a small business town” and “this is the end”.
Only 2-3 blocks from this site sits the vacant Sears and Robuck (the Walmart of its time). 3/4 of a mile east of this site is where Woolworth and Murphy’s where located. Back in the heyday of Grace Street awesomeness, Safeway sat in the middle of it (so did Burger King and Lums and Hardee’s).
Unless petitions are also circulated to stop Whole Foids (union busting crap employer too) , what we have here is classcisum thinly veiled as a protest about current labor law.
As for property taxes , Walmart (and other national retailers) lease their building ins. They are not paying property tax . The owners of the shopping centers are.
Dear Hipsters,
This is good news. I dont care for Wal Mart so I dont shop there. I read these comments for entertainment purposes because I knew all the hipster whackos would be crying foul! Viola I was right!
You hipsters are such hypocrites..I know its “cool” to preach “local” and all and hopefully we all do our part but this Wal Mart is no different than all the other non-local companies you support. Hey, unlike 7-11 (yes hipster I know you shop there on occasion) at least Wal Mart is an American Company!
Glad there are plenty of level headed comments from folks that have basic understanding of economics(the real kind, not the kind you read about in biased activist hipster land)….
Wal Mart sucks imo, so i dont shop there. Im not stupid enough to say it shouldnt be allowed and we should only support small or local business.
Hey hipster…look at every thing you are wearing and using today….from you shoes, socks, bike, car, ipad, sunglasses….guess what? Probably none of them were made in Richmond by a Richmond local but somehow you give all that a pass….but the middleman that bought that stuff and then resold it gets your undivided activist support….whats the difference? Why only the retail part of the chain and not the wholesale or manufacturing? Hypocrite hipsters….
Hipster backlash is the most entertaining backlash! Walmart defense is the most entertaining defense! And when I say “entertaining,” I mean, “I can’t deal with any of this.” The world is upside-down. Everyone retreat to Church Hill.
When I lived in the dorms (GRC) back in 1996, Grace street would have been to far to walk.
Mike, I feel the same way. I almost never go to Walmart. I don’t like it and don’t need to, but I’m glad to have one more (small) shopping option in the city. Plus, my preferences shouldn’t trump the choices of thousands of other Richmonders who have roll out to Henrico daily to do their shopping. Neither should yours. I’d like to see a much larger store somewhere on the Northside where Richmonders without transportation can have another place to shop besides their local lottery shop, beer and cigarette shop. It would do a lot to relieve the current food desert so many people live in.
And Ryan, who are you to decide what the right type of person is to live here?
Give the people what they deserve: a K-Mart
“No! Not a Walmart!! People should be able to get whatever they need from local shops like Dollar Tree and 7-Eleven!”
I guess I had heard about a Walmart Express going up in Henrico County. So now we have the worst of all possible worlds. We get the Walmart you hate, but the jobs (not all minimum wage and dear to the people holding them), money and taxes fleeing Richmond for Henrico. At least you can maintain your moral superiority to the suburbs (not that this really qualifies as a suburb). That’s something anyway.
WalMart has been missing their projections quarter after quarter, hasn’t it? I think they are trying all these new concepts – “on campus” and “neighborhood market” stores because they see the inevitable: Most of the crap you can buy at WalMart is cheaper pr comparable online, and people with any disposable income (as opposes to people with ebt/food stamps) would rather just wait for stuff to be delivered.
“jack on August 06, 2014 2:36 PM said:
This is fantastic news. It is great for the silent majority of consumers who don’t want to pay inflated prices to local store owners just to be hip. They need to get one of these in Carytown.”
I hope your not being serious. The reason Wal-Mart’s stuff is so cheap is because they pay their employees the lowest possible pay they can and have such a strong buying power they can keep stuff at low prices.
Things from smaller stores are more expensive but not inflated, because they do not get the same deals that Wal-Mart does from bulk purchasing.
Wal-Mart is a company that indirectly is getting subsidized by the Government and your tax dollars. Most of their employees qualify for Earned Income Credit because they get paid so little, so you can have things so cheap. If a chain wants to move in that is fine, but get one that pays it’s employees a living wage.
So if it is hip to not support poor labor conditions by shopping at mom and pop shops, then call me hipster.
Great. That’s just what I need, another Walmart. Because the 6 or so Walmarts we already have in Richmond aren’t enough. And Kroger or Lowe’s and the many other stores around won’t give me what I really need. Maybe they should put a Target and a Martin’s next to the Walmart….but I don’t know if that will be enough either.
lmao – I like how if you oppose the Wal-Mart decision, you are a ‘hipster’ … that word does not mean what you think it means ^_^
7-11 does not = Walmart. CVS does not = Walmart. In the scope of ‘big business’, Wal-Mart is in a league of their own. Doesn’t take much googling to find out what a deplorable company they are.
And whoever thinks that a Wal-Mart downtown will attract families to live here…are you kidding me? What people do you know that would base their decision to move on a gross big-box store? Many people who live downtown enjoy doing so because of the LACK of stores like that… Go to any suburban area in the USA and you’ll find the same ole… “Chilis” “WalMart” “Best Buy” “Applebees” … who wants to live amongst that??
You guys are a bunch of cry babies. VIVA LA WAL MART!!!
The consolidation of everything made by and for we humans has become a warped and wrong effect of Consumerism. It shrinks the art of creating useful and beautiful things into a source of wealth for fewer and fewer people and a source of poverty for more and more people. We are more and more removed from one another and live in such an acquisitive age. We do not need huge houses and ginormous walk-in closets for stuff ground out of the souls of slaves. We need to relax and enjoy living. Poverty(The cause of upheaval around the World ) could be eliminated today and should be if we are to become something noble and admirable….otherwise, what edge of Disaster do we inexorably slip toward? Constant War? A Police force Armed and Dangerous? A degrading Environment? Famine and Disease? The Water heats…How many notice?
The implicit racism and classicism in many of these comments, on both sides of the debate, is wigging me out.