Surprise: Small Businesses Surviving Walmart

When I last posted here, a Walmart Supermercado just had opened in our neighborhood of San Jose del Cabo. I fretted about the impact that the massive emporium would have on the small grocery stores, panaderias, tortillerias, viveros and other independently owned businesses in the vicinity. That was in April. Then we returned to California and pretty much forgot about San Jose del Cabo.

Now we're back in Los Cabos. I haven't yet strolled about our entire neighborhood in San Jose del Cabo, but I have walked down and about Calle Valerio Gonzalez Canseco, the long street topped by the new Walmart. This much seems clear: Walmart has had little negative impact on businesses along the strip. Quite the contrary. I can't recall ever seeing so much industry along the street. Sure, much of it is traffic drawn by Walmart. And granted, at least one small grocery store is gone, and one cafe looks like it just closed for good. On the other hand, one grocery store is new. A couple of cafes have been added to the street. I saw three boutiques I don't recall from before, two dealing in fashions, one in furniture. A new nursery has opened just off the street. A small panaderia looks to still be flourishing, despite Walmart's close and expansive in-house bakery.

And Papeleria Maya still is open. This long has been our favored outlet for basic office supplies. I suspected it might be one of the early businesses to fold once Walmart unveiled its sprawling departments catering to school and office needs. Why is Papeleria Maya still around? Its proximity to three schools helps, but, again, Walmart isn't far removed from those schools, either. Here could be another reason: When we arrived back in San Jose del Cabo, one of our first needs was for an ink cartridge for the printer. Ordinarily, that would have meant a trip to Papeleria Maya. I had to go to the south edge of town on another matter, however, so I stopped in at OfficeMax to pick up a cartridge. It cost me 269 pesos, about $21 at the current exchange rate. Later, I discovered that Walmart charges the same price. Earlier today, I stopped in at Papeleria Maya to find out about the price of the cartridge; it's 196 pesos, or around $15. I should have stocked up; given the buying and marketing power of Walmart and OfficeMax, who knows how long Papereria Maya can hang in there.

Walmart: Fine Wine, If You Can Get To It

Road-building crews are laboring day and night at the intersection of Calle Valerio Gonzalez Canseco and Boulevard Mauricio Castro, also known as the Transpeninsular Highway, in the heart of San Jose del Cabo. Not sure what they are up to, but the project looks to be an afterthought prompted by the opening this past week of a sprawling Walmart Supermercardo at the intersection. At this late hour, crews won't be able to do much to relieve a bottleneck that any urban planner should have seen coming by just looking at the paperwork and taken a drive.

In a way, it's gratifying to see a corporation like Walmart tackle this sort of in-fill project right in the middle of town rather than building on the outskirts, thereby again contributing to urban sprawl. The lot that the massive structure now occupies previously was an eyesore, which to judge by the stentch that arose from it had been used in large part as a dump for abandoned pets. Any business on the site would have been an improvement, but the scale of the Walmart is laughable, which it is as long as you don't have to put up with the congestion, either as motorist or pedestrian.

Given the size and popularity of Walmart, why couldn't city authorities see this coming, or did they and just not care? Even without Walmart on that corner, traffic congestion had been intensifying. Calle Valerio Gonzalez Canseco long has been one busy street, thus the six topes that try to slow drivers heading up or down the slope. As construction of the Walmart progressed several new businesses joined the numerous schools, restaurants and cafes already lining the street, providing a glimpse of what was coming. San Jose del Cabo residents are grumbling about the placement of the Walmart and the additional traffic it is drawing, but it's pretty late in the game for any kind of effective opposition to develop.

By the time we return to San Jose del Cabo next fall or winter I suspect that Walmart will have wiped out several of the grocery stores, tortillerias, panaderias, viveros and other small businesses that exist in virtually every neighborhood of the town. On the other hand, a large Office Max on the south edge of town so far hasn't seemed to put out of business any of the papelerias alongside virtually every school in the community, so Walmart's impact might not be as severe as anticipated.

As I strolled about the new Walmart I was struck by the caliber and depth of its wine department. I can't recall a Walmart in the United States stocked so extensively, especially with such prized and pricey releases as the House of Morande 2004 Maipo Valley Bordeaux Blend (about $65 in U.S. currency), the De Martino 2004 Maipo Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($43), the Adobe Guadalupe 2006 Miguel ($33) and the Baron de Chivel 2001 Reserva Rioja ($137). Clearly, Walmart is taking on the town's few fine-wine shops, which will be another endangered species in the area. Good luck; we'll be hoping they all are surviving when we return to San Jose del Cabo.