Walmart is proposing a 160,000-square-foot supercenter for Whiting Farms Road.
HOLYOKE -- Walmart officials will be available to the public to discuss the retailer's proposal to open a "supercenter" here Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Log Cabin Banquet and Meeting House, 500 Easthampton Road.
"We will be showing architectural plans and drawings for the store for the first time. We encourage all who have an interest in the new store to stop by and talk to our team," Walmart spokesman William Wertz said in a press release Friday.
The store proposed for 222 Whiting Farms Road would be 160,000 square feet and employ more than 300 people, company officials have said.
A Walmart supercenter is designed to give customers everything from electronics, clothing, toys and home furnishings to groceries with fresh produce and meat, along with specialty shops such like pharmacies, banks and health clinics, according to Walmart.
As with Walmart proposals in other communities, the one here is controversial. "Walmart Yes" signs are posted on some lawns and supporters said this poor city should welcome the store's jobs and tax revenue.
In Holyoke, the incomes of more than 28 percent of the population of 40,000 people put them below the federal poverty line. The nationwide poverty average is 15 percent.
Holyoke's unemployment rate is 11.7 percent, exceeding the state's 7.4 percent and the national average of 7.6 percent.
But others argue Walmart is proposing too large a store too close to many homes. The already congested roadways would get worse with Walmart traffic and with the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside nearby, they said.
Members of the anti-Walmart groups Holyoke First and Stop Walmart in Holyoke also said that the retail giant's low prices would doom existing businesses unable to compete and that too-low Walmart wages force many employees onto food stamps and other subsidies. Walmart officials said those points are false.
Wertz said company sales records for 2012 show Holyokers spent more than $11 million at Walmart stores in surrounding communities: more than $7 million at the Walmart in Chicopee, $1.5 million in Northampton, $1.2 million in Westfield, $842,000 in Hadley and $493,000 in Springfield.
"That's tax revenue Holyoke is losing and customer traffic that could benefit other businesses in the community. Customers often stop at nearby stores, gas stations and restaurants when they shop at Walmart," Wertz said.
