CHATHAM - Wal-Mart has nixed its plans to build a Supercenter in Blairs.
Coy Harville, chairman of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors, announced the move at the start of the board’s Finance Committee meeting Monday afternoon, reading from a prepared statement from the retailer. County officials expressed shock and disappointment.
“This is really bad news,” Tunstall Supervisor Tim Barber said.
The Bentonville, Ark.,-based retail giant made the announcement Monday, about a year after it announced plans to open a big-box store in Blairs.
“Wal-Mart is re-evaluating its growth strategy,” Kelly Hobbs, Wal-Mart spokeswoman, said Monday.
Hobbs said the corporation re-examined its budget for the project in the area and decided its costs were excessive.
Wal-Mart is reining in its growth in Supercenters across the nation, she said. Hobbs said she wasn’t sure how many projects Wal-Mart is withdrawing and she would not elaborate further on why it pulled its plans in the county.
The Supercenter would have provided about 300 jobs in the area, Hobbs said.
She cited rising prices for fuel and other products as a factor in the decision. Those conditions are especially impacting low-income families - Wal-Mart’s main customer base, Hobbs said.
“We hope to leave the door open to better serve the Pittsylvania County community in the future,” Hobbs said in the statement.
County Administrator Dan Sleeper said he was surprised by the announcement.
“It’s shocking,” Sleeper said. “We were hoping for some economic development for the Blairs area.”
Wal-Mart’s location on U.S. 29 across from the Hatcher Center and Blairs Fire and Rescue was a factor in the access-management study being conducted along the highway in the Blairs area to the Dry Fork Road intersection. County Planner Greg Sides said the study will take place as scheduled.
“We hope that since it was a good site for Wal-Mart at one point, we hope it will be good for (them) in the future or someone else,” he said.
Contact John R. Crane at jcrane@registerbee.com or (434) 791-7987.
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