MENOMONEE FALLS, WI
Will Wal-Mart fight for Menomonee Falls store?
By Stacy Vogel Davis of The Business Journal
January 21, 2011
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is no stranger to controversy and it has shown it is willing to fight for years for sites it wants.
So how badly does it want the site at West Lisbon and Pilgrim roads in Menomonee Falls?
David Livingston, a Waukesha grocery market analyst, won't be surprised if the retailing giant walks away after the Menomonee Falls Plan Commission rejected a rezoning request this month.
"Of all the locations Wal-Mart's proposed (in southeast Wisconsin), I would rank this the weakest," he said.
Gatlin Development Co. Inc., Dickson, Tenn., is looking to build up to 18 Wal-Marts in southeast Wisconsin in 2012. Of the handful of sites that have been announced, Menomonee Falls seems to be the only one that has received a strongly negative reaction.
The Menomonee Falls Plan Commission voted unanimously Jan. 4 to deny a rezoning request from Gatlin after neighbors voiced concerns over traffic and the impact on nearby homes. The proposal will come to a public hearing before the village board Feb. 21.
Menomonee Falls village manager Mark Fitzgerald said Gatlin and Wal-Mart are reassessing their options and he expects to hear in the next week if they want to move forward with the proposal.
Representatives at Gatlin and Wal-Mart could not be reached for comment.
Livingston believes Wal-Mart has better options than the Menomonee Falls site. He's done market studies of the area before and come up with mixed sales projections.
"I don't think Wal-Mart would've done that well at that location anyway, so perhaps this is for the best for them," he said.
But Ross Koepsel, a retail broker with Milwaukee-based Commercial Property Associates Inc., said Wal-Mart doesn't propose locations where it doesn't plan to build and has a history of fighting back against rejection. Koepsel represents several parties involved in pending Wal-Mart property negotiations, he said.
"It could be five years from now that they get their store, but I think typically when they get their sights set on a municipality or a certain site, they've got the size and the wherewithal to win the battle," he said.
One battle Wal-Mart did not win was in Cudahy, where the city council rejected a supercenter proposal in late 2008 after months of debate. But the retailer has found success in other battles, Koepsel said.
For example, the chain has been trying for years to get into the Chicago market, but hadn't been able to because of political and union interests. However, Wal-Mart has penetrated the Chicago area in the last year with its neighborhood market model and is looking at New York City next, said Peter Benedict, a managing director covering Wal-Mart for Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc.
Gatlin Development Co., Inc. is a Tennessee-based real estate investment corporation specializing in retail shopping center development, management and renovation. The ever-expanding vision of entrepreneurial CEO Frank Gatlin continues to widen the Company's investment focus while consistently providing maximized returns to investors, financial opportunities to retailers both large and small, and growth and revitalization to communities and local businesses facing challenging economic times. With branch offices in San Diego, California and Dickson, Tennessee, Gatlin is well positioned and eager to pursue investment opportunities nationwide. For more information, please visit www.gatlindc.com or call (615) 446-7104.