Is Wal-Mart coming and why should we care?

OK, I'll share what I know: Wal-Mart is always interested in building new stores in favorable sites and there are usually people who want to sell their land to Wal-Mart.

The last news I got from Wal-Mart representative Karianne Fallow on Oct. 20 was, "Wal-Mart is obviously always looking for growing markets but we still don't have any plans in Gardnerville."

But Wal-Mart opened 21 new stores in the month of November so it's just a matter of time before another comes to a pasture near you.

This is what people like to think they know about a Wal-Mart coming to Gardnerville: what their manicurist told them or what the neighbor said they saw on a desk at the title company which, by the way, is privileged information.

Another Wal-Mart opening is inevitable - why should we care and could we change it if we did care? If you don't approve of Wal-Mart's business practices, use your spending dollars as a social statement and shop elsewhere.

But there are those people who have a Wal-Mart habit - there was an article in The R-C recently about a woman who couldn't obey a judge's order to stay away from the place. If you're one of those impatient people who just can't wait until a Wal-Mart is in Gardnerville, you'll have to drive all the way to north Douglas County to get your fix.

Here are some suggestions on what to do during the wait for the grand opening of another Douglas County Wal-Mart: Sign up for a yoga class (it does wonders for increasing the powers of patience), do some volunteer work (I hear they need people at the museum) or start making some room in your garage for all those treasures (made in China) you'll be buying soon at your neighborhood Wal-Mart.

In the meantime, resist the urge to leave me anonymous messages on my phone like, "This is what I know and you don't, but I'm not letting you know where I got my information." I have to let you know this is not very useful in the newspaper business. If what I relate in the paper doesn't have to do with who, what, when, where, why or how, it's called "rumor" and not "news."

I'll continue to get information from Wal-Mart, the Washoe Tribe and title companies. It's up to these parties and any others actually involved in the sales process to let the cat out of the bag when they choose.

n Sharlene Irete is business reporter at The Record-Courier. Reach her at sirete@recordcourier.com or 782-5121, ext. 217, if you're ready to go on the record, that is.