February 23, 2003

Wal-Mart around the world

By Thomas Wilson
STAR STAFF
twilson@starhq.com

   Sam Walton opened his first store in Rogers, Ark., 43 years ago. The rest is history.
   In two generations, Wal-Mart has grown from a discount retail store to the largest private employer on the planet. And they show no signs of slowing down.

Wal-Mart serves as one-stop shopping for millions around the world. Photo by Dave Boyd

West Elk Avenue: An accident waiting to happen

By Kathy Helms-Hughes
STAR Staff
khelms@starhq.com

   West Elk Avenue is a favorite thoroughfare for motorists entering and leaving Elizabethton. Any given day of the week 34,000 vehicles travel its well-worn asphalt. And about once a week at least, some of those vehicles come to a screeching halt, waiting for police and emergency workers to clear an accident scene -- usually at one of the many intersections which front the highway.

Rush hour traffic on West Elk Avenue is a study in white-knuckle driving. Photo by Rick Harris

Wal-Mart: The newest titan in the history of Big Retail

By Thomas Wilson
STAR STAFF
twilson@starhq.com

   The fear of a retailing behemoth sending the mom-and-pops businesses to the business graveyard did not begin with Wal-Mart.
   "This is a process that is not new," said economist Dr. Steb Hipple at the East Tennessee State University's College of Business. "There is a cost when Wal-Mart comes in or Wal-Mart expands, and that is you are going to lose locally owned business."

Discount gasoline stations are one of many new vetures undertaken by Wal-Mart. Photo by Rick Harris

Local grocers bank on neighborly service

By Kathy Helms-Hughes
STAR Staff
khelms@starhq.com

   Is it possible that the site of a former rayon plant which help build the city of Elizabethton could also be the site of a facility which could lead to this small town's demise?

Local Rxs say they've already fought Wal-Mart battle

By Thomas Wilson
STAR Staff
twilson@starhq.com

   When Wal-Mart moved into Trinidad, Colo., five independent pharmacists closed their shops because they could not compete with the retail giant.

Dividing the dollars

By Kathy Helms-Hughes
STAR Staff
khelms@starhq.com

   Antitrust attorney Carl E. Pierson has created a "Wal-Mart and Globalization Website" which attempts to pull together the various arguments made in support of and in opposition to Wal-Mart expanding into a community.