baimun
Funkasaurus Rex
Actually it's a "This is how fucked up large corporate America can get" kind of story.
One of the very few reasons I ever have to go to Walmart is for an oil change. We don't have many of the quick service places near me and I didn't feel like driving over to South Bend.
When I pulled in the Plaza, the building is WAAAAAAAAAY further back than I remember. Then I realize that the Auto center is on the east instead of west side of the building. When I get in the building and talk to the Auto tech, I confirmed that they bought the land BEHIND the old store, built an entirely new store, and then leveled the old building and turned it into new parking.
They now own the new building but have to pay rent on the parking lot.
I tell you this story to tell you the older story about how that Walmart was never supposed to be built there in the first place!
I know this because I was there working when they built this huge pair of metal buildings out in the middle of nowhere (at that time).
There was a guy in a business suit who was having a heated phone conversation with someone from corporate....
"Yeah... Onsite. What do you mean there's no building? I'm STANDING in the new building."
Turns out they built on a piece of land on the east side of town where an old Drive In movie theatre used to be... the Midway Drive In. The problem is.... they were supposed to build on the WEST side of town where the old Starlight Drive In once stood.
At the time everyone wondered why they built two Walmarts close together while there were none over closer to South Bend. The Starlight location would have sat right between the two cities. Oops.
Years later they actually built on the originally proposed site, but not before TWO OTHER locations were built a few miles east and west of that location. So now there are THREE locations within 10 miles of each other.... not including the one on the other side of town that sits on purchased land with a parking lot they have to pay rent on.
Why an area with less than a half million people needs 10 fucking Walmarts I'll never understand.
One of the very few reasons I ever have to go to Walmart is for an oil change. We don't have many of the quick service places near me and I didn't feel like driving over to South Bend.
When I pulled in the Plaza, the building is WAAAAAAAAAY further back than I remember. Then I realize that the Auto center is on the east instead of west side of the building. When I get in the building and talk to the Auto tech, I confirmed that they bought the land BEHIND the old store, built an entirely new store, and then leveled the old building and turned it into new parking.
They now own the new building but have to pay rent on the parking lot.
I tell you this story to tell you the older story about how that Walmart was never supposed to be built there in the first place!
I know this because I was there working when they built this huge pair of metal buildings out in the middle of nowhere (at that time).
There was a guy in a business suit who was having a heated phone conversation with someone from corporate....
"Yeah... Onsite. What do you mean there's no building? I'm STANDING in the new building."
Turns out they built on a piece of land on the east side of town where an old Drive In movie theatre used to be... the Midway Drive In. The problem is.... they were supposed to build on the WEST side of town where the old Starlight Drive In once stood.
At the time everyone wondered why they built two Walmarts close together while there were none over closer to South Bend. The Starlight location would have sat right between the two cities. Oops.
Years later they actually built on the originally proposed site, but not before TWO OTHER locations were built a few miles east and west of that location. So now there are THREE locations within 10 miles of each other.... not including the one on the other side of town that sits on purchased land with a parking lot they have to pay rent on.
Why an area with less than a half million people needs 10 fucking Walmarts I'll never understand.
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