The announcement has been made. The city of Sioux Falls has plans to build two new Walmart stores by the end of 2014.
One will be built on the south side near 85th Street and Minnesota Avenue. The other, on the Sioux Falls northwest side near 60th Street North and Marion Road.
If all goes according to plan, it would be a first for two super centers to be under construction in one city at the same time.
This, of course, follows the city's existing Walmart stores on the west and east side of the city.
It didn't take long for Tim Garry to realize a Walmart in his neighborhood is a store he doesn't want.
"Not real happy. We're not set up out here for that kind of business. All you have to do is go up and down Marion, it's in rough shape an would only get worse," NW Sioux Falls neighbor Tim Garry said.
On the flip side, NW Sioux Falls City Council member Dean Karsky says this is exactly what the NW side needs.
"A nice anchor like Walmart is going to increase traffic, bring in business because they look at traffic and we'll see continued development from this announcement," NW District Councilor Dean Karsky said.
Karsky understands there's a mix of opinions with this news, but, the entire city is growing and, he says, if there's one thing this development means, it's this:
"Confidence. On a national level, when you have a corporation like Walmart coming to town. They'll be spending tens of millions of dollars to put up these stores. They're confident in our local economy, the direction we're going, it's exciting," Karsky said.
For someone like Garry, peace, quiet and safety are some of the natural amenities he never wants to see change.
"We could use some convenience but it's like living in the country here. With the border regions owning the land south of the proposed Walmart, it's going to be wide open and I'd like to keep it that way."
