Wal-Marts Opened with Good Timing , Did You Go on Opening Day?

The new Walmart on 157, Cullman, opened this past Wednesday, did you go or have you checked it out since then? The time of the year to open a new Walmart is perfect. The marketing department had to be working overtime to have that happen. They opened in November with two of the biggest Holidays, better know as cash cow events, in a calendar year.

One of the largest attraction, to me, is the fact that they are a 24 hour store. I feel sure the area "competition" will suffer. The small town atmosphere has changed forever. No longer do you have to wait for the store to open at 8 or 9 in the morning. You can get your shopping done and be back home before anyone knows you were out. The hotels and local restaurants will be able to take advantage of getting what they have ran short of from there deliveries, serving there customers better. I now this from working at a mom and pop place who would pay what ever the price they had to, because the grocery store was next door, convenience verses common since or bottom line. 

I did visit the new store but only a few days after they opened, curiosity as well as planning, they handed out maps of the lay-out. Knowing the Grand Opening would be a bunch of looky-lous, and the probability of a handy-cap cart being available, for my 74 year old father who lives with me, would be low. We went early on Friday morning, two days later. Parking was still a issue, guess they are working on the flow. Dad got a cart, we got the one thing he was looking for, I picked up stuff I could have waited on, they count on that kind of shopping. Everyone I saw had at least one bag in there hands after checking out. Again, this goes back to the marketing department for the developer, Walmart, the Cullman Chamber of congress. Yes location, location, location is the rules of real estate, but timing is the key in a good marketing plan.

Over all, in my opinion,  a good plan for the owners/investors, marketing department, city planners on opening this type of business where they did. We can already see the results of the expansion of the other business taking advantage of the development. Time will only tell if this was a positive effect for most.