Where's the Starbucks in Safford, AZ? (Mesa: pollution, smog, best)

[kdog]

I'm not convinced you'd still want to live in a small town like that. Remember, the quaint old cars had tube AM tube radios and no air conditioning.

Actually, Kingman still has a bit of that old home feel. Both the Ace and True Value Hardware stores are family run, and have people who actually know what they're doing help you. And they also have people working there long enough who will get to know you if you go there often enough. The Home Depot, not so much though.

[ZonyPony]

I'm not convinced you'd still want to live in a small town like that. Remember, the quaint old cars had tube AM tube radios and no air conditioning.

Plus, I don't look all that good in knickerbockers or high-button shoes.

[Route_66_traveler]

Originally Posted by kdog

You guys are joking, right? Them wally worlds and starbucks have product miles above what mom & pop ever had. That's why they're successful. They employ far more people in town, at better wages and with far better benefits than mom & pop ever could afford. Sure, the old "native" stores were quaint, just like the old Model T and Stanley Steamers. Quaint, but replaced by far more efficient and practical solutions.

You forget also cheaper, I have shirt from a "Mom & Pop" shop I bought long before wally-world came in. Those shirts and pants I ended buying from wally world died, long before the "Mom & Pop" shop died.

The "Mom & Pop" shop sold better material, then wally-world. Yup they employ more people cause they have put people out of work. There are many towns that main street has died because of wally-world. By the way, only 5% of the profits remain in those small towns. The other 95% goes to corporate headquarters.

A study of small towns in Iowa revealed a loss of over 7,300 businesses from 1983 to 1993 due to a radical shift in consumer spending to chain stores like Wal-Mart. Five years after a superstore opens, small towns within twenty miles experience a 19% decline in business. For every 100 Wal-Mart jobs created, it is estimated another 150 jobs are lost. Is low-cost competitive pricing destroying the very entrepreneurial spirit that built this great country?

For every action there is a reaction. When Wal-Mart is offering 4 dollar prescriptions as an action, I think the law of physics is pretty clear that “Joe’s Soda Jerk Shop and Pharmacy” that has been there since 1932 is going to suffer. They will hang a sign on the door stating they they lost their home so others could have the cheaper prescriptions they no longer afford.

Now are the kin of Sam Walton, kin the Darth Vader's of the one-stop shop? I wouldn’t go that far but I did start thinking of the moms and pops who put their blood, sweat and tears into those shops dating back to the Great Depression. They’re now bankrupt, can’t even afford the new $4 prescriptions, and are too proud to enter the Wal-Mart Death Star. People who at one time had a dream are becoming so desperate that meth labs are now outnumbering local retail shops in some of these small towns. There is always welfare. I have yet to see Wal-Mart advertise that they are handing out any discount welfare checks.

[kdog]

Originally Posted by Route_66_traveler

You forget also cheaper, I have shirt from a "Mom & Pop" shop I bought long before wally-world came in. Those shirts and pants I ended buying from wally world died, long before the "Mom & Pop" shop died. The "Mom & Pop" shop sold better material, then wally-world.

I disagree. Wally world carries the same brands I've been buying my whole life. GE, Sony, Levis, Haynes, Castrol, Coleman, it's all there and in stock. And they carry all their competitors too. So it's still a free market. Walmart does sometimes impact their suppliers marketing plans. So what. Prove to me with factual data that this is bad for consumers, and I will listen. Until then, I like what I'm seeing, thank you very much.

Yup they employ more people cause they have put people out of work. There are many towns that main street has died because of wally-world. By the way, only 5% of the profits remain in those small towns. The other 95% goes to corporate headquarters.

Times change. You either adapt, or die.

And sure. You think that if the proprietor of a local business made a fortune, they'd spend it in their town? On what? Besides, profits are small. Want to know the largest operating expense of a big box store? People. Local people.

Walmart buys land, they pay localities building and impact fees, often beef up traffic ways, and employ lots of local people. Big box stores make towns better places to live. You'll see tons of people in this forum who live in small towns get excited when a big box comes to town. But you'll never hear anybody say, "gee, I wish all those big box stores would leave town". Doesn't happen.

A study of small towns in Iowa revealed a loss of over 7,300 businesses from 1983 to 1993 due to a radical shift in consumer spending to chain stores like Wal-Mart. Five years after a superstore opens, small towns within twenty miles experience a 19% decline in business. For every 100 Wal-Mart jobs created, it is estimated another 150 jobs are lost. Is low-cost competitive pricing destroying the very entrepreneurial spirit that built this great country?

Oh, this is priceless. In order for a Walmart to affect the economy of a town 20 miles away means that the residents in town were driving 20 miles for the same goods they're now able to by locally! Think of the time being saved by every single resident in a town who doesn't have to drive 20 miles for things! Think of the gas savings! Time and money -- those are pretty important things to most of us. So there you go. All you've proven is that big box stores like Walmart actually improve your quality of life.

[karenay]

We do have a Safeway with a Starbucks. I think it's actually in Thatcher. But, there is also a Starbucks out on the east side of Safford in the Victory Discount Theater.

[saffordpastor]

Originally Posted by karenay

We do have a Safeway with a Starbucks. I think it's actually in Thatcher. But, there is also a Starbucks out on the east side of Safford in the Victory Discount Theater.

The Starbucks in the theater serves the brand but is not a official Starbucks....but as you say Safeway does have a Starbucks now.

[Old-Larry]

I know this is an old post but dang...kdog I have read a lot of your posts but never thought you would have such a sheltered view on big box retailers. Your tax dollars go to help pay for those stores because city and county officials are too dumb to figure out that those stores are like a giant vacuum cleaner sucking money out. In any given area there is only so much money sent on goods. The amount depends on the population. For starters
City Bullhead City State AZ Address 2840 Hwy 95 S ZIP code 86442 County Mohave Type of Facility Supercenter Year Opened 2000 Value of Subsidies $1.2 million The city provided sales tax rebates (meaning walmart keeps part of the sales tax) in exchange for putting in sidewalks, a turning lane and gutters in front of their store.
Here's another example. In Porterville CA walmart built a distribution center in an enterprise zone. This means they got $31,500 for every person they hired. Of course they hired tons of people. After they got all the cash they let a lot of them go. They got 14 million of our tax dollars for that one maneuver.
After our tax dollars go to help build these stores Walmart has an army of attorneys that challenge their property tax bill. Cities don't have the resources to fight them year after year. Examples:In 2004 Wal-Mart proposed that the assessment of its distribution center in Tomah, Wisconsin be lowered from $43.6 million to $23 million. The city resisted, but Wal-Mart persisted. This year the matter was finally settled, with the city agreeing to drop the assessment to $31.4 million and refund the company more than $300,000 for each of three years--a total of $949,000.
Example 2: In 2003 Wal-Mart succeeded in getting the real property assessment of its Supercenter on East Hampden Avenue in the Denver suburb of Aurora reduced from about $22 million to $9.6 million. This brought the company tax savings of $456,000. I have hundreds of these with the addresses of the stores. The tax dollars that they say they pay to support schools and local governments can hardly be pryed from their greedy hands.

Sure walmart hires people and 96% of them buy most of their goods at walmart so walmart gets their own money back. If you know anything about retailing a store can't be judged in isle end specials. My point is that walmart has no lower prices and in most cases higher prices. There is an old saying that if you tell a lie enough times it becomes the truth. That's the way it is on walmart and their lower prices. I am part of a group that has been watching walmart for years. The reason we started watching them was that nobody can expand as fast and build stores the way they do and be 100% above board as far as taxes, wages etc. I can't be done.

[kdog]

Old-Larry, what you say may well be true. Maybe cities subsidize Walmart locations to some degree. I honestly don't know. What I do know is that I'd have a hard time living in a small desert town like this without one. And I know I'm not alone. One of the first questions people want to know when they move somewhere is "where are the big-box stores?" We'd be crippled here in Kingman without Walmart and Home Depot. People wouldn't move here, and I'm not sure we would have either. The town would lose population and money. I don't believe your equations are as simple as you make them out to be. I'd much rather have my town give incentives to new stores than to new sports arenas, which happens in other places.

[thershegoesagn]

Is there work for a heavy equipment technician in Safford? Hubby used to work for Empire CAT out of Mesa but we are on east coast now. We miss the weather in AZ but did not care for the pollution/smog/brown cloud in the valley. Also, are there any major hospitals in the area?

[mosesmoses]

[quote=vinsmommy1026;4557624][quote=saffordpastor;2617536]One on main street, and another by the Minute Mkt on 191 and 70. Papa D's I think it is called.

First of all i need to make this very clear...if someone SERVES Starbucks coffee that doesnt make them a Starbucks. the only reason why i am searching so desperately to find one is because i worked at a Starbucks in tucson. It was the best experience i have ever had. Believe me, i have worked at all sorts of government jobs (growing up in Northern Virginia) and high income possitions. I would give up everything to be able to work there again. PLUS: The atcual Starbucks store makes there coffee so much different than any other place (even those starbucks found in Safeways).

I have been writing in the Starbucks forums over and over trying to get a REAL Starbucks out here in Safford.

Unfortunetly it seems to be bad timing, since now i am reading that they are downsizing...which really makes my heart hurt.

You see, it may just be "over-priced, too-strong" coffee to you, but to me it was a place i loved and a place i belonged. I took pride in serving that coffee and making sure everyone's day was a little brighter because of it. I had friends there and knowledge that people sought out...i miss that everyday.

I am about 2 bad job experiences away from just patitioning my butt off to get one here. I would gladly manage it with all my heart, be there late everyday, early everyday, if needed...just remember before you go talking badly about it, that its a meeting place. A place that people can hangout in, thats clean and the people are genuinly nice. The service is awesome (we are taught that way) and if anything is EVER made wronge or doesnt taste right...we will re-make it until it does taste right.

Its a great company and i was proud to be a part of it. I would give my first born son to be a part of it again. (just kidding)

I think , I like McDonald 's coffee better than Starbucks,