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I’m sad to report that the Walmart Supercenter in Hartland, Michigan closed permanently at 7pm on January 28, 2016. I know what you’re thinking: he’s being a smart-ass…he’s actually thrilled to see a big-box store close. Well, typically you’d be right. In this case, though, I’m sad about a whole list of things, including:
There will now be a large, abandoned, rotting 176,311 square foot building sitting on nearly 27 acres of soon-to-be-crumbling asphalt. The likelihood that the space will be occupied in the next decade are minimal. I mean, how many retailers need to fill that many square feet? Not to mention the deed restrictions Walmart has likely placed on the future use of the space.
Some things are just plain wrong. Some things just show a complete disregard for your community and its residents. Some things indicate that you truly do have way more money than you know what to do with.
The map below shows a mile or so of Hartland Township, Michigan, where US23 and M59 intersect. This rural area is fairly remote. Many people I talk with who live only 45 minutes away are unaware of its existence, yet the area boasts a mecca of discount shopping convenience.
To help illustrate just how rural Hartland is, let’s zoom out a bit to see the broader area. Here you can see a comparable-elevation map of the Hartland area (top) and one of Detroit’s East Side (bottom): 
It’s obvious they look different, but what gives the east side that grayish cast? The answer is: density. In the ‘east side’ view you’re looking at homes and such, while in the ‘Hartland’ view you’re looking at the absence of the aforementioned homes and such. For the record, the Hartland shopping mecca is located pretty much dead center of the image on the left, around the + formed by M-59 (east/west) and US23 (north/south).
To get a better idea, let’s zoom in to a fairly random similar-elevation view of an area just north of the Hartland shopping mecca (left) compared to a random view zoomed in on the east side map: 
If you look very closely, you can spot the two ponds in the close-up Hartland picture in the wider view above. They’re visible northeast of the +, directly north of the Hartland Meijer store.
Buy two, choose one/abandon one
Here’s a fantasy scenario for you: you just won the lottery?—?the big one; the $1.5 billion one. You decide you need a new home. You can’t decide between two huge, multi-million dollar mansions in two exclusive neighborhoods. So, you buy them both, try them out, and choose the one in which your family will live. The other, you simply abandon and let rot. While it’s fun to fantasize about such inconceivable wealth, is that something you’d actually do? Are you the type of person who would leave a nice community with an overgrown rotting structure? Are you the type of person who would allow that massive amount of resources go to waste?—?no matter how many resources you had at your disposal? Not likely. Some things are just plain wrong. Some things just show a complete disregard for your community and its residents. Some things indicate that you truly do have way more money than you know what to do with.
Yet, this is exactly what Walmart did here. They opened a Supercenter in Lyon Township, Michigan, a small, rural community (population 14,545). For some reason, they felt the need to open another Supercenter in Hartland, Michigan (population 14,663) in 2009?—?just 15 minutes away (see map, below).
When you add up the square feet of Walmart (176,311), Target (123,800), Meijer (188,508), and Kroger (47,160 est.), you get a total of over half a million (535,779) square feet of big-box retail/groceries. Somehow, with all their advanced site-planning prowess, Walmart thought this location was lacking, and was begging for them to build another Supercenter. Who would ever have thought it was going to be too much? I mean, other than everybody except the folks in Bentonville.
What’s My Point?
Independent store owners don’t open and abandon stores easily. They open them with great sacrifice and commitment. They close them typically only when all their resources have been exhausted and they simply can’t make it work anymore. Sometimes they can’t make it work because a big-box store opens down the street from them…and has enough resources to jump ship 269 times, as they announced on January 15, 2016.
I don’t know about you, but I believe commitment should be reciprocated. Support the merchants that support your community.
Shop local. Shop independent.
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