Walmart Opens!!!!

La Gran Inaguracion Hoy!

It's official. Walmart has finally come to Lakeside (the area between Chapala on the east and Jocotopec on the west). The debate has been raging among the expat population since the rumors first started last year that Walmart was coming. Would it put the small mom and pops out of business? Would it challenge the only local "big box" store in the area, Soriana in Chapala? Would it cause Superlake, the grocery store that caters to expats' specialty needs, to lower its prices? Would it bring needed work to the area? Well, debates may still be ongoing, but Walmart opened anyway to huge fanfare yesterday with huge crowds, bands, free food, balloons. It looked like the equivalent of one of Mexico's big fiestas. And, in fact, it was a fiesta.

Bob and I arrived just a bit after noon. The parking lot was packed, buses were parked in front of the store. Giant advertising things were blown up and waving in the breeze. There was such a crowd in front of the door that we could hardly squeeze inside. Within, the aisles were so packed that we shuffled along one after another. While there were a few gringos here and there, the overwhelming majority of the customers were Mexican, piling their carts high with goodies. Doesn't seem to be any loss in consumer confidence from what we could see. In the grocery section, there was gridlock with store attendants offering samples of cheese, cold cuts, various salsas, etc. We've never seen anything like the crush of people. Keep in mind that Walmart is not new to Mexico. There are at least three in Guadalajara and one in most largely populated areas of Mexico. But this one here means that shoppers have more choices in one place without having to drive or take the bus into Guadalajara. And there are goods that aren't readily available locally such as electronics and small appliances. (Gaby scouted out the store yesterday evening with her brother to pick out a new mp3 player for her niece.) Of course, I'm not hailing Walmart as the answer to the world's problems--far from it. Just reporting on the phenomenon here.