5 years ago
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In Southeast Arkansas the delta city of Dumas is going through a growth spurt. A new hospital is going up as well as a bank. City attorney Brook Gill says a new Wal-Mart Supercenter will soon break ground. "Wal-Mart indicated they were impressed with Dumas and what the citizens had done to move the town forward and that was their reason for locating here," he says.
The existing Wal-Mart store in Dumas generates around $12 million in sales, according to Gill. The new one is expected to gross $40 million. ?You are talking about a lot of people shopping in Dumas. Hopefully this is a positive thing for Dumas,? Gill says.
It may be good for Dumas, but it's not for McGehee. Wal-Mart is closing its store there when it builds the new supercenter.
John Heard for the McGehee-Desha County Hospital says, ?It would be a tremendous economic burden on the hospital and the city.? He says Wal-Mart provides a huge chunk of sales taxes that go to run the hospital. ?Our budget is anywhere from $7.5 to $8.5 million. So $500,000 of that budget could possibly be gone,? says Heard.
The hospital uses the money for equipment, operations and upgrades. Without the funding, Heard says the hospital could close. ?It'll take a little while, but it could possibly, yes.? Heard says the city is trying to convince Wal-Mart to keep its store open in McGehee.
Meanwhile Dumas is opening its doors and inviting Wal-Mart right on in. The deal is expected to be complete in the next couple of weeks. Dumas would break ground on the supercenter in the fall.
