Image Courtesy of Walmart
September 10, 2025
As Walmart Opens New Stores, Can it Quiet Remaining Public Displeasure?
As Walmart aggressively began expansion in years past, oftentimes displacing existing local grocers or mom-and-pop retailers in doing so, a groundswell of criticism often made news headlines as residents expressed concerns over the retail giant entering their communities. The 2005 documentary “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price” earned two thumbs up from movie critics Richard Roeper and Roger Ebert, as well as endorsements from labor groups, and the discourse surrounding the blue-and-yellow brand was one of controversy when it came to the company’s public image.
Things have changed substantially in the interim, as Modern Retail’s Mitchell Parton detailed in an exhaustive report — although not entirely. As Walmart plans to open new Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets after a brief pause between 2021 and 2023, it faces some degree of familiar pushback from communities slated to play host to new locations.
“While in some cases, the retailer has flown through easily, elsewhere it has encountered opposition from some community members. For example, in Ankeny, Iowa, residents have been speaking out this year against a Walmart store proposed near their homes at the end of 2024, NBC affiliate WHO 13 Des Moines reported. Residents complained about increased traffic on main and side roads, increased noise and light pollution. In June, the planning commission of Edmond, Oklahoma, denied plans for a 44,000-square-foot Walmart Neighborhood Market grocery store — nearly 100 residents had attended a public meeting to voice concerns,” Parton wrote.
“Still, a Walmart spokesperson told Modern Retail its three newest stores that opened over the last few months in Cypress, Texas; Tuscaloosa, Alabama; and Eagle Mountain, Utah have been celebrated by their respective communities and have attracted crowds of people,” he added.
Walmart Has Made Inroads Concerning its Public Image and Community Relations
And while Walmart’s ongoing expansion into new communities is spurring petitions and a drawing criticism — largely on the basis of potential traffic load; noise, light, and physical pollution; or plain opposition to more construction near residential areas — on the other hand, some communities are welcoming the retailer with open arms.
As Parton highlighted, a lessening of opposition toward Walmart’s ingress into communities where it hadn’t yet established a footprint may have roots in several different factors.
For one, Walmart appears to have had success in improving its brand image in recent years, improving employee pay and store aesthetics while also increasingly attracting a higher-income consumer. Parton cited Bryan Gildenberg, founder and CEO of Confluencer Commerce, on the latter subject.
“A lot of more affluent shoppers relied on Walmart for e-commerce grocery delivery during the pandemic and have since discovered that Walmart’s not a terrible place to shop,” Gildenberg said.
“As a result, you don’t have the visceral reaction to a Walmart coming that you might if you walked into a Walmart store 30 years ago and found it to be a little bare-bones and underkept for your taste,” he added.
As a secondary point, Gildenberg noted that retail had been supplanted by gig workers at the bottom of the deflating wage pyramid, taking some of the attention away from Walmart as a low-paying employer.
For Anne Mezzenga, CEO of Omni Talk and former marketing leader at Target, Walmart’s substantial investment in supply chain, store renovations and facelifts, and fresh marketing efforts have been key to improved publicity.
“Their deep push into fashion right now — providing consumers really the only place to go right now for reliable low prices and the convenience of a mass retailer, [and] having everything that they would need to purchase in one trip — [have] changed the perception is of Walmart, and I think will continue to change it in the coming years,” Mezzenga said.
“Walmart, in particular, has worked very hard to reposition themselves as investing in the communities where they are building their stores and the people in those communities. I think that’s paying off for them now,” she added.
Finally, Parton quoted Gartner retail analyst Brad Jashinsky on two further prongs leading to Walmart’s improved image versus years-ago levels: The contemporary macroeconomic environment favors low-price retailers, particularly when value is being perceived across several income demographics; and there are simply many more retailers — including e-commerce enterprises — operating even in small towns.
“There are a lot more retailers that are coming in, whereas 20, 30 years ago, Walmart would be the big story for a year or two while it was [being] developed and coming into a small town. The landscape has changed significantly,” Jashinsky said.
Discussion Questions
Is it possible for Walmart to further improve its community relations apparatus to reduce public outcry over its stores opening in new communities? If so, how so? If not, why not?
Of the reasons cited (improvements to pay, attracting a higher-income customer, improvements to store operations, community investment), which are the most responsible for Walmart’s improved public image as of late?
How can community members or associations best liase or work with Walmart to alleviate concerns over new locations being built in their area?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Frank Margolis
Executive Director, Growth Marketing & Business Development, Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions
Mohamed Amer, PhD
CEO & Strategic Board Advisor, Strategy Doctor
Gary Sankary
Retail Industry Strategy, Esri
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Impacts on traffic and congestion are legitimate concerns, and Walmart, like any other business, must address and mitigate them as part of the planning process. However, opposition based purely on personal dislike of the company or its business practices is frivolous and should be completely disregarded. The proper way to express such a view is simply not to shop at Walmart. If enough people share that sentiment, the store will fail on its own. The free market should be the final arbiter.
I disagree that concerns about business practices are frivolous and should be disregarded. Target is a great use case of what happens when your business practices conflict with your customers’ values. Walmart may not have a core customer with the same concerns, but to sustain growth and push market share for Walmart+, it should be aware of how its business practices are perceived in the market.
The frivolous point is made in the context of store openings and people opposing them based on a personal dislike of Walmart (or any other retailer). Those are issues for consumers to express and resolve in the marketplace. Zoning and planning reviews should stick to concrete, local impacts – not turn into referendums on corporate philosophy.
In today’s current inflationary environment, my initial reaction is that people need Walmart’s low prices and this will assuage the majority of concerns over increased traffic and light. Research has also shown that properties owned near Walmart stores actually increase in value at a faster rate than those further away, thus further weakening the merit of complaints.
As Walmart continues to expand its footprint, the rise in community objections—ranging from concerns about traffic congestion and light pollution to the classic fear of a big-box replacing beloved mom-and-pops—is predictable. That said, Walmart has made meaningful strides in recent years to soften the public blow.
Their investments in employee pay, store redesigns, and appealing to a broader, more affluent customer base have noticeably improved perception. As one expert recently observed, “a lot of more affluent shoppers… have since discovered that Walmart’s not a terrible place to shop” . Additionally, a revitalized store aesthetic and enhanced shopping experience have made a big difference .
Could Walmart elevate its community relations even further? Absolutely. Beyond the tangible economic benefits—a Walmart brings job creation, increased tax revenues, accessible low prices, local philanthropy, and often a rise in nearby property values —this retailer can further build trust by:
Of the factors improving Walmart’s image today, I’d argue the store operations overhaul—including sleek renovations, better aesthetics, and a fashion-forward shopping experience—and the grass-tops repositioning toward higher-income customers are the heaviest hitters . Pay increases and community investment play supportive but critical roles—they provide substance behind the improved facade.
For community groups or associations looking to work with Walmart and alleviate development concerns, the best strategy is collaborative engagement: request early stakeholder meetings, propose impact mitigation strategies, suggest community benefits in return, and stay data-driven. Highlight Walmart’s positive economic legacy—from incremental sales tax revenues and sustainable jobs to enhanced local spending power and philanthropic reach—and counter the old narrative of “big-box predator” with one of partnership and shared value.
In summary: yes, Walmart can and should further sharpen its community relations toolkit. With deeper collaboration, local engagement, and transparent investment, the old critiques can be outshined by a new narrative—one where Walmart doesn’t just enter a community, but becomes a welcomed and beneficial neighbor.
Walmart has been dealing with pushback from well-intended community folks for decades. The fact is, Walmart is one of the most successful, if not the most successful retailers of our generation. Walmart has improved pay, expanded product offerings, and it remains the price leader in many categories and products. It’s wise for Walmart to continue to accept community feedback and be mindful of community concerns about store openings and make adjustments or allowances that address the concerns where it makes sense. However, if you examine the overall impact of Walmart store openings, I believe that you will discover it’s largely been net positive for the community.
Remaining public dipleasure ? That makes it sound like disliking WalMart is on the endangered species list; it isn’t…nor should it be: yes, WM provides lots of benefits, but it brings lots of costs too. It’s inevitable not everyone will like the fradeoff(s). More to the point, tho, is will any of this materially change WalMart’s growth? It never has before.
In my locality, Roseville, MN, the Walmart is by far the largest point source of police calls – more than Target #1 and the Rosedale shopping center and all the other strip malls combined. And studies keep coming out demonstrating how the company continues to stress / induce reliance on public welfare and income supports. Now, did Walmart coming in to Roseville spark redevelopment in the abandoned brownfield former industrial and distribution district – yes. Would redevelopment have happened anyway? Also yes. Did Roseville offer egregious incentives for Walmart to come? Thankfully no. There are other communities in the Twin Cities who ended up on the wrong side of the incentive vs. payback calculus, such as nearby St. Anthony who effectively paid again to re-redevelop an abandoned Walmart after paying initially to bring them in.
It sounds like there are places that welcome Walmart and places that don’t. If the company sticks to the places where it’s welcome, all will be well.
for example, down here in Miami, Walmart finally gave up on a space that it lobbied for, for over a decade. This did wonders for its reputation here. When they first secured the lot, the neighborhood was one thing…then it changed. I’d be happy of they opened one in a quasi. Abandoned strip center near my home, but the other spot, 40 blocks south would have been an eyesore. Being smart is always the key.
The fundamental tension here is economic efficiency and local identity. While Walmart has successfully improved its image, the remaining dissatisfaction centers on the loss of social infrastructure that fosters local identity and human engagement, which a new store may further exacerbate. Consider this example of a community with high social capital: the folks at Edmond, Oklahoma, for the last ten years have opposed a Walmart Neighborhood market.
Where Walmart can further enhance its image is by making new stores a business catalyst as a platform for local commerce. It’s the classic tale of weaving retail into the community’s social fabric.
If a retailer didn’t have a Walmart (or Sam’s or Costco) in the area, did they really think it might never happen? There are plenty of case studies out there where retailers in direct competition flourished when the big box store moved nearby (even next door). If Walmart is the excuse for a retailer failing, there are other problems with the way the store is run. Furthermore, customers who feel Walmart is disrupting their favorite local stores should let their wallets do the talking and not spend money in the places they don’t like.
It was around 1975 (yes, I remember) that Walmart began expanding into rural areas. Today’s discussion could have been taken out of the media back then.
So, what happened? Likely, all those who objected became avid shoppers, just like everybody else.
For Walmart, today or forever, community relations means business. No matter how you look at it, each Walmart store is a local citizen. The employees are neighbors. Make them happy.
See my comment on Gary’s post below. I did not become an avid shopper, or a shopper at all until they changed their business practices.
This sounds like a real estate and traffic problem for those experiencing the collateral damage of a store opening, and a non-issue for those people welcoming the availability of all the products and value Walmart has to offer. “Progress” isn’t always universally embraced, but that’s not license for Walmart to just plow ahead with an opening. They have a lot of positive contributions to talk about. Sometimes there will be some education and selling involved.
During Covid, Walmart made considerable changes in its business practices, benefiting more full-time team members, offering more scholarship options, and raising their starting wages. These had real effects on their team members. They’ve also been at the forefront of sustainability- everything from natural light in their stores and DCs to working toward zero waste goals. These changes built on some of the good things Walmart was already doing in the community- stores are able to support local organizations with donations or sponsorships, not every retailer is able to do this.
The Walmart depicted in the documentary is not the same Walmart we see today. Can they eliminate every objection to their impact on local economies? No. However, they have made significant changes to their operations and team management, so it’s time for people to reconsider the stereotypes they adopted 20 years ago.
I agree 100%. I think Gene said above, people objected and then shopped there anyway. Not me. I never set foot in one (well, once or twice for research purposes but otherwise, NEVER) and never bought a thing from walmart.com until the pandemic. And I really did warm up to them at that time. Now, I prefer them to Target, and if they have what I want, I will buy it there. Honestly, I prefer the company to Amazon, whose business practices are awful.. So, I’m with you!
To me, Doug McMillon is a great example of how a thoughtful CEO can change perceptions around.
Infrastructure is always a concern when a large company opens a store. However the tremendous benefits that Walmart brings with it far outweigh the costs, like increased jobs, better housing, better schools, stronger job benefits, etc. Sharing these benefits with the local community is Walmart’s true issue, and always has been a concern.
Walmart can improve its community relations by telling true stories of how it keeps its promise to make customers’ money go farther. Unlike higher-priced rivals, Walmart gives customers a sense of dignity and security by helping them afford more items they need. An ongoing series of testimonials that directly address the core concerns behind stakeholders’ public outcry can increase brand trust.