Wal-Mart lights up my life

Seriously. Here’s the story.

Ashley and I live in a community at the corner of Tropicana and McLeod. A little over a year ago, there was a Wal-Mart at that same corner — but it apparently went out of business about the time Ashley and I started dating.

With the death of Wal-Mart, other stores in the complex, one after the other, also went out of business (or maybe they moved). Other than a bar, a pet store, and a GameStop, I think the shopping center is now more or less empty.

But a few months back, the old Wal-Mart building got surrounded by a big fence, and lots of construction vehicles and crews showed up. A couple months passed, and a sign got attached to the fence: “Future home of Wal-Mart.” A month later, Wal-Mart moved into several suites at the nearby strip mall and began hiring for its new store. And last week, Wal-Mart turned on all the lights in the shopping center. These lights shine over into our community’s parking lot, lighting things up considerably at night.

A Halloween/costume store has already opened up in the center, and I anticipate seeing new growth there in the next couple months, on account of the increased traffic Wal-Mart will bring to the area.

This Wal-Mart opening up has brought new jobs to the neighborhood. It will bring new businesses back into the shopping center.  Lights from Wal-Mart are now making my community brighter and lighting up my life.