Same here, but probably more like 20 years. In the '90s, my hometown experienced the textbook "Walmart effect." No box stores or strip malls in 1990, and then Walmart opened. 10 years later the 100-year-old downtown, with its grocery, drug store, hardware store, shoe store, etc. -- all family-owned -- was gutted. AND Walmart got ridiculous tax breaks from the city. Haven't set foot in a Walmart since then.
Same here, but probably more like 20 years. In the '90s, my hometown experienced the textbook "Walmart effect." No box stores or strip malls in 1990, and then Walmart opened. 10 years later the 100-year-old downtown, with its grocery, drug store, hardware store, shoe store, etc. -- all family-owned -- was gutted. AND Walmart got ridiculous tax breaks from the city. Haven't set foot in a Walmart since then.