DEAR EDITOR:
I have been reading the very emotional responses to the
application by Wal-Mart to build a Super Store here in Gilroy.
DEAR EDITOR:

I have been reading the very emotional responses to the application by Wal-Mart to build a Super Store here in Gilroy. The City Council will have to decide whether to allow them to build here in Gilroy. The Council must choose based on what is best for the residents of Gilroy, and for that matter, the residents of the entire South County. Most of the responses to their request have been based on personal emotions and very little has been based on facts.

Apparently, the city will give the builder a one-time tax break of $5.4 million to encourage them to build here. This would seem to be a very large amount for such an action, and many would oppose it for that reason. I guess the real question is what good will this do for the residents of the South County?

I would like to cite one example. Safeway and Nob Hill both carry a product called Homestyle Bakes by Banquet, it’s a “meal in a box” that you bake in the oven. Dinty-Moore has a similar product, which both markets carry. The local non-superstore Wal-Mart also carries these products. Both Safeway and Nob Hill charge $5.59 for these products. Wal-Mart charges $3.50 for Banquets product and $3.95 for the Dinty Moore brand. If you do a little math, you conclude that this is a savings of more than 40.

Let’s do a little more math. There are at least 100,000 residents in the greater South Valley area. Let’s assume that the average household contains five people, so that would mean that there are 20,000 families here in the South County. The typical family spends between $100 and $200 a week on groceries, or about an average of $150 per family. I don’t believe that the possible savings of shopping at a Super Wal-Mart would be 40 percent. For the sake of argument, let’s assume only 10 percent could be saved or just $15 a week.

This means that within one year all of South County could realize [(20000 Families) X ($15. per family) X (52 weeks)] a savings of $15.6 million.

Now someone will surely say that the city will still be out the $5 million in taxes. This seems to be true but if you get the population of the South County to shop here in Gilroy they will also spend a significant amount of money on sales taxable items. It is now up to the City Council to determine what is really best for all of the residents of Gilroy.

Jack Dwan, Gilroy

Submitted Friday, May 2 to [email protected]

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