[Kevin]

I should be fair -- I've been pretty critical of Wal-Mart in my posts thus far.

I did note that 30+ grocery stores closed after their massive expansion here in Oklahoma City. The ones that remained are actually pretty nice places that have been able to differentiate themselves from Wal-Mart and traditional groveries somehow.

You have some that have gone high quality, high service, some that have decided that they can actually be bigger and cheaper than Wal-Mart (there are two of those in town that are great to shop at) and then some that have decided on smaller selection, smaller stores and lower prices. It's done a lot to diversify the selection of grocery stores.

I know the article noted how many stores closed during that period, but I'd estimate that around 15-20 new stores opened.

So again, without some kind of unbiased and comprehensive study (or several of them), it's hard to know what the actual impact of a Wal Mart would be.