The premise is that Wall-Marred depends on distant shoppers. This is becoming less and less true, at least where I live. In something like 5 years 4 WalMarts have sprung up in my immediate neighborhood where there used to be none. Gosh, what did we ever buy *before* WM ? The nearest one is like a mile and a half away. Even at $10 gas, people can drive that far.

WM thrives because its an employer's market out there. There was a news item about thousands of people showing up to apply for work at a new WM -- with only 400 positions to fill.