Can Palmer have a Wal-Mart without being branded by it?

Spectrum/David Cheezem

What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word "Palmer?"

Is it the water tower that stands out in the center of town? The train depot, with all of the memories associated with it?

Perhaps it's the colonists who settled here in the 1930s, arriving in a difficult time, but with the ambition to carve out a town with a history unlike any other in the state? Or, perhaps, if you are a quilter or artist, your first image of Palmer might be all of the great craft shops and galleries that are sprouting up downtown.

Now jump ahead to 2010, just five years from now. If I ask you the same question in 2010, what do you think the answer will be? Here's what I don't want to happen: I don't want "Wal-Mart" to be the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions Palmer.

I know that if Wal-Mart wants to come to Palmer, it will. It has put up an option on a piece of land not far from the city center. I don't see anyone stopping it. But if it does come to Palmer, I want to make sure it doesn't succeed in branding the city.

A large store can do that — especially one with scrappy ethics like Wal-Mart. Because of its physical size, its overwhelming mark on the landscape, and its political and economic power, Wal-Mart can quickly suck all of the sense of identity and civic pride out of a place.

And the economic ramifications are tangible, even if they are not easily quantifiable.

In his book "Brand Warfare," David F. D'Alessandro describes the power of a good brand to nurture "comfort, trust, convenience, and identity in a complicated world." If you think those qualities are too touchy-feely to merit serious discussion, consider how much money large corporations such as Nike or Starbucks spend to create a successful brand.

I believe the biggest economic threat of a Wal-Mart in town is not so much dollar-for-dollar competition with locally owned businesses - although that threat is very real.

The biggest danger is that Wal-Mart is a challenge to our sense of identity. I've seen it in my customers' shocked expressions as they've come into my store this past week, saying things like "Wal-Mart? Here?"

Many of them chose to live in Palmer because they considered it an oasis in the commercial desert. They came here to escape the large parking lots and cookie-cutter designs of strip malls and big-box stores. For them Palmer is not Wal-Mart, and Wal-Mart is not Palmer.

Palmer can have a Wal-Mart without being branded by it, but it won't be easy. We need to build and maintain a positive alternative to the Wal-Mart image.

Here are some of the steps we need to take:

€ Revise the large retail ordinance. I would like to see more than the 15-percent green space currently required in the ordinance, and I would like to see a minimum of 50 feet of green space and a berm separating offloading /onloading ramps from adjacent residential areas.

€ Quickly implement the best ideas laid out in the University of Washington study of the area. Get the process moving on a business improvement district so we can combine private and public funding for downtown beautification and improvements.

€ Find the resources to clear the sidewalks throughout the downtown, making the area fully and easily accessible all year.

€ Develop historical markers throughout the downtown area. Post historical photographs and narratives on storefronts and other public places.

€ Protect Palmer from future unregulated sprawl by continuing to annex the area along the Palmer-Wasilla Highway down to Trunk Road.

€ Continue to market the city's strengths: its history, the quaint downtown shops, the new craft niche that is developing here.

The advent of big-box retail in the area is potentially devastating to Palmer's sense of identity and history. It's something of a crisis for Palmer. But we can alleviate the damage if we move quickly.

David Cheezem is the co-owner of Fireside Books in downtown Palmer.