EPHRAIM, Sanpete County -- On the late August day when shovels broke ground in newly annexed and zoned land north of Ephraim, Sharron Andreasen's heart broke, too.
Andreasen belongs to a small group that fought approval of a 109,000-square-foot Wal-Mart on the edge of this rural community. It was a David-and-Goliath match up -- a handful of residents against the world's largest retailer and most of Sanpete County.But in this story, David lost.
Construction on the Wal-Mart superstore is progressing rapidly toward a planned September 2000 opening. The tall cinder-block walls of the box-shaped building break the horizon next to the cemetery. The structure is now the first thing to welcome U.S. 89 motorists to a town where economic development has been a stranger. Ephraim has fewer than 4,000 residents and just one traffic light.
"It's just another of those things that makes your heart sink," said Andreasen, who runs a bed and breakfast out of a log cabin next to her restored 1904 house in Ephraim. "I thought we had a chance to begin with. I still held on to a particle of faith even after the city granted them permission to come in."
Most people in Sanpete are pro-Wal-Mart. But Andreasen said she fears the superstore will shut down local businesses and increase congestion, destroying the small-town appeal that attracted her to Ephraim.
These fears motivated Andreasen to write letters to government officials, newspapers and Wal-Mart representatives. She hung anti-Wal-Mart posters countywide and spoke out in City Council meetings. She also distributed fliers about the impact of Wal-Mart to every home in Ephraim.
"I try to make a difference, and I don't make a difference," Andreasen said. "It's frustrating, utterly frustrating."
While Andreasen thinks Wal-Mart will hurt business, Ephraim's mayor and City Council think the opposite. They see Wal-Mart as a rescue line for the city's sluggish economy and hope that businesses already established in Ephraim will face the competition.
"I have no desire to see people who have been in business go out of business," said Mayor Gary Anderson, who, along with the City Council, welcomed Wal-Mart with open arms.
Daphne Davis, Wal-Mart community affairs director, said almost any issue will draw a "vocal minority, and that's what this is."
"We didn't ask to be treated any differently, and (city leaders) have been fair with us . . . ," Davis said. "It's all about having a choice. Customers vote with their dollars."
Davis said the new store will employ about 200 people, with only a "small" management team coming from outside Sanpete County.
And Anderson said Ephraim businesses already face competition from the Orem Wal-Mart 75 miles north.
A study commissioned by the Sanpete County office of economic development shows that about 60 percent of the money earned in Sanpete County is spent outside the county -- mostly in the Provo/Orem area. Anderson said he hopes a local Wal-Mart will keep some of that money in town.
"There's a chance that this store will keep people from going to Provo," Anderson said. He said that if local businesses are willing to adapt, the town will benefit from the increased competition. He hopes more outside businesses will follow Wal-Mart to Ephraim.
Davis said that is the pattern. "What we've found across the country is that the competition we bring attracts more retailers, and all business grows."
But before more retailers follow, local business people like Cecil Cuttler must contend with Wal-Mart.
At the south end of town, Cuttler manages the largest store in the county -- Ben Franklin. With 12,000 square feet, it would fit snugly in a corner of Wal-Mart.
Cuttler worries that Wal-Mart will come to town, put local retailers out of business, not have enough business to support its own operation and move on. Wal-Mart has done it before, he said.
"I don't like to see a large corporation gamble with a small community," Cuttler said. "If they make it, that's fine. But if they don't, they leave the community devastated."
To investigate how he can compete in Ephraim, Cuttler visited other small communities economically altered by Wal-Mart. His findings have convinced him to change his line of merchandise and capitalize on Wal-Mart's weaknesses. He's pulling toys, shoes, domestics, infant products and stationery from his shelves. He's expanding his hardware, electrical, plumbing, paint, fabric, lawn and garden and dollar departments.
Cuttler said his biggest advantage over Wal-Mart is his knowledgeable sales representatives. Wal-Mart relies on minimum-wage workers who don't know much about the products they sell, Cuttler said.
Cuttler has managed Ben Franklin in Ephraim for 25 years. He said he hopes the community will be loyal to his establishment when Wal-Mart moves in. But most residents are anxious for a taste of the big city in their little town and see selection and price as the virtues of this development.
The Main Street drugstore is another business that is preparing for Wal-Mart competition.
Jeff Anderson is the fourth generation to own and run Anderson Drug and Floral. Although he knows the competition will be tough, he said he is not giving up.
"It's more of an emotional thing for me than most," said Jeff Anderson, recalling the family heritage of his store. "I have to deal with the sentimental value, too."
If businesses close down after Wal-Mart arrives, Jeff Anderson said, the "flavor" of the town will be lost.
He points to big cities that are looking for ways to restore flavor to their downtown areas lost to strip malls and superstores. He said he believes Ephraim should consider the value of its downtown before it has to be restored.
But it's already starting to go.
"Wal-Mart is going to hurt every business in town -- those that are struggling are getting out while they can."
Jeff Anderson said that although there is not a lot of competition in Ephraim, he believes a store as big as Wal-Mart will destroy what little there is. And he said not just Ephraim businesses will be hurt.
"You don't think about it reaching that far, but it does. To a degree, it will impact the whole county."
Whether that impact will be positive or negative depends on who is talking.
Joseph C. Blain, Sanpete County director of economic development, said that even though Wal-Mart has not opened, the county can see its benefits on the horizon. Like the mayor, Blain said he hopes Wal-Mart will bring an influx of business to the county that will capture tax revenue and promote competition.
In the wake of Wal-Mart's decision to open in Ephraim, Blain has received numerous inquiries from strip-mall type businesses that typically follow Wal-Mart -- shoe stores, convenience stores and restaurants.
"I can tell you right now that it's going to be a real boost to our economy," Blain said.
But some local residents said the community needs to look beyond economics.
Dick Olson is a rancher and lifelong Ephraim resident. He said he loves the open space and slow pace of Sanpete. He is upset that people won't fight to preserve the quiet life he loves.
"We fought a good fight, but we lost," Olson said. "It puts Ephraim more in a business center than a small rural center. It will be more hustle and bustle than quiet living."
But Olson said he realizes development is inevitable.
"I know that old age is going to come, but I'll do everything I can to slow it down -- I want to prolong what we have as long as I can."
Olson remembers a letter to the editor written by a Wal-Mart representative in the local paper. The representative expressed his desire to make Ephraim the "retail center of this area." That is exactly what Olson doesn't want.
"It won't be too long before we're looking back at what we had and not at what we have," Olson said.