Holland Hardware and Wichita Supermarket
Derek Dowd Ramon Espinel Thais Johansen
Andrew Kinross Laura Vargas
September 1996
Holland Hardware and Wichita Supermarket
Matt Holland sat back in his cushioned office chair staring at the telephone and the number for Bill Harrington, the Wal-Mart executive who had called two days earlier. Wal-Mart was coming to town and wanted Matt to play a big part in the opening and management of a new local store.
For twenty-two years, Matt had owned and operated Holland Hardware and Wichita Supermarket, the collective offspring of a family business started one hundred years earlier. He knew that if he accepted Wal-Mart’s offer it would not only be the end of his family business, but that also of a majority of the other proprietorships in town. The economic consequences would be severely felt in a community long rooted in local business and patronage. However, if he turned down Wal-Mart, Matt knew he might never fulfill the other Holland family tradition dating back 100 years: providing a college education to his children.
As he stared at the telephone, his thoughts alternated: would he fight to continue the legacy of the nickel and dime store that his great grandparents had started 100 years ago, or would he call Mr. Harrington to accept the offer? Matt knew either choice had serious consequences for both his family and his community.
Background
Matt Holland, 48, was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas. Like the four generations before him, he had led a fairly simple life and had lived in Wichita all his life, except for four years of college at OhioStateUniversity. He and his wife, Sarah, had four children, ages 14 to 20.
Matt’s great grandparents had opened the Wichita General Store in 1896 at the crossroads of Main Street and Kansas Avenue in the middle of town. The store had been handed down from generation to generation, and Matt had taken it over twenty-two years ago. Although it had always provided a good source of income for the Holland family, over the past decade profits had slowly declined as a result of a weak economy in the Midwest. The Hollands had to work long and hard just to make ends meet.
Over the course of its hundred years, the family business had expanded to include a hardware store. Although Matt had seen his combined workforce decline from a high of seventy-five employees in 1987 to the current level of forty-nine, he still strongly believed in small business and wanted to continue the family tradition.
Aside from his vested interest in his stores, it was very important to Matt to secure a college education for each of his children; yet, lately, the uncertainty of the business made this goal seemingly less attainable. Like all parents, the Hollands wanted to provide a bright future for their children, and they had promised a college education to each child. The eldest, James, was entering his sophomore year at BostonUniversity. The other children had also shown an interest in leaving Wichita for college and had talked of settling elsewhere, too.
The Wal-Mart Call
Two days ago, Matt received a call from Wal-Mart. It had stunned him. Wal-Mart had plans to come to Wichita. The community was not accustomed to attention from national companies. It was still very much a community where everyone knew everyone else and liked doing business at local stores.
Bill Harrington, the executive responsible for development of Wal-Mart in the Midwest region, had called. He explained to Matt that Wal-Mart was still in the planning stages for moving into the Wichita area. Harrington stated that his company was familiarizing itself with Wichita and the surrounding area to determine how best Wal-Mart could "penetrate" the area. "We want to foster a future for Wichita," Bill said. He then got right to the point: he wanted to recruit Matt to help in the planning of the store when it opened. Wal-Mart felt that utilizing a local businessman in this capacity would help establish the new store and make the opening smoother. Wal-Mart’s salary offer to manage the new store would be over twice the amount Matt was currently taking out of the business for family and personal expenses.
Thoughts flew through Matt’s head as the Wal-Mart executive spoke. Big corporate America was swooping in on Wichita, he thought, and this would radically alter both the business landscape and the civic identity of the town. As a two-term president of the local merchant association, Matt knew how important locally owned businesses were to Wichita and how they fostered a strong community. Instead of profits being re-invested into the community, profits would now end up in some state two thousand miles away. Matt also thought about the employment consequences of Wal-Mart moving in. He, along with numerous other local business people would inevitably be driven out of business. Although Matt knew that many could expect to find jobs in the new store, he also knew the simple arithmetic: not everyone laid off could be absorbed by Wal-Mart; many would be left without jobs. Matt also thought about how his decision would affect his own standing in town. Many would blame him for the failure of several long-standing businesses and for helping to create so much uncertainty in the community. All these thoughts raced through Matt’s head as Harrington spoke about Wal-Mart’s big plans.
"You should know that I’m carrying on a family business that has been around for 100 years," Matt told Harrington; "I’m not really in a position to just give it away." Matt quickly envisioned the option of organizing a united front to block Wal-Mart’s arrival. He knew several members on the city council and was close friends with the mayor. As a leader of the merchant community, maybe he could rally the town and city council to pass an ordinance effectively blocking Wal-Mart.
But at that point, Matt realized the urgency of the situation. He knew that if he didn’t take the general manager position then someone else would. Or Wal-Mart might just send one of their own people to open and manage the store. In any case, Wal-Mart’s impending arrival certainly created more questions than it answered. Matt hung up with Harrington and headed toward the local bar. He knew he needed a stiff drink to digest what had transpired and straighten out what he would do.
The Meeting
Bill had asked Matt if he could meet with him. He wanted to meet close to Wichita, but not in the town, so as to avoid any exposure of Wal-Mart’s plans to the local community. Matt was to call him back so that they could set up a meeting to discuss his decision. As he thought about calling, his future, his family’s future, and the community’s future weighed heavily on his mind.