https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2006-12-11/not-250-thread-count-organic-cotton-sheets/

Not 250-Thread Count Organic Cotton Sheets?

By Wells Dunbar, December 11, 2006, 3:48pm, Newsdesk

This FAQ from the City Manager's office to Council regarding the Northcross/Wal-Mart controversy is disappointingly matter-of-fact:

What does the developer mean by the term "new urban model"?

A Wal-Mart representative indicated that its use of the term refers to a store with multiple stories or a store that has a parking garage.

Shucks. And we thought it meant they had imported cheeses. (Well, pretty much everything there is an import, but regardless...)

What it really means, however, is squeezing bucks out of non Wal-Mart shoppers John Q. Hipster and Sally WholeFoods, because Wal-Mart's market reach is so massive, they can't open a new store without cannibalizing profits from another one. At sone point, they have to reach outside the Larry the Cable Guy demographic. As a recent story in the Washington Post put it, "Wal-Mart's biggest competitor may still be itself. In areas where the chain has two stores, the opening of a third siphons off 20 percent of sales from the other two."