RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Commonwealth University is adding a mini-Walmart to the ground floor of a new high-rise on West Grace Street, and not everyone is happy about it.
Social media is buzzing — some might say freaking out — about the roughly 4,000-square-foot store, about the size of a convenience store, going into one of VCU's new high-rises on West Grace Street. It's a placement similar to the chain restaurants like Five Guys and Qdoba that occupy the ground floors of several other VCU properties in the area.
The store will not sell beer or cigarettes. It will carry clothes, school supplies, some groceries, toiletries, makeup and other items students need at low prices, according to Diane Reynolds, assistant vice president for business services at Virginia Commonwealth University.
"Students have indicated that they wanted to have it in a survey that was done," Reynolds said. "Also, as we try to revitalize the area with additional retailers other than solely restaurants and food, that we want to bring in something that matches the needs of students."
Not everyone is convinced.
"The 900 block of West Grace Street has been a cultural beacon for the VCU students for the past three decades and possibly more," said VCU graduate and former employee Jamshid Bakhciari, who can't believe this is happening.
Richmond developer, politician and talk show host Charlie Diradour shares that skepticism.
"I don't understand how a university with a history of social consciousness . . . could possibly think of putting (in) a Walmart — one of the worst corporate citizens in the world," Diradour said.
VCU public relations major Jillian Everett says she doesn't hate Walmart, she hates the way VCU's sprawl has devastated the flavor of that stretch of Grace Street.
"I want culture, not a Walmart," Everett said.
A quarter-century ago, the 900 block of West Grace Street was known as the "battle zone" by police and as a party zone by just about anyone else under 40. Perhaps no other strip in the city has been as consistently hip, underground, edgy, arty, musical, scary, fun, goofy, high and hormone-charged. Its legacy is such that it would seem like the very last place in the downtown area where you'd find a Walmart.
That block has changed dramatically over the years.
The Lee Art Theater is now VCU's Grace Street Theater.
The Red Light Inn is a restaurant.
The Jade Elephant is a tattoo shop and restaurant.
Newgate Prison, a former music venue, is now VCU police headquarters.
This great cultural destination has been slowly fading for the past quarter-century.
But not all students are mourning. Sophomore Emily Dyke loves the idea of a little Walmart as students struggle to pay soaring tuition costs.
As for the impact on mom-and-pop stores, graduate physics student Nilantha Abeyraphne isn't worried.
"Kroger is already here and I don't think Walmart will make a big impact on small business anyway," Abeyraphne said.
VCU's role in revitalizing Richmond can't be overstated. Richmond is now a college town, dominated by a teaching hospital and a vast campus that has grown exponentially in the wake of business and residential flight following the violent 1990s. VCU may be the proverbial 800-pound gorilla, but it's a gorilla that lifted this town out of a pretty dark place.
A little Walmart in a ground-floor corner of another high-rise is a blow. But it's a symbolic one. Grace Street still has a little of its special flavor. That store won't steal that away.
