The high level of narration makes me suspicious that this might be reading into things a liiiitle too much. I think this is mostly a non-story that got written

The high level of narration makes me suspicious that this might be reading into things a liiiitle too much. I think this is mostly a non-story that got written up anyway. Let's investigate their investigation. As they mention briefly, it was a tiny Walmart, in a land pockmarked with lots of huge walmarts. There's, I dunno, maybe 20 Walmarts in the area: https://imgur.com/a/M6mX97Q https://imgur.com/a/M6mX97Q The closest Walmart is now a 23 minute drive away. For most people in New Hampshire a 23 minute drive is nothing, I can only imagine its even less of an issue in Texas. I suspect a lot of the employees still have jobs with Walmart, just working at different stores. And of course its the biggest employer in the town, it probably still is! So I think the premise is a bit of a canard and the writeup is weak. > Some former workers from the Edna store have told friends that the drive to their new jobs has been wearing on their cars and the cost of gas was eating into their wages. Eehhh. I suspect most people in tiny Texas towns commute lots, just like in NH. > This fall, Edna received a pleasant surprise. Sales tax revenue did not drop the way city officials feared it would after Walmart left. To many, the numbers showed that Edna’s retail stores had filled the void. > “People learned they need to shop at home,” said Mr. Hermes, the former mayor. Oh hm, wait a minute, maybe there is a story here! > The revenue numbers also likely include the purchases Edna residents made on Amazon and other large e-commerce sites. Oh, never mind!