Wal-Mart shopping center in Rutland

In the last decade, big-box superstores have sprouted all over the country, often on farmland at the outer fringes of suburbia. By 1994, superstores provided 80 percent of all new retail space in America. When Wal-Mart announced plans to build a number of stores in Vermont, state and civic leaders decided to take a stand against retail sprawl. In the city of Rutland, officials persuaded the corporate giant to reuse existing downtown spaces rather than add traffic and asphalt to the edge of their towns.

Today, the Rutland Wal-Mart uses a 75,000-square-foot space in the Rutland Shopping Plaza, a 1960s-era strip shopping center right across the street from the downtown historic district. Wal-Mart representatives could see that Rutland's investment in its downtown had created a successful environment for large, thriving businesses, and they agreed to move where the action was.Wal-Mart redesigned its Rutland store to include red bricks, a green roof and simple white lettered signs to help it blend in with the historic district. These extra details made it easier for Wal-Mart to gain local support, and it also helped place the store squarely within a vibrant commercial district -- one that just happened to be downtown.

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Photo: Heritage Property Investment Trust