Wal-Mart store opens next week in Mount Vernon

In a city facing the loss of hundreds of jobs, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is providing Mount Vernon a partial Band-Aid with a new store opening next week.

The 70,000-square-foot, scaled-down Supercenter, slated to open Oct. 22 at 500 W. Mount Vernon Blvd., will employ approximately 130 full- and part-time workers under store Manager Cherity Green, according to a news release.

“The additional tax revenue and traffic will be beneficial for the city; we’re looking forward to having a mutually beneficial relationship with Wal-Mart," Mount Vernon Mayor David Eden said in the release.

The city of nearly 4,600 people is losing some 450 jobs combined from the closure of its largest employer, Missouri Rehabilitation Center, and the headquarters move of spice manufacturer Red Monkey Foods to Republic, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

Mount Vernon officials have been courting Wal-Mart for several years. Mount Vernon Area Economic Development Corp. Scott George predicted in March 2006: “One day, Mount Vernon will have a Wal-Mart.”