"Our color scheme has been done a little different," Saat said, noting its brick walls are not the branded blue of other stores in the region. (Fort Wright insisted.) "We have a concrete floor that's been colored in a sort of burnished red."

ABOUT WAL-MART

Wal-Mart opens its supercenter in Fort Wright today, the first foray inside the I-275 beltway for one of the retailer's megastores. • Wal-Mart Stores Inc., based in Bentonville, Ark., operates about 3,500 stores, including its standard discount stores, supercenters, neighborhood markets and Sam's Club outlets. The company's stock is publicly traded and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol WMT.  The Fort Wright store, which cost $15 million to build, sits on 20 acres at 3450 Valley Plaza Parkway. • The company interviewed 2,500 applicants for the approximately 600 jobs at the store. • The store will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, giving it a leg up on some local competitors that close at night. • Wal-Mart operates 29 standard discount stores and 46 supercenters elsewhere in Kentucky. • The company paid $322.7 million in sales taxes and $33.8 million in state and local taxes in 2003 generated by its Kentucky stores. Source: Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Workers scrambled to fill shelves and contractors fit the last pavers into place for the opening, four years after Fort Wright officials fought the proposed supercenter over fears that it would burden already-congested roads.

After the city rejected the project, the developer sued, and the parties worked out a settlement. Developers ultimately agreed to about 40 conditions, including $2.6 million in road improvements and modifications to the standard supercenter, including no gas station or fast-food restaurants.

Other communities in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky are watching the opening closely.

The Fort Wright Wal-Mart is the first of 10 supercenters slated for the region over the next 18 months, and is the first to open inside the Interstate 275 beltway. Residents in Harrison, Milford, Deerfield Township and other areas are resisting Wal-Mart's advances. Fort Wright will be the test site for how the giant retailer affects a town's small businesses and traffic patterns.

The experience in turn may influence the outcome of Wal-Mart's negotiations in other communities in the region.

Heavy local investment

Wal-Mart says it will invest approximately $10 million to $15 million per store, or $100 million to $150 million for the 10 new stores in the region.

Fort Wright also is one of 240 supercenters expected to open in the United States this year by Bentonville, Ark.,-based Wal-Mart, a company that employs 1.5 million people worldwide.

The Fort Wright store will employ 550 to 600 workers, and more than 70 percent of the jobs are full-time positions, Saat said.

This supercenter is likely to have an immediate advantage over other retailers, says one retailing expert.

"Wal-Mart is the highest-powered attraction right now in retailing and groceries," said retail consultant Stan Eichelbaum, president of downtown-based Marketing Developments Inc.

"They've had a terrific impact on every market. Supercenters change shopping patterns substantially, and it's a sustained change predicated on a price differential that is well documented. In the case of Wal-Mart, it's not just value, it's selection depth. Customers desire convenience, value and selection."

The new store in Fort Wright is 173,000 square feet and will feature groceries on one side of the building with general merchandise on the other side.

The store includes a meat area, fresh produce, bakery, delicatessen and snack bar. It also has a vision center and tire and vehicle lubrication area and other specialty departments including a portrait studio, one-hour photo and pharmacy.

Starting pay is $6.50 an hour.

A challenge to Remke

The Fort Wright store is the latest challenge for regional grocer Remke Markets, which is celebrating its 107th year. This family-owned grocer already has survived assaults from Kroger, Thriftway, Meijer, bigg's and retailers such as Target. Wal-Mart is seen as just one more foe.

Remke has seven stores operating and two more planned. The firm is about to build in Crescent Springs and a ninth store is underway in Hebron.

Employees at the seven Northern Kentucky markets have been prepped for Wal-Mart with "POS" training, said Eric Rabe, president of Remke Markets, which employs 700 people.

"It's called Positively Outrageous Service. We take pride in our service," Rabe said.

Remke also recently renovated its Fort Mitchell store, spending an estimated $500,000 on interior work with all new cases in meat and produce.

"A Remke shopper is someone who wants customer service, great perishables and fresh meat. That's what we excel in," Rabe said. "A weakness of Wal-Mart is perishables and service."

High prices for gasoline may lead consumers to curtail shopping trips to giant stores such as the Wal-Mart Supercenter. High fuel costs have already led some American consumers to bundle trips and cut down on grocery store runs, according to Columbus-based Retail Forward, which surveyed 4,000 primary household shoppers online in June about their buying habits.

The company found that 44 percent of people who responded shop closer to home to save money on gas. Half the people who responded said they also plan errands to cut down on the number of trips to grocery and other stores.

Wal-Mart chief executive Lee Scott acknowledged earlier this month that rising energy prices have made for a "challenging" retail environment, particularly when one in five Wal-Mart shoppers lives "paycheck to paycheck."

Kroger could be hurt

Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. also stands to lose some customers because it has five stores within a few miles of the Fort Wright Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Bob Hodge, president of Kroger's Cincinnati and Dayton marketing area, where Kroger operates 104 stores, said the company even tried to build on the site when it appeared Wal-Mart plans were dead. The developer, however, wanted to stick with Wal-Mart.

"It obviously will impact us," Hodge said. "We have stores in Fort Mitchell, Latonia, Covington, Erlanger and a store in Independence. If I looked at where we would take a hit, I'd say probably in Covington."

Covington resident Sandy Gabbard, 37, said she would definitely check out the store but doubted she would abandon her local grocery for a 6-mile drive to Fort Wright. "I'm pressed for time," she said.

Gas prices won't stop them

Gas prices probably won't discourage many shoppers, predicted Danni Sproles, the 33-year-old assistant manager at a Swifty gas station in Fort Wright.

"That's not going to stop them," said Sproles. "People will check out the store and may shop there for a couple of months. But I think people will go back to shopping at the stores they used to shop at before too long."

To contend with Wal-Mart, Kroger emphasizes customer service and its meat department, where butchers cut meat daily.

"We compete with a lot of Wal-Marts already. Bigg's has been here since 1982. Meijer has been here for 10-12 years. We do things that make us competitive," Hodge said.

Price and variety led Mary and Tom Pragar of Delhi Township to make a recent weekday morning trip to a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Aurora, Ind.

"It's 25 minutes from our house," said Mary. "We have a (standard) Wal-Mart near us, but we'll drive past it and a couple of other grocery stores to come here."

The Aurora supercenter spans more than two football fields laid end-to-end.

The Pragars usually shop here two times a month.

Merging trips makes sense on a lot of levels, Tom said, and he predicted that others in Northern Kentucky and even Ohioans along the eastern I-275 corridor would soon see the wisdom in that.

"We get the oil changed and then shop while we wait," he said. "When Thanksgiving and Christmas come, we'll be here a lot more often than that."

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E-mail jeckberg@enquirer.com