Montgomery development news

[kevinlpugh]

By Marty Roney


MILLBROOK — Jane Harris was one of the first customers through the door Wednesday morning as the Wal-Mart Supercenter opened in Millbrook, and she came ready to shop.

“I’ve got a list two pages long,” the Millbrook resident said. “If I could put it off to buy it here, that’s what I did. I’m so happy we don’t have to shop at the Prattville store anymore. We can stay at home now.”

The opening took on the air of a small town festival, with the Stanhope Elmore High School band and cheerleaders working up the crowd before the 8 a.m. opening. Special guests packed the grocery side for the invocation, Pledge of Allegiance and national anthem. Meanwhile, about 500 people gathered outside waiting for the doors to open.

Mayor Al Kelley even delayed the opening of city government.

“City hall is closed so everybody can have the opportunity to shop,” he said. “I just told everybody they had to bring a paid Wal-Mart receipt back to work.”

It was hard to decide who was happier at the opening, store manager Kenny Hinds, or the mayor. The store has created 420 jobs and will pump an additional $2.5 million in sales collections this year into city coffers.

“This is going to be a huge boost to our city, both in quality of life and increased tax collections,” Kelley said. “People are tickled they can shop at home, and now every dollar they spend goes to improve the services we can offer.”

Holly Richards made the drive from Montgomery to see what all the fuss was about.

“Put it in the paper, Montgomery is going to loose a lot of business until they lower that sales tax rate,” she said. “Between Millbrook, the stores opening in Prattville and Chantilly, a lot of Montgomery people will be voting with their feet.”