There is no known plan to put a Walmart anywhere in Carrboro, any time soon. Did this year’s April Fools story get you? Do you remember last year’s story? Special thanks to Carrboro Alderperson Damon Seils and former Carrboro Mayor Ellie Kinnaird for playing along with our annual prank.

Is Walmart coming to Carrboro? It could happen.

The retail giant is reportedly scoping sites for a new store there, with the apparent blessing of town government.

WCHL recently spoke to Doyle Slick, Walmart’s Southeast Regional Director of Market Expansion.

He said he’s particularly interested in the space at 300 East Main Street.

If that’s ends up happening, Slick said the store could become “the heart of downtown Carrboro.”

“We’re looking at about a year from the start of construction to full completion,” said Slick, “because we’ve go to do a lot of destruction first. We’ve got to take out this building that houses – what is it? – The ArtsCenter and The Cat’s Cradle.”

Carrboro Alderperson Damon Seils said that members of The Board of Aldermen are definitely intrigued by Walmart coming to Carrboro.

“There’s plenty of interest on the board,” said Seils. “I know when we first heard about this, I immediately called the mayor, and we decided to have a meeting as soon as we could, to talk about what kind of changes we might need to make to the zoning map to make it happen.”

While support for a Walmart in Carrboro may seem out of character for the town, Seils assured WCHL that it’s not.

“We need to respond to the needs of the market, and create the kinds of jobs and consumer goods that the people of Carrboro have been asking for,” said Seils, “and I think Walmart fits the bill.”

Former Carrboro Mayor Ellie Kinnaird told WCHL’s Ron Stutts more about the development on the Morning News. Listen to the interview below:

 

And the zoning changes Seils alluded to could be significant, especially if Walmart moves as close to Carrboro’s border with Chapel Hill as Slick envisions.

His preliminary plan for that scenario includes routing Rosemary Street around Yeargan’s Top Notch Automotive, and routing traffic behind Carr Mill, all to accommodate a larger parking lot for Walmart.

Another part of that plan would be to cut off Franklin Street so that it doesn’t, as Slick puts it, “transform awkwardly into Main Street like it does today.”

“So that’s actually going to move traffic very much more effectively than it does right now,” said Slick, “without all of the confusion – ‘Where does Chapel Hill end? Where does Carrboro begin?’

“There’s a lot of confusion about that now. We’re gonna know for sure: Carrboro begins with Walmart.”