By Staff
Dear Editor:
Editor,
In this week's paper, there was a list of stores in the Atmore area that carry goods that shoppers of the local Kmart might find themselves needing or possibly having to travel out of town for once Kmart closed down. The Chamber of Commerce was glad to provide a list of its members that carried goods that former patrons of Kmart might need.
Not once did I see in the article the cost difference in the articles listed. I made a few trips to the mentioned shops just for some price checks.
To purchase items at Kmart would run about 40 to 70 percent less than purchasing them at the other mentioned shops in the Atmore area. It's not that we can't get what we need in Atmore – it's we can't afford what we need in Atmore. A trip to Pensacola still saves more than you do if you shop in the aforementioned shops.
The jobs have disappeared. The incentives of a good education and safe places to bring up our families have vanished. The appearance of a thriving town has gone the way of so many small towns, and in it's place is a sad little ghost of a former thriving bedroom community of 50 years ago.
I don't know if there is any hope for Atmore. I don't blame Kmart for pulling out. After almost 70 years in this area, I and my family are making plans to follow. We will miss our friends but the needs of our children have to come first.
I foresee an exodus of many of Atmore's citizens as things get worse, unless the elected officials get things together and make Atmore what it was in the past. I wish all of you the best.
Rhonda J. Gibson