Tim White, manager of the Ferry Farm Wal-Mart in southern Stafford County, said he keeps hearing the same thing from his customers.
"Day in and day out, every day since we opened, customer after customer wants to know when we're getting groceries," White said.
But things changed earlier this summer, when a plan to double the Washington Square Plaza store's floor space--to make room for groceries--went before the Stafford Board of Supervisors. Speaker after speaker urged the board to reject the expansion plan.
It would bring added noise and traffic, pollute the river and hurt local business owners, they said.
Charles Cooper, who lives near the store, was one of the few who spoke in favor of the plan. He believed supervisors weren't hearing the whole story. He decided to do something about it.
"People who come to Wal-Mart really aren't political, let's be honest," Cooper said. "They are raising families, trying to make ends meet, trying to make their budget stretch. They don't go out of their way to go to Board of Supervisors meetings."
Cooper feels strongly about supporting Wal-Mart because his son, Chuck, works there. Chuck has Down syndrome. Since the store opened, he has been in charge of corralling the shopping carts in the parking lot and pushing them back to the store.
"My son makes a reasonable salary. Chuck gets a $1,000 bonus every year; he gets vacation," his father said. "Wal-Mart treats its customers with dignity."
Cooper approached White about starting a petition shoppers could sign if they wanted to see the expansion go through. White said he had heard the same thing from other customers, so he set up a table at the front of the store.
After two months or so, the petition had collected 4,800 signatures from Wal-Mart shoppers. Cooper presented the petition to the supervisors last week.
Pete Fields, the supervisor who represents the Ferry Farm area, said that even before he received the petition, he knew some residents supported the store's plan.
"My sense is that half the people I represent love Wal-Mart and half the people I represent loathe Wal-Mart," he said. "The district is divided and I'm going to do the best I can."
Since the public hearing in August, Fields said, he has been working with Wal-Mart to ensure that the expansion won't create a noise nuisance for neighbors in nearby Tylertown.
He said he is also trying to come to an agreement with store officials about how much traffic the expansion is expected to generate and what road improvements would be needed to to keep traffic moving smoothly.
The store has been controversial since it was first proposed to be built on nearby Ferry Farm, George Washington's boyhood home.
After months of haggling, the store was approved for its present location to the east, and Ferry Farm was given to George Washington's Fredericksburg Foundation, which also runs Kenmore.
The expansion also has been controversial. Originally, environmentalists opposed the expansion. They said the store already had a long-standing storm-water runoff problem. They also protested having the addition jut into a buffer between the store and the Rappahannock River.
The buffer was part of the proffers agreed upon when the original store was built. Supervisors have to approve any changes.
When the Planning Commission told Wal-Mart officials that it would recommend against the proffer change, Wal-Mart went back to the drawing board.
The expansion plans were redrawn to stay out of the buffer. Store officials also agreed to abide by architectural guidelines the county set forth, scale back plans for signs, and mark a Civil War site that may be on Wal-Mart's property.
The company is also asking for a rezoning that would allow the company to build an extra parking lot to the west of the store. That rezoning is the only board approval needed before the expansion can begin.
And in a pinch, the store could be expanded even if the county didn't allow the extra parking, said Clark Leming, a real-estate attorney representing Wal-Mart.
"We would not have as much parking as Wal-Mart wants to have, but we'd have enough to satisfy the county ordinance," Leming said. "There will be a Supercenter there either way. We'll either work out our issues with Mr. Fields, or we'll build with less parking."
Leming said he's optimistic that Wal-Mart and the board can come to an agreement. The final agreement could go to the board for approval in late November, he said.
To reach RUTH FINCH: 540/720-1622 rfinch@freelancestar.com