Builders are making good progress on the new Winner, SD Runnings store despite stifling heat and early rains. Of course, Winner propaganda ministry is spreading idea of what an unmitigated majestic amount of progress this is for the community and area. It may be true, but there is already a smaller store here. I am sure a much larger product situation will stimulate their trade and curiosity will bring people to town just to see it. The 60,000 sq.ft. size exceeds that of local Shopko store. Some local businessmen hope that more traffic to the new store will bring them more business as well. There may be more business for a time, but it will not last if local merchants think Winner isolation can continue to allow them to charge prices significantly higher than those available elsewhere or on internet. This is not 1965. The world has changed.
I suspect this will do some good for the community...at least more than redundant school gymnasiums and a wasteful swimming pool project ever did or ever will. Population has dropped here from around 4,300 when we moved here to something like 3,200 now. Rural Tripp county is similarly depopulated. A problem for all local busineses is the limited population in a circle around here that has a radius of half way to Rapid City, halfway to Pierre, and halfway to Mitchell. Going south into Nebraska, population is about one person per square mile.
Anyway, opinions on this will vary all over the map, and below is an image of what will be the front of the new building.
Click on image for a larger view.
A few population statistics which give an idea of the population that is within oval that is halfway to Rapid City, Pierre, and Mitchell. Tripp County 2015 5434 which is a drop from over 8,000 since 1970. Gregory County 2015 4201 which is a drop from approximately 7000 in 1970. Mellette County 2050 which is a drop from about 2500 in 1970. And for Todd County which is about 74% Native American 9959 which is a jump from about 6900 in 1970. The 2015 population total for the four counties is about 21,644. There are portions of other counties in the area, but they are next to I-90 and my guess is most of those people will take the better highways to Rapid City, Pierre, or Mitchell even if they are a dozen or so more miles than the trip to Winner.
***Stay tuned...probably more bitching about miserable dry hot weather---- Doug Wiken
Local events are also suffering from the declining population. I remember when the Labor Day carnival was huge, and it filled the street all the way past the Farmers State Bank building. These days, it ends around the old JCPenney building, and they keep bringing the same dumb rides every year. It's not the midway operators fault. The same traveling midway sets up a week earlier at the Rosebud Fair and they bring a lot more rides, including the ferris wheel.
If the Winner American Legion (I think they plan the Labor Day events) would substantially improve the Labor Day events and bring in more carnival rides and games, it would draw more people to town during the holiday since the nearest town that does any Labor Day events is Wagner, I believe.
About the Winner Pool... it's getting close to it's 10 year anniversary. Most times we drive by the pool on a summer day, it seems busy with the local kids having fun and staying cool. It seems communities all over South Dakota have been replacing their old pools in a similar fashion, with big fancy waterslides and other such water toys.
Even if the pool was built in a very wasteful manner (I did read your post from 2008 regarding the Winner pool vote), it would be interesting to investigate if the rebuilt pool has had any positive or negative effects on the community. It seems the kids are happy with it, but has the pool brought any of the benefits the city promised, if any were made? I only live a mile and a half out of city limits, so I never really knew about the project until it was in the paper.
On a final note, why are the Storms hanging on to the old JCPenney building? They use it as their personal party space. A new locally owned store could easily fit inside with a little remodeling work.
Posted by: Wade Brandis | Jul 21, 2017 at 08:36 PM