Opinion by Richard Ducote: Supercenter goes south as Tucson boxes itself in

The big city is too sophisticated and, well, choosy to permit such a crass "big-box" establishment along its sunny boulevards.

Oh, you could go out to the West Valencia Road Wal-Mart Supercenter off I-19 and take a gander, if you're willing to brave the crowds. It's one of the busiest stores in the region for the world's largest retailer. It was built before Tucson's governing class came to the rescue and prohibited such establishments offering groceries on a grand scale.

For an up-close look at a new, state-of-the art consumer coliseum, drive down the road to the booming town of Sahuarita.

A new 188,000-square-foot example of retail efficiency opens today.

It's a lot of store for a town of 14,000 residents. But the town has grown by more than 300 percent in five years, and its population is projected to double in the next five years. Plus, the huge new store will draw people from nearby Green Valley, population 25,000, and lots of other settlements.

Thousands of new houses are planned for the area in the coming years.

The new store sits along Nogales Highway, which is the extension of Duval Mine Road east of Interstate 19.

It's just east of a now-closed Wal-Mart store, circa 1990, that was less than half the size of the new Supercenter.

The new store will double Wal-Mart's employee roster in the town to more than 400 workers.

It's the third Wal-Mart store opening for Juanita Juarez, co-manager of the new Supercenter. Her first job out of high school in Nogales, Ariz., was stocking the Wal-Mart that was opening in that city in 1989. She and some friends applied for jobs and were hired. "I didn't know what Wal-Mart was."

Through a progression of jobs at several Southern Arizona stores, she rose to her current position, one of three top managers at the new store with 430 employees.

Some of the workers are 15-year veterans of the old store next door, she says.

The store's exterior features more style and detail compared with the big, er, boxes of the past. It has more color and architectural appeal.

A large grocery section is a big part of the expansion, taking up about 45,000 square feet. Tucson's big-box ordinance would not allow even half that much grocery space in the gargantuan new store.

Inside, the store exhibits some respect for its location. Baffles under the huge skylights throughout the building will close at night. Natural light streams into the store during the day, helping to conserve energy. But closing the baffles at night prevents the interior lighting of the 24-hour store from bouncing into the night sky through the roof.

Sahuarita, about 10 miles from the telescopes on Mount Hopkins, has a strict "dark sky" ordinance governing lighting in the area.

To the town's leaders, the store is a big plus. "A large store offers more choice," says Jim Stahle, town manager. "It's a bigger employer and will bring more sales tax."

The store will pull shoppers, and revenues, into the town from miles around.

Town officials are hesitant about estimating the sales taxes that will be generated by the store, but a similar store in Marana that opened in 2003 was estimated to bring $1 million a year to the town.

That would have a big impact on Sahuarita, with an annual town operating budget of $15 million.

Fear not. Tucson will not have to contend with finding a place to spend an extra million or so from sales taxes generated by such a garish establishment.

The millions in future sales taxes from such a store would have little impact in the big city. We can afford to be choosy, I guess.

Talk of a new Wal-Mart Supercenter at Rita Ranch on Tucson's burgeoning Southeast Side has died down as of late. Tucson's big-box ordinance would make it nearly impossible for such a store to be built.

Some Tucson residents may choose to go to Sahuarita's newest retailer, thus taking their dollars out of town to support somebody else's services.

To experience the newest example of big-scale shopping, you're going to have to leave the big city.