CORPUS CHRISTI — At the front of a packed parking lot but steps away from the band playing and hundreds of the curious gathering, Lydia Martinez and Celia-Rae Hawkins were part of the growing line waiting to enter the new Walmart on South Staples Street.
Looking over the 182,000-square-foot store’s modern design, the women remarked on the eyesore it replaced: Parkdale Plaza.
“This is shinier. It grabs your attention even if you’re driving through there you can see it,” Martinez, who lives nearby, said, pointing to Staples Street.
On the day Walmart opened three new stores in Corpus Christi, Wednesday’s ceremony at Parkdale was a sign that the commercial life of one 17-acre pocket of the city has come full circle.
Parkdale Plaza was the place to be when it opened in 1957, redirecting shopper traffic a few miles down Staples Street from downtown.
Source: Corpus Christie Caller