John Besio

John Besio told a crowd of about 20 people that the company chose the Rifle site south of Interstate 70 out of about six in the region.

"It came down to convenience for the customers in our trade area," said John Besio, Wal-Mart's Midwest community affairs representative."This was the most convenient site.You also have things like land cost, access, whether the footprint of the supercenter fits and visibility, too."

Besio estimated those living in the Rifle trade area made close to $18 million in check transactions at Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction Wal-Mart-owned stores last year.He noted that did not count cash transactions, all of which could be spent at the Rifle store.
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"We'll help any retail business out there to identify niche opportunities that Wal-Mart doesn't address," Besio said.

"We're committed to opening new stores, not shutting them down," he said later.

Repeated messages and attempts to speak to John Besio, Wal-Mart community affairs coordinator for the upper Midwest, went unanswered.