Manager at Amish Country Store: WalMart Doesn't Deserve a TIF

Amish Country Store, at 7580 Watson Road in Shrewsbury, has been selling furniture, flooring and home design services for decades.

It’s across Watson Road from the old Kenrick Cinema, part of the Kenrick Plaza Wal-Mart redevelopment.

In January, the St. Louis County TIF Commission rejected a request for $15 million in public financing. The commission’s decision was a non-binding recommendation to the Shrewsbury Board of Aldermen, and later in the month, the Shrewsbury board voted 4-2 to approve the TIF. 

That decision ended a long and contentious process, and began the process of redeveloping Kenrick Plaza.

Amish Country Store manager Evelyn Lageman said she doesn’t know much about the redevelopment, but offered an opinion on WalMart.

“You can quote me on this in any New York minute, if WalMart wants to go in there, pay for it yourself,” she said. “Don’t expect a tax increment. Maybe I’m rude, but that’s what I believe.

“I don’t get any breaks when I go out ant buy something. I pay for it, and I pay my taxes, and I expect Wal-Mart to do the same,” she said.

She added that she wouldn’t walk into a WalMart store if her life depended on it. 

Lageman said she’s heard a bank will be built where the theater was, but Shrewsbury hasn’t given them a schedule. 

“All I can say is Shrewsbury has the greatest police and fire department in the world. That’s all I can say for them now.”