A Perfect Example Of How Walmart Is Taking Over Small Towns

The Fairfield High School scoreboard in my Ohio hometown used to advertise local businesses. There was a big ad for Bigg's — a local grocery franchise — and smaller ads for Fairfield Pizza, Play-It-Again Sports, and more.

But in the summer of 2011, I visited Fairfield and noticed that the scoreboard was a solid blue and now advertised Walmart as the only sponsor.

There are four Walmart stores within 15 minutes of the high school stadium. One Supercenter is just a mile away from the old Bigg's store.

As of 2011, Bigg's had closed that location and all of its other stores around Cincinnati. The shopping mall where Bigg's was located, Cincinnati Mills, is mostly empty now, with many other local businesses shut down.

Here's a Google Street View image of how it used to look (other local sponsors are listed on the lower half):

And here's how it looks today:

When I asked a local mom how she felt about the scoreboard (which is the team color of rival Hamilton High School), she was supportive of Wal-Mart.

"They're great because they give a lot of money to the school and things like Gatorade and bottles," she said. "We're all thrilled with the sponsorship."