vidalia &8212; The prospect of Wal-Mart opening a store in Vidalia need not concern local businesses, Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland said.

&8220;If you get in your car and ride up and down Carter Street there may be one or two businesses affected, but I don&8217;t think it&8217;s going to be dramatic,&8221; Copeland said.

He estimated 80 percent of the business on the thoroughfare is comprised of fast food and convenience stores.

And those that are neither &8212; hair salons, payday loan stores, pawn shops, hardware stores repair shops &8212; don&8217;t appear to be in any danger from the retailing giant.

Those who would seem to have cause for concern are not the small businesses in Vidalia, but rather the medium-sized discount retailers and grocers.

&8220;They&8217;re hard to compete with, they&8217;ve got so much more buying power compared to independents,&8221; Vidalia Super Foods&8217; General Manager Glenn Cupit said.

&8220;Still, we&8217;re going to fight the fight.&8221;

Dollar General said it is too busy focusing on satisfying its customers to comment on the competition but hinted at its strategy.

&8220;We build convenient stores with clean, wide aisles to make it easier for our customers to get in and out,&8221; company spokesperson Emily Snyder said.

Representatives from Fred&8217;s, another major discounter in Vidalia, did not return a call for comment.

Barry Loy, retail operations director for Supermarket Operations, Inc., owner of the Vidalia Market, said in an interview Wednesday customer service and clean stores were an important part of retaining customers.

Vidalia officials have been in talks with Wal-Mart about building a store within city limits for months. After aldermen voted Tuesday to pass two resolutions &8212; one to allows town officials to enter into a cooperative agreement with Wal-Mart and the other to set a potential store with a commercial industry heavy user rate for utilities &8212; City Attorney Jack McLemore was confident enough to tell the board, &8220;Wal-Mart is ready to come to Vidalia.&8221;

But Wal-Mart played coy when reached by phone.

Senior Public Affairs Manager Kimberly Randall, whose region includes Louisiana, would not comment on specifics of store openings or closings, but did allow that the company was working in the area.

&8220;We do have a site in Concordia Parish we are assessing, but we do not have a definite plan at this time for the market.&8221;