If all has gone according to plan, the “big-box” stores Wal-Mart and Home Depot are officially open for business at College Marketplace, also known as Olhava, in Poulsbo. First to open its doors is the roughly 100,000 square foot Home Depot, which opened Thursday, January 26 at 6 a.m. with a special “Neighborhood Night” set to run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, January 25, to commemorate the grand opening.

Hot on its heels is its other big-box neighbor, the 200,000 square foot Wal-Mart Supercenter, which planned to be open for business as of January 31.

The presence of such large, national retailers is quite a change for the North Kitsap area, and how these stores might change the surrounding communities and businesses has long been a topic of discussion. Once all the grand openings and celebrations are completed, and the area settles back into the day-to-day routine of doing business, how will these retail giants affect the area?

The 800-pound gurillas, Wal-Mart and Home Depot, are finally open for business at Olhava. What impact, if any, they will have on small, locally-owned firms is the big unanswered question.

“They are going to be part of our community and they are going to be good neighbors, I’m sure,” said Poulsbo’s new mayor, Kathryn Quade. But, she acknowledged, “I’ve listened to a lot of concerns.”

Quade, who describes herself as person who tends to see the glass as half full, and who sees opportunities where others may see problems, praised the merchants in downtown Poulsbo and other areas of the city for working together pro-actively to develop ideas and solutions that will mitigate any negative impact these large stores might have.

“I see this as an opportunity for them to become partners,” she said. Others in the area are not so positive.

“I think it’s a really sad comment on Poulsbo,” said Suzanne Droppert, owner of Liberty Bay Books in downtown Poulsbo. Droppert has been a vocal opponent of Wal-Mart’s impending tenancy, and believes strongly that she, and the other Front street retailers, are going to lose business now that the retail giant is a close neighbor, regardless of whether they carry competing merchandise.

“If they’re shopping up there, they’re not shopping down here,” Droppert said. “We’ve lost the opportunity for the sale.”

Dan Reilly, vice president of James Lumber and Ace Hardware in Poulsbo, is a bit more optimistic. He expects a slight decline in business after Home Depot opens, but is confident that most of that drop will be from shoppers curious to see the new store and that after a month or six weeks things will return more or less to normal. “Our service level is much higher,” he said. “We’ll see our regulars coming back in.”

He noted that the store has been adding to its inventory selection over the last couple of years, partially to be more competitive with the new Home Depot.

“It’s sad to see the continuation of the influx of the big-box stores,” said Rick Bjarnson, owner of the Thriftway in Kingston. Independent grocers can’t compete with giant stores like Wal-Mart Supercenters and their marketing and advertising capabilities, he said. Thriftway’s focus will remain the same, which is emphasize the quality of their meats and perishables, offer a range of organic and natural products, and continue to provide good, old-fashioned customer service — which, in many cases, includes knowing store customers by name.

“Am I concerned? Yeah, of course,” said Brad Watts, owner of Poulsbo’s Valley Nursery. “People shop at those stores.”

Valley Nursery could potentially be hit with a one-two punch of competition since both the Home Depot and Wal-Mart stores will have garden centers. In anticipation of less business, the nursery has been more conservative with inventory purchases, said Watts. He is hopeful that the nursery’s large certified horticultural staff will remain a draw to customers. Plus, he noted, Valley Nursery carries larger material and unique plants that you’d be hard pressed to find at Home Depot or Wal-Mart.

“We’ll concentrate on the things we do well,” he said. “Not everybody likes to shop in those stores.”.