[Blessed]

>So why do most communities continue to believe them? Why do local/state governments continue to give them concessions?<

Because the town that gives the concessions gets the Walmart for the region.The towns nearby loose the business.Their grocery stores and drug stores close and they loose the tax base.People who live in rural areas across the south have little choice but to shop at Walmart.If you notice Walmart is not a big presence in major cities where they get competition from other major competitors.
Walmart prospers where they can exploit pricing and convience advantages and over small local merchants.

[mlc9852]

Well, I don't know about any community but my own. Our local Super Wal-Mart built on property that had a dilapidated manufacturing building which had closed years ago. It was one of the first buildings you would see coming into the city on the interstate. Now there are several locally-owed businesses next to the Wal-Mart along with a couple of other chain stores and there parking lots are all usually pretty full. I haven't seen that any local grocery stores are going out of business and our local "green" grocery store has since opened a second location in town. I think Wal-Marts actually benefit a lot of communities and here they pay quite a bit more than fast-food places. And my favorite - they hire "older" people. A lot of places won't.

But that's just my personal observation.