It's generally understood that "back in the day" (whenever that was) when Walmart was going through it's greatest period of expansion that Walmart would be able to enter an area and have a negative effect on existing businesses that didn't have it's advantages (massive corporate bankroll, improved supply chain, variety of offerings, etc). Eventually those business would atrophy, often closing. At this point, the local store had established itself and was able to behave in whatever manner it wanted (raise prices, lower wages, etc) because they had essentially become the only game in town.

At this point, as they are so entrenched, they probably behave in a very different way and have different needs.