A new Lowe's opens Thursday in Kill Devil Hills. While it brings 125 new jobs to the Outer Banks, some locals say it just doesn't belong there.
"It was a little beach, and then they built Food Lion, and they built the other Food Lion, and they built the Lowe's, and the movie theater and the Home Depot," says Scott Small, who has spent his whole life in the Outer Banks.
He hates to see his small beach town transform into a corporate tourist trap.
"Its not so good for the community in the long run. Development isn't always the best thing for a small town," says Small.
Sid Pashkow says the town transformed years ago when small local businesses couldn't compete with newer, bigger stores.
"There used to be three or four different small hardware stores. They're out of business now, and they had classic things that you couldn't find at a Lowe's or Home Depot," says Pashkow.
But the transformation hasn't been all bad. Barbara Getchell says the Lowe's and Home Depot bring something important to the community that people couldn't get at the small hardware stores.
"I think the year-round jobs and the benefits for the locals might outweigh that," says Getchell.
She says if the 125 new jobs don't get locals excited, come hurricane season, the extra building supplies will.
"We were hit by a pretty bad hurricane and we could have used a lot of supplies during that time," she says.
The doors will open tomorrow morning at 7:00.
