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As construction on a new Wal-Mart super center begins in Garden City, a nearby gentlemen's club has closed its doors, and neighbors wonder if the big box store paid off the Pink Pony Gentlemen's Club to go away to keep up with its image.
From a taxicab driver to a gas station attendant to a couple of neighbors, the word on the street is, yes.
But the property's owner denied the hostile takeover scenario some in the area have painted.
"As far as I know, Wal-Mart has nothing to do with it," said Jean Morrison who owns the building and other properties on the four-acre lot on Highway 17 business.
The Pink Pony Gentlemen's Club opened 12 years ago, and Morrison said club management told her the economy is forcing the club to close for a while.
Morrison said the lease agreement allows the Pink Pony's owner to sublet the lease, something that may have happened, Morrison said. But she said she's still in the dark about the situation and should know more by next week.
Terrence Piette lives in a neighborhood behind the club and has heard the rumors of Wal-Mart allegedly sending the Pink Pony to pasture.
"It's probably not good for their image ... to have a strip club right across the street from their store," Piette said.
Piette said he's not against Wal-Mart and is actually looking forward to the store, and he doesn't think a strip club would hurt the retail giant.
"I don't see how it's going to stop anybody from coming and shopping at Wal-Mart. Every time you go by a super center, their parking lot is jammed full of cars."
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