City officials expect to get a closer look soon at plans for a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Mayor Curt Zimbleman said the retail giant has been looking at land off U.S. 83 on the south side of Minot.

"The plans are going before the Planning Commission at the next meeting," Public Works Director Alan Walter said. "They have everything ready - the storm water, the plat, the zoning. We've been talking with them on and off for a year."

Wal-Mart is already building Supercenters in Fargo and Dickinson and is considering two Supercenters in Bismarck.

In Minot, the retailer is proposing a 216,000-square-foot center that would include grocery, liquor and automotive services. That has some area businesses on edge.

"I'm quite sure it's going to hurt us," said Adolf Jundt, an assistant manager of Firestone Tire and Service Centers in Minot. "We'll have to play their pricing game."

Jundt says he still believes his business location, along with its agriculture and construction tire section, will keep customers coming in.

Ken Stone, a former Iowa State economics professor who talks to businesses worried about surviving Wal-Mart, said price is not always what brings in customers. They want convenience, he said.

"Businesses can learn to operate and still prosper with a Wal-Mart in town," Stone said. "One of the keys is to find a niche for yourself. Only you know what the community really wants."