From Crain's:More than two years after Wal-Mart's bruised chief executive wrote off opening a New York City store as not “worth the effort,” the Arkansas-based giant is back in the hunt, scouting out potential locations.
The company's search is citywide, with a focus on the outer boroughs. Executives feel the recession makes this an ideal time to enter the city.
“Now, more than any other time in recent memory, New York City residents want and need better access to our stores so they are not forced to travel to New Jersey or Long Island to benefit from the savings Wal-Mart provides for working families,” wrote a spokesman, Philip Serghini, in an e-mail message. “Hopefully we will be able to bring a store to New York in the near future.”
43 comments:
maybe? they're here...they own the "family dollar" chain, like the one on myrtle and 72nd st in glendale.
How about locating it at the former Caldor's site in Flushing which has been vacant for over a decade now?
But those "white bread" managers probably wouldn't want their Walmart in the middle of a "crappy little Chinatown" (as Wellington Chen once described it in the press).
Burlington Coat Factory opted out on opening up a Main St. site years ago.
Thanks to the greedy Mehran real estate family who owns it...we got the Hong Kong Market instead because they were willing to pay a few dollars more in rent each month.
Walmart's failure to have a store in NYC is another example of how unions are killing this city.
Brian Mc Laughlin fought vigorously against Walmart opening up a store...wasn't it in Queens?
Maybe city council candidate John Choe can arrange for Walmart to open up a store in North Korea with a sister branch in Flushing.
Walmart's failure to have a store in NYC is another example of how unions are killing this city.
what a moronic remark..how about walmart killed the country you stooge. you like getting paid $8 and hour with crap benefits?? you like buying everything from soup to nuts from china?? you like the fact that customer service and personal relations with store clerks have gone down the drain. typical white collar republican moron who only cares about himself.
Not having a Walmart is killing the city???
Typical insanity. I mean inanity.
In a free country, a company can open a store wherever they believe there will be a market for one. We typically are allowed to shop where we please. If we have an issue with it being anti-union, or selling goods from foreign lands, then we will not patronize it.
Don't understand the issue.
And...Walmart is the only store in the country that is not unionized and sells crap from China.
You're all hypocrites.
Why should someone make more than $8/hr to stock shelves or work a cash register? Funny, Home Depot has stores all over the place and no one is protesting.
The problem are the mindless sheep that go to walmart and purchase there chinese goods. In a free society dum-ass people still have to be protected from themselves. Most americans do not understand the issue because they never graduated 8th grade. And the rest (self interest a-holes) look the other way as long as it "feathers there nest"
Walmart will provide more jobs than Mike Bloomberg's 5-Borough Economic Stimulus Plan. Guaranteed.
We have communist running for Council in District 20 so maybe we should open it there.
"The problem are the mindless sheep that go to walmart and purchase there chinese goods. In a free society dum-ass people still have to be protected from themselves."
Why hasn't congress passed a law forbidding trade with Communist China? Isn't that the real issue? Since I was a kid, just about everything you pick up has "made in China" stamped on it.
Thank you President Clinton!
Thank you President Bush!
Thank you President Obama!
Altruists of the world, read [if you can] Ayn Rand's opus, "The Virtue of Selfishness" for a proper metaphysical perspective on how to view existence.
All hail to the Ego!
Let's see.
The people who write that if "rich Republicans didn't use illegal alien labor, they wouldn't come here" are probably the same ones who hate Walmart. Although if the common man didn't buy inexpensive goods at Walmart, they wouldn't be in business. So maybe they actually do believe in personal responsibility.
The reason why Walmart buys Chinese goods locally is because its cheaper. The reason why Walmart buys Chinese goods for their American stores is because its cheaper. The reason why they want cheaper is because WE want cheaper. So they are just a manifestation of our desire to have cheap goods and plenty of them. So give Walmart a break. They are just serving us and if you don't like that fact maybe you don't like us.
Why does Target get a pass? They buy Chinese stuff. How about other big retailers? Is this Walmart's problem?
I would love to have a Walmart in Queens. What about the Metro Mall or Rego Park (near Sears)? I drive out to Long Island to shop there. They have everything. The middle class is struggling. You get more bang for your buck at Walmart and they have everything. What ever happened to Free Enterprise. If you don't want to shop at Walmart, then don't. I know if Walmart was built in Queens it would be packed to the rafters with shoppers. The name of the game is affordability.
Yey! I love Walmart!
The reason the middle class is suffering is because of store like wal-mart you nitwit. kiss all your manufacturing in this country goodbye..hell we even import canned peaches from china.
i love walmart...
the issue is that it destroys local businesses.
there is no way a local hardware store, local grocery or deli will be able to compete once a walmart moves next door.
No one should fight his anymore because it's a waste of time. Wal Mart is selling stuff New Yorkers want. The old-school housewares and variety stores are long gone. Home Depot is finsihing off hardware stores. Let them come to NY, and we can move on. Convert all the former retail to housing and be done with it.
Bring in a Wal Mart superstore and then say goodbye to your locally owned businesses. Their unfair retail strategies are well documented. Wal Mart, in the long run, forces consumers to spend more, not less.
This is not a question of being anti-union; it's an issue of being anti-consumer and pushing your costs of doing business on to the public. I don't plan to patronize a store that has a policy of telling its underpaid employees, who are forced to work part, to apply for Medicaid. If you relish picking up the bill for a mega corporation's employees because they're just too cheap and selfish to provide insurance, then, by all means, shop away.
BTW, $8 per hour in NYC is a lot of money for doing back-breaking work? Let's hope he unions have a field day with a NYC Wal Mart.
apparently only white color people are entitled to make a decent living pushing there paper around.
If you don't want to patronize Walmart, then by all means don't. Lots of people want Walmart. As for the mom and pop stores and small businesses, they've been gone for a while. Home Depot, Target, Costco, BJ's and K-Mart took care of that. If you don't want to shop at Walmart - DON'T. Don't ruin it for the rest of us.
"you like getting paid $8 and hour with crap benefits??"
Who's forcing anyone to work there? These types of jobs are typically done by teenagers, college kids, or retirees. If you choose it for your full-time, decades long career, then the problem isn't Walmart, pal.
Employers don't owe workers anything except a paycheck. Benefits are uncommon for many people in many lines of work. If you work in a minimum wage job, you can't expect good benefits.
"$8 per hour in NYC is a lot of money for doing back-breaking work?"
Cashiering and customer service is backbreaking work? Stocking shelves requires a degree?
"I don't plan to patronize a store that has a policy of telling its underpaid employees, who are forced to work part time, to apply for Medicaid."
Exactly. Don't. If enough people follow your lead, Walmart won't stick around long.
Ever stop to think that Walmart provides jobs for people who otherwise wouldn't be employed at all?
Walmart is what has killed the American Economy.
The mom and pop stores, primarily, aren't that good anyway - so they won't be missed. I'm not paying $7 for a box of cereal that I can pay $3 for at WalMart. Big boxes have their own agenda, no doubt, but at the end of the day the consumer will rule and WalMart will likely end up in all the Circuit City spaces in the outerboroughs.
I guess Walmart just found out that we are Sanctuary City.
I replaced a few words for you, Crapper:
"In a free country, a developer can build a condo wherever they believe there will be a market for one. We typically are allowed to live where we please. If we have an issue with it being too expensive, or poorly constructed, then we will not patronize it."
Don't undermine the whole point of your blog. Residents should have a say in what gets built in their communities, whether it's a big box store or Queens Crap. If they don't want it or if it's not in their best interest, it shouldn't get built.
"Residents should have a say in what gets built in their communities, whether it's a big box store or Queens Crap. If they don't want it or if it's not in their best interest, it shouldn't get built."
Who said it's going to be built? What if it just moves into a previous retail location like a K-Mart, Target, Home Depot, etc.?
We allowed those in without protest, I don't see how Walmart would be any different.
"In a free country, a developer can build a condo wherever they believe there will be a market for one."
No this is a lame argument. You can't restrict a developer from building a condo, but you can put limits on where he builds it, which also applies to stores like Walmart.
"If we have an issue with it being too expensive, or poorly constructed, then we will not patronize it."
Construction is regulated because it affects health and safety. The presence of a Walmart in your community does not. How is it worse than the other big box retail we have allowed in?
why bashing the union workers? i believe walmart is build non union, so stop bashing the blue collar workers, who deserve their benefits. unions keeps this city working and paying back into the taxes. why not go after companies who hire illegal and don't pay into proper taxes, health and disability. this is why america is falling apart. if all the millions that live here illegal paid into the system instead of raping it we may have ssi when we get older.
Actually this Walmart issue fits perfectly in Crappy's anti-diversity rhetoric. Walmart will completely whitify everyone.
Walmart is one of the reasons for the ruination of our country. Keep supporting 5 year old Chinese kids working in factories making all of the cheap items that are on their shelves.
While you are bashing Walmart, don't forget all the 99Cent stores and all their Chinese goods. How come there is no public outcry against them? They are all over the place and are always filled with shoppers. These stores are everywhere, and everyone is worried about Walmart coming to Queens.
I don't see how Wal-Mart is any worse than other big chains, such as Kohl's or K-Mart.
FACT: Many of the well-known brand products that are made in China and sold at Wal-Mart are USA Companies with Factories in China. Wal-Mart gets the best price because they have the power to do so as they are WAL*MART and all companies want their products in Wal-Mart Stores.
Mom and Pop business are History unless you offer a product or services that are unique and Wal-Mart cannot offer such as authentic Chinese food (service). Will Wal-Mart hurt Queens? NO, will it change Queens, YES. It is going to happen. I see a Wal-Mart built where the hurting Flushing Mall is, now that New World Mall has taken over the Caldor building on Main Street.
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