Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

They show enough commercials in NYC, Sonic too! Bring in Sonic, Bring in Sonic!!!

'efforts to mobilize local political support' = contribute to campaign funds of local officials (bribe)

Walmart is taking over! Seriously though, Walmart can be quite convenient at times!

@metsarethe...: Sonic is tough in a city. It's a drive-in. There's a couple in NJ and they've just started expanding into New England

There's an IKEA in Manhattan? I thought the only one in the city was Brooklyn.

Obligatory Youtube link:

@sven.kirk: As opposed to the union officials and 'small' business leaders that do the same?

Reminds me of this by Todd Barry.

Some New Yorkers were pissed off when Kmart came to town. They were outside the store protesting. They didn't even know what to say. They were like, 'Down with Kmart and their merchandise that people can afford. Down with Kmart and their 300 gallon drum of laundry detergent for 99 cents. Why don't you go take your good values to another town?'

[www.jokes.com]

Wal Mart pretty much just wants to open everywhere. they have 2 stores within 30 miles of us and a town that's 15 miles away is getting a second, bigger, Wal Mart. there are also plans for my town to get one but alas no construction has begun.

@chiieddy:

I think the "in the middle of Manhattan" is designed to modify the JC Penney only, not the whole sentence.

Since this is entirely related, The People of Walmart!

Walmart doesn't care about black people.

I don't know where to stand on this one. On one hand, it's gonna hurt small businesses, and maybe take away from the character of certian places. On the other hand, it could be good for some places, especially Philadelphia (in the center of the city itself..there are several Wal-Marts and Targets once you get out of the downtown areas), where your choices are pretty limited to the shady corner bodega or a run-down Kmart. Hell, if they want to open a store and create some kind of jobs in this economy, let them. Good luck getting a job with some kind of benefits at the run-down bodega. I have a feeling there is going to be a lot less opposition compared to 4 or 5 years ago. And have you ever seen prices on basic items in NYC? Maybe Walmart can bring all the other shady and/or rip off stores in line.

@kateblack:

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr."

I agree completely. Inner city residents pay higher prices than they need to. It's been a damn shame for a long time that WalMart has not set up shop in a place where they could liberate the economically disadvantaged people with limited transportation and older people on a fixed income from the confiscatory pricing of the local stores.

This will do more to improve these people's lives than all of the Hope & Change giveaway programs that you could stuff in a dump truck.

@metsarethe...: I am so tired of seeing Sonic ads. I thought it was just Western, NY getting hit by those. They are on all the time and there isn't a location in site. I am so sick of seeing them that when they finally do open a location I won't even have a desire to go to it.

Creating jobs for the unemployed in Chicago? I don't see a down side to this.

@mbz32190: Yes just what the forefathers wanted when they started forming this country. Life, Liberty and a downtown walmart for all.

That's funny. I find things at Meijer for less than what Walmart sells for.

Oh, great, another factory outlet for Chinese sweatshops which abuses employees and hardly pays them jack shit.

Where's a nice healthy-sized "Black Bloc" when you need 'em? Happy anniversary, Seattle/WTO.

@gqcarrick: for a time, Sonic was the largest national cable ad buyer. Even though they aren't everywhere, they felt the need to buy cable on a national level. I used to get very excited when I'd head down south and be near a sonic, it was as fun treat once a year. Now there is one a mile away from me, since it opened about a year ago, I've been there twice.

i always wondered where wal-mart or other big stores would fit in a metro like NYC. i know, build up, smash the mom n pop store to get their space, but c'mon. MY wal-mart in the south covers at least 4 city blocks. top that.

@gqcarrick: yeah, pretty much... they wanted freedom, including freedom for businesses to operate legally in areas they feel they would be profitable.

@flugennock:

Oh , horseshit.

I'm sure in a former life you owned a nice big cotton plantation where you decided what was good for the workers because they couldn't figure it out for themselves. (You also provided affordable housing ,basic medical care and nutritious food).

Thank God that the people at Walmart (and other companies ) laugh at people like you and scrupulously avoid your arrogant ,selfish advice.

I grew up in the south. I remember what it was like before WalMart came to town. Prices were high.Local kingpins often owned the only real store in town. Selection was minimal. Take it or leave it was the only "choice" that retailers offered.Life is better now ,not because there is a Walmart to shop in ,but because they made everybody else so much better.I am really glad that these peope in the big cities will experience what we went through when prices fell- A better life.

You can take your moralizing and stick it where the sun don't shine.

@metsarethe...: Totally over rated. We finally got them here and they were great for the first few weeks. Then the food went to crap. Rancid filthy fry grease does horrible things to the digestive system.

Ugh. Walmart. Here in San Antonio, the only options to shop at, really, are Walmart and HEB. HEB did a Walmart and drove all the grocery stores outta town. But HEB jacked up the prices after that. Im guessing no one knew that was coming, now that HEB is pretty much the only source for groceries? Evil!!!

@AppleAlex: Target finally opened a second store in Sioux Falls. It is right around the corner from the 2nd Walmart in town that had been in that location for about five years.

That Walmart saw Target as a serious threat. They had a "re-grand opening" and were hitting up local media for any attention.

It is a wonderful thing to see a Walmart location feel threatened.

I'm surprised there hasn't been a Buy n Large reference here.

@VeritasNoir: Paying people to break windows and repair them would be more productive. At least they would acquire a skill

@pb5000: Yes, that is exactly what our agrarian forefathers were after.

If Walmart wants to make inroads into urban areas, I think they need to rethink their approach. I remember when they made the transition from plain-old-walmart to "Super Walmart" (now all the Walmarts are Super Walmarts). I think they need to do that again, but on a bigger scale. Make the store an experience (think Mall of America crossed with Harrods of London). If you did this successfully in one city (probably NYC, but maybe Chicago or Boston), it would be much easier to do it elsewhere.

Note that this is just my opinion on a successful strategy Walmart could use, and I am aware that I am ignoring entirely the question of whether or not this would be a good thing.

Since nobody has said it yet, THAT PICTURE IS FREAKING ME OUT.

And my husband walked by my screen and said, "What the hell is that happy face doing?"

OK, *who* thought of the happy face? Why didn't you think of the Stay-Puft marshmallow man instead?

@kamikasee: Could walmart pull off an "experience" though? They would certainly need something to compete in NYC, but other than a giant smiley merry go round, I dunno...

and where the heck would they put one in Manhattan? I was impressed when they squished Toys R Us into Times Square, and am more impressed knowing that they're going to jam a Disney Store in there too, there's just not a whole lot of open space..

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!):

Again ,you are right-O.

Our founding fathers would have been appalled at "regular ,everyday people " making economic decisions without clearing it with more knowledgeable , wise people (like yourself ,of course).

I am just thankful that I live in a nation that is full of people that have the courage to tell me that if I don't shop at a place that they approve, I'm an idiot.

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): I kind of want a poster-sized version to hang on my office door and frighten passersby with.

@dohtem: Oh yeah!!! One of my favorite Twitter folks. And who says you can't get good things via Twitter.

While I dislike many of Walmart's practices (especially on the corporate level), I won't be opposed to Walmart's entry within New York City limits provided that:

1) They strictly limit themselves to three (or fewer) location(s) within city limits.

2) Those three locations are placed in neighborhoods in the outer boroughs where there are a lot of residents, but very few existing retail stores within reasonable walking distance. (I know of a few neighborhoods where this situation applies and I think those are the very same neighborhoods that could potentially benefit from the change)

3) They work with the city to handle traffic and all that.

Ummmmm we have a walmart in Philadelphia. And it's a shithole.

Walmart needs to do some research so that when they select a politician to buy, it's one that stays bought.

For a location, how about the Virgin store in Times Square?

@TheUncleBob: Well, everyone has an agenda. What do you expect from people?

@need2know: I'm trying to picture a Manhattan mixed in with Walmart.

@VeritasNoir: Even more important, raising the effective wages for everyone else. Even if you don't shop there, they push prices down and hence increase the purchasing power. The poor, because they spend a much larger fraction of their income on commodities and groceries (as opposed to cars and vacations and whatnot), benefit the most from this price reduction.

@flugennock: The status of Chinese employees is a problem for the Chinese government, not American consumers. It's not like the Chinese government ever has any problem implementing their decisions or that lawlessness pervades

It's their business, let them handle it the way they see fit.

@Snarkysnake: +1 cool points!

I don't approve, but let them go in the old Virgin store in Times Square, they more than enough money to use that place.

there aren't and never were many kmarts in nyc. and yes when they came in, smaller retailers did go away. not to say it was completely kmarts fault, they were struggling for a while (in the early 90s) and kmart just timed it correctly.
walmart can come in and also displace smaller businesses that have probably been struggling for a while. would it be totally walmart's fault probably not, but it would be the nail on coffin for many.
the city's real estate is crazy regardless of the economy at large. walmarts will have to be in the outer outer boroughs, like ikea, it will not be easy to get to.
staten island has been lobbying for a walmart for years. it's still hard to imagine how it will play out. the land is scarce and population dense with far more options than the usual walmart locales (where they came in as the only game in town). this is as good of a chance walmart will get. i don't know if it will ever payout like they want it to, unless they are just in it for status.

@dohtem: I remember that from the album. Hilarious.

@mbz32190: the prices for basic items are different neighborhood to neighborhood in nyc. where i like in brooklyn, i have a cvs, rite aid and walgreens within an 8 street stretch. along that 8 streets i also have a super market, a fruit cart, 3 produce carts, 2 pizzaerias, 4 restaurants, 2 bodegas/news stands, 2 photo stores, 2 shoe stores and more businesses i dont want to bother listing. they include clothing stores, furniture, delis/bakeries, not mention businesses within the next 5 streets up this one avenue, or 3 avenues over, or a few stops away by subway. a lot of these businesses are immigrant owned.

the point is where i am i have plenty of businesses with cheap items within walking distances. i also go out further into the city to buy other things. walmart can't lure me out to buy cheaper toilet paper if it means i have to get someone to drive me. ikea on the other hand is far more enticing.