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Future NYU students may be living in a Wal-Mart dorm one day! Okay, that's not quite true (yet!), but The Villager does have some news that isn't going to make many folks very happy, particularly Rev. Billy. The paper is reporting that as two prime storefronts in Union Square depart (Circuit City and possibly the Virgin Megastore), there's talk of some big-box stores moving in. They say a sales associate at a closing store tells them Wal-Mart has been snooping around and might be interested in taking over the space, and the company hasn't denied it either. Interesting. Last we heard from CEO H. Lee Scott Jr. he said, "I don’t care if we are ever here." And last year Rep. Anthony Weiner questioned the value of such a store in NYC. [via NYMag]
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True sign of the apocalypse.
Can't the Union Square Community Board stop that?
Noooooooooooooooooo!
So what was the point of gentrifying the area to now destroy it with trash.
Now hiring unemployed I-bankers as greeters.
The lines at that place would be longer than at the Trader Joes.
I've heard it's true. Megastore out this summer. Please god don't let Wal*Mart move in, though. It just seems so unholy.
Oh great, now I have to be inundated with "so I hear you guys are turning into a Wal-mart" every day now, too. Stop spreading false rumors gothamist. No one in the Virgin at Union knows when it's closing. No one.
Also, to the idiots who think that Virgin is just another big box store---it will be independently owned and operated once the Times sq store closes. Size? Big. Company? Small and struggling like your average independent record store.
I think this is great news.
Jobs. Tax revenues. Quality goods are low prices.
What exactly are the negatives?
Your sarcasm is wasted on the NYU youth.
The NYU youth will probably pick up the banner and lead the charge. However, many of them will need the part time work. I have no great love for Walmart, but they serve a purpose. They'll pitch community involvement as a bargaining tool.
A compromise would be Target.
I'm not being sarcastic at all. I fail to see the downside here.
Remember all that talk about NYC being "over"? I think this will finalize all that talk.
who cares what's going to fill those places? You didn't go to Circuit City or Virgin, you aren't going to go to WalMart either...
Thing is, these same people will happily shop at Target and Duane Reade, even though they're guilty of the same "crimes" Wal-Mart allegedly commits.
Target does not have a history of mistreating employees or asking for municipal subsidies.
Target's wages are as low as Wal-Mart's and they offer health care to a smaller percentage of their workforce. OK, as far as I know Target hasn't been caught locking in their employees overnight.
I think it's hilarious.
If you build it, they will come. Especially in these economic times.
For all the talk about how evil Wal Mart is, and for all of the agreeing I'll do with it...
(1) Big box stores are already there, so really what's the difference?
(2) Their shit is cheap, and people like cheap stuff, especially in expensive NYC
(3) Their business model is based on perfection and efficiency. Part of the negative attention they receive is a result of them being so good at what they do. If our government was run half as efficiently as Wal Mart, none of us would mind paying taxes
I've only spent $20 in my entire life at one Wal Mart in Pennsylvania, so I'm hardly a huge fan or desperate for their presence, but I don't think they get as much credit as they deserve.
If you don't like the way they treat their employees (which they have improved significantly since getting called out for harsh practices), then you might also want to consider how little money dishwashers and busboys make next time you go eat at your favorite restaurant.
"Part of the negative attention they receive is a result of them being so good at what they do"
Ummm, no. There's an entire documentary devoted to exposing WalMart's evils. You should check it out.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0473107/
That documentary was financed by the AFL-CIO who has an interest in Wal-Mart.
Here's a read for you.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/02072009/postopinion/opedcolumnists/fly_on_the_wal_154007.htm?page=0
make it a real WalMart, a WalMart SuperCenter
open 24 hours. maybe we don't need the auto care
dept with tires but a full service supermarket and butcher,
that we need.
keep it stocked day and night, people will come.
I bought everything from Aquarium fish to ping pong paddles at walmart. and ammo, too.
I say bring it. Walmart is a great place to buy everyday necessities. Maybe the competition will stop other retailers in this city from raping consumers simply because it’s New York.
Well, you're right that places are ripoffs, but part of it is because of the hideous rents in NYC.
Wal Mart has achieved economies of scale previously never thought possible, so I think it's slightly harsh to blame crappy little stores. However, given all the government intervention going on these days, I say bring on a retailer with ridiculously accurate prices without allowing NYC politicians to whine or community boards to intervene. Free market economics aren't all that bad even in times like these.
Despite the debate I started in posting #16, I'm truly curious as to whether or not a Wal Mart employee makes less than other big box employees? If the laid off Circuit City people get equal paying jobs at Wal Mart, what makes Wal Mart more evil than anyone else?
Again, I don't know if my rhetorical question is accurate or not, but I really don't see much of a difference between similar jobs at varying stores.
I thought NY was "over" when KMart hit town? Or was that when Giuliani was elected? Or maybe during the 89 crash? I forget.
I think you mean 87 Gecko...
There's KMart on 9th Street for years, so what's the big deal?
Those CC boys have been saying that shit since day 1!!! the space is WAY WAY TOOO SMALL FOR WALLMART or even an outpost of WALLMART!!!!
IT should be a bestbuy (right?!?) but if Virgin is on the block too then yes thats enough space for a true wallmart...
Hopefully this will never happen.
If you don't like Wal-Mart, don't shop there.
BUT It's so much more important and a value to society to complain about it on a site that won't have any impact anyway!!!!!!!
Really though, this is a great thing for this city as most 'islanders' have to trek to Targets (which is essentially the same store with slightly higher prices). And people tend to forget the most important thing: they wouldn't be thinking about putting something like that there if there wasn't a DEMAND and INTEREST. Just because a bunch of elititst (who I'm assuming have the money to spend $10+ on a pair of shoes...) don't like it.
really my biggest problem with wal mart is it's ugly. Target isn't. if wal-mart could rebrand, get a new logo and paint itself colors that didn't look like a soviet mental institution then I say 'howdy git er dun fart sports trucks poop fart nascar bluecollar farting chicken wings super bowl bibles chevy trucks godsmack football american flag patriotism fart'
This is good news. NYC is an overpriced cesspool & the bargains found at Wal-Mart will be welcomed by its patrons. That being said, it is "ugly" as Billiamsburg said.
please no
I would love it! I am so goddamn sick and tired of seeing shitty, overpriced pretentious clothing and specialty stores. The Virgin Megastore??? GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE. Circuit Shitty? Adios shithole. They are what ruined New York-not Walmart. They hired subhumans with major chips on their shoulders. Oh but the abuse of workers at Walmart!! Please... What about the abuse of the consumer at the hands of illiterate assholes who cannot speak coherently? Or the staff that looked so disinterested they couldn't even bother to stop snapping their gum to assist you? People are afraid of Walmart-I am not. I want to be there for the ribbon cutting ceremony. Who gives a hit if it is ugly? You don't have to live there-load up your cart and be on your way...
Now that I've thought it over, I'm not so sure that they really want to come here. The rents are outrageous, the help can be untrustworthy and the customers usually won't buy anything they can't take home on a bus. The Walmart store will need more space than Whole Foods for their grocery department. They will need more space for books and TVs and clothing. In order for them to do their thing, they'll need that whole block and cheap delivery service as well. Unless they're just looking for a billboard, I don't see that it makes sense.
However, on rare occasions, I have been wrong.
Wal-Mart just wants the free media backdrop for their crappy 'upscaled' product launches just like any Times Square tennant. But they do provide a valuable service...as a giant magnet for people who shoplift ladies underwear.
I hope they open a store in Union Square. It will be fun to watch all the lefties fall over from the brain hemorrhages.
It's official: Manhattan is lame!