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There's good news and there's bad news. Good news: Wal-Mart won't be moving to Union Square. Bad news: They're still eyeing Manhattan. (If you're a big box supporter, adjust accordingly.) The NY Post that "The company's real-estate scouts have also been roaming the area around 620 Sixth Ave" (which Curbed points out is part of "the Ladies' Mile building with T.J. Maxx and Bed, Bath & Beyond"). We asked Reverend Billy, who recently announced he's running for Mayor under the Green Party, what he would do to stop this madness:
Wal-Mart tries to come here—well it's a good thing for New Yorkers because we're waking up in a city that's been asleep and soon we'll all be awake and Bentonville will never know what hit it. We need Wal-Mart to keep the knives of our conscience sharp. Wal-Mart is a war-mongering company—we call them WAR-Mart, since for election after election they showered Bush with money. They were the biggest donor to Republicans through several election cycles. Their union-busting is famous, of course—the red phone in the middle of the store that workers are supposed to pick up and spy on any possible organizing. Come on, Wal-Mart in New York City? DEVIL GET THEE BEHIND ME! As Mayor, I will take that company to the LAKE OF HELLFIRE!Doesn't this epic battle between good and evil sort of make you want Wal-Mart to sign the lease though?
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Wal-Mart is specifically mentioned in The Book Of Revelations.
How snobby, classless, ignorant and ungrateful can New Yorkers get? With the city's economy in the toilet, you'd think somebody would at least show a modicum of appreciation for a company looking to invest locally and provide a few jobs.
If you were on the Titanic you'd probably insist on a designer life preserver or none at all.
Oh come on. You think Wal-Mart is going to save the city's woes? It will do more harm than good. Wal-Mart's business model is particularly tailored for rural places. In urban places, it actually is more of a leech than a help.
And what kind of amazingly lucrative jobs will your beloved Wal-Mart bring? If jobs are your only angle, please wake up.
Reading comprehension clearly isn't your strong suit. I never wrote anywhere that Wal-Mart was going to "save the city's woes." (Why do woes even need saving anyway?)
How unthoughtful, greedy and short-sighted can ides of march get? Wal-Mart would provide a few jobs in the city at the ultimate expense not only of much of the charm and originality that makes new york great, but of the countless local businesses and their employees who will be put out of business, and the massive outsourcing that not only hurts NYC but the country as a whole. Bottom-feeder economics doesn't work. It screws over manufacturers, retailers, and ultimately the general public in the long run.
So don't shop there.
How much "charm and originality" is there in boarded up store fronts?
I don't shop at Wal-Mart mainly because I don't like to buy stuff made in china and I don't like wandering endlessly in any store large enough to fit a 747. But I don't throw a hissy fit if other people want to spend their money there.
"How snobby, classless, ignorant and ungrateful can New Yorkers get? With the city's economy in the toilet, you'd think somebody would at least show a modicum of appreciation for a company looking to invest locally and provide a few jobs.
If you were on the Titanic you'd probably insist on a designer life preserver or none at all."
You only throw a hissy fit if people don't want to shop there?
Posting a comment on a news website that invites commentary hardly qualifies as a hissy-fit.
Make-believe clergymen with bull horns hurling verbal fire and brimstone at a retail outlet falls more squarely into the hissy-fit realm.
"How much "charm and originality" is there in boarded up store fronts?"
And are you suggesting that Wal-Mart would prevent boarded up store fronts?
I have yet to see a Wal-Mart that did business with boarded up windows.
I wasn't saying it would be wal-mart with the boarded up windows, and I do agree that Rev. Billy is pretty crazy
From the same Frontline people that did "Inside The Meltdown": http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/view/
Very interesting if you have time to watch it.
I agree that interest in investing in NYC is a positive in general, but that doesn't automatically make the Wal-Mart deal a positive.
A big box like Wal-Mart has the potential to displace a lot of jobs in that neighborhood by forcing smaller, non-chain stores out of business.
I'm not talking about liking or disliking the Wal-Mart brand, but the impact a store like that will have on businesses and the neighborhood's charm/personality.
Plus, we have K-Mart down the street at Astor Place - why do we need a Wal-Mart too?
As a resident in Union Square, I'm glad that Wal-Mart is not moving there.
I remember the days when Union Sq was desolate. No businesses, theaters, markets, cafes, or many pedestrians for that matter. Plenty of bums, winos and drug dealers though. The only reason for going to the area was the occasional rock concert at the Palladium.
I recall those days as well. Union Square was a haven for drunks and drug addicts. This Reverend character would have been mugged immediately back then. There were Army Navy Stores and a filthy pool hall right by the Palladium. The site where that god awful movie theater is located was an abandoned lot. Someone used to hang neck ties on the chain link fence. My favorite bar, the Dugout, was right next door to the Variety Photoplays theater. God forbid a box store detracts from the charm of Ricky's, Trader Joes, and the NYU housing around there.
Dont forget about detracting from the Staples, Petco, Barnes & Noble and the 2 Starbucks.
You left out those quaint little shops like McDonald's, Taco Bell/Pizza Hut, Quiznos, Walgreens, Whole Foods, Filene's Basement, Best Buy Mobile and Babies R Us. Only in New York, kids!
Wal-Mart might want to consider the site of the NY stock exchange. If the stimulus package gets any more stimulating, it will probably collapse and fall through the earth's crust soon enough.
The irony of a Walmart opening in UNION Square would probably cause every hipster within 20 miles to explode. That would be a plus in my book.
We might as well add the many bank ATM locations to this list of things that illustrate why Union Square is not charming.
Does this mean that you would have supported Wal-Mart moving into that space?
I think there are a lot of people who have no personal memory of NYC before the economic recovery of the early 1990's when most retailers and businesses were anxious to flee; when even hard-boiled Yankee fans never dared to attend an actual game in the Bronx. They only have this romantic vision of a gritty, edgy city without the unpleasant aspects.
No doubt Walmart would lobby the city government starting day1 to rename it Union-Free Square
You win for best comment on this story!
Never been to Walmart and couldn't care less for Rev. Billy either... but I wonder if people who decry Walmart actually visit many local businesses. Apart from restaurants, I can't think of many I myself visit... C-Town? Duane-Reade or CVS?
Yes many of the storefronts directly facing Union Sq are chain 'big-box' stores, but in the surrounding blocks there are dozens of neighborhood hardware stores, book stores, office supply stores, etc. - All of which would be threatened by underpricing of WalMart.
So they would be threatened. Maybe they would change their business model to be more competitive, maybe not...
But everybody is happy to have Whole Foods in the nabe, despite the fact that it is even more anti-union than Wal-Mart and its founder John Mackey has even stated what an admirer of wal-Mart he is.
How many of those Mom n Pop stores are unionized?
Wal-Mart will have more employees than those stores it could theoretically close and they would get paid better and probably get healthcare before Barack gets it to them. The displaced local store jobs is a myth you cannot back up with numbers. But hey you're right, we should continue to get screwed by the local hardware store with it's insane prices so he can continue to pay some other schmuck minimum wage to work there.
Wal-Mart will have more employees than those stores it could theoretically close and they would get paid better and probably get healthcare before Barack gets it to them. The displaced local store jobs is a myth you cannot back up with numbers. But hey you're right, we should continue to get screwed by the local hardware store with it's insane prices so he can continue to pay some other schmuck minimum wage to work there.
must a city as fine as New York be reduced to one large strip mall from one end to the other? wal-mart?!! we don't need no stinkin' wal-mart! leave the chain stores to the suburbs and interstates & let's get back to what draws everyone to NYC to begin with - local, authentic neighborhood shops & restaurants. keep NYC distinct. go Rev. Billy!
At least they'll get minimum wage at Mom & Pop. One of the whole evil aspects of Wal-Mart is that they treat their employees like dirt. The reasons the prices are so low is because they cut costs in every way possible. It is impossible to compete with a company that doesn't spend a dime on their workforce. Once all the other stores are closed down by Wal-Mart, people will have to get a job with a company that will guarantee to keep them below poverty level.
http://wakeupwalmart.com/facts/#wages
I work for walmart for 15 years. Dont listen to the lies. I get paid well as an hrly. I have medical and dental. I also will have a job next week, will you?????????? Wal mart is the ONLY retail doing good out there and we get are bonus every 3 months. Do you??? You can say all you want about wal mart but I rather pay $1.79 at wal mart for the same gallon of milk at pathmark for $3.69 eggs .99 ,cleaning supplies you can not get name brand any cheaper. So say what you want about wal mart. I work for them and I am Proud of all they do for there communities, what they do for our troops what they did for 911. please you only talk bad wal mart does more good than bad. you dont know for they dont tell you that on the news. We still send to our troops WE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN THEM AND WHY THEY ARE THERE. So talk all you want but if you want to know about the truth stop into your local wal mart and ask. I love working for walmart and am proud of all they do. SEE YOU ALL AT WAL MART