Results tagged “walmart”

Looks like that temporary Walmart in Times Square last year may have been a sign of what’s to come for the city. The Financial Times reported today that the retail giant is finally ready to muscle its way into larger cities, including New York. "We already have in our real estate program a robust plan to go after those [urban markets]," Eduardo Castro Wright, the CEO of Wal-Mart's U.S. stores, told analysts

Earlier this year Reverend (and mayoral hopeful) Billy Talen told us, "Wal-Mart in New York City? DEVIL GET THEE BEHIND ME! As Mayor, I will take that company to the LAKE OF HELLFIRE!" Since then, the chain has been quiet, leaving one to assume they either got the fear in them, or they're assembling an army for the ultimate showdown. Now Crain's reports that the store is hunting for locations in the city again, this time focusing on all five boroughs. The store's spokesman said, “Now, more than any other time in recent memory, New York City residents want and need better access to our stores... Hopefully we will be able to bring a store to New York in the near future.” Along with Billy, local labor leaders and other elected officials are also against a Wal-Mart moving in, one saying, “The reality remains the same. Wal-Mart is not welcome in New York City, and it should not try to take advantage of these economic times to slither in.” And City Council Speaker Christine Quinn declared, “Until they make actual changes, providing a living wage and ending the practice of preying on small businesses, I will block any attempt to locate in the five boroughs.”

Nassau County prosecutors announced today that Wal-Mart will avoid criminal charges for any wrongdoing in contributing to the Black Friday stampede inside a Long Island store that left one employee dead and several others injured. Instead the retail giant will pay out nearly $2 million to community programs and create a fund to compensate victims injured amidst the chaos, as well as instill new crowd-control measures throughout local stores.

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!

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]

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen over 250 points as global economic concerns mount. The NY Times reports, "Shares on Wall Street skidded lower Tuesday morning, following a wave of selling in Europe and Asia, as investors expressed more doubts about the banking system and the fate of struggling American automakers."

On the final weekend shopping day before the holidays, the group Workplace Profit is holding a vigil and rally in front of the Valley Stream Wal-Mart where employee Jdimytai Damour was trampled to death on Black Friday. The vigil is being held at noon at the mall entrance at Sunrise Highway and Green Acres Road. The immigration activist group is pushing companies to have better training that what they see as the inadequate preparation given to Damour, who was not trained in either security or crowd control. Wal-Mart had no comment on the event since there is an investigation underway and there a lawsuit has been filed against the retail giant.

A lawyer representing two victims injured in the Black Friday Wal-Mart stampede that left an employee dead has called for control of the investigation be moved to the state attorney general's office. Attorney Bruce Baron sent a letter to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo saying that there is a conflict of interest in the Nassau police department investigating the incident since there is also a civil suit against the county for negligence in dealing with the trampling. Nassau police will continue on the case while Cuomo's office reviews the letter. Lieutenant Kevin Smith told Newsday, "We clearly believe we're a professional police department and we're investigating a matter of criminality here."

Nassau County police offered more insights on what caused a restless Black Friday crowd of shoppers to trample Wal-Mart worker Jdimyati Damour to death. Newsday had an explanation from Nassau Police Lt. Kevin Smith: Apparently people waiting and standing outside the store came into conflict with people waiting in their cars who wanted to cut the line once the store opened, "A whole lot of people started getting out of their cars and made a beeline for that door... It's definitely a contributing factor - the mentality of 'They're not going to cut in front of me.'" As for the lawsuit that Damour's family filed against the store, Wal-Mart said, "We consider Mr. Damour"--he was a holiday hire-- "part of the Wal-Mart family, and are saddened by his death. We have been in communication with members of his family to do what we can to help them through this difficult time. Our associates know that when incidents like this occur, we take care of our own."

The family of Jdimytai Damour, the Wal-mart worker killed in the Black Friday stampede, has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the retailer. Damour, a temporary employee hired at the Valley Stream store for the holidays, was trampled to death by shoppers who had been waiting for hours for Wal-Mart to open its doors at 5 a.m. Newsday reports that the lawsuit faults the store for not providing enough security and says Wal-Mart "engaged in specific marketing and advertising techniques to specifically attract a large crowd and create an environment of frenzy and mayhem and was otherwise careless, reckless and negligent." (You can see one Wal-Mart Black Friday ad here.) Other parties named in the suit are the realty company that manages the property and the security firm for the store; Damour's family "also filed notice saying it plans to sue Nassau County and the Nassau County Police Department."

An autopsy into the Black Friday death of an employee at Long Island Wal-Mart revealed that he was trampled to death. Newsday reports that Nassau County Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey said the finding showed Jdimyati Damour of Queens died of "positional asphyxiation."

Yesterday, the Wal-Mart in Valley Stream was open for business, a day after a worker was trampled to death by shoppers eagerly waiting for the big Black Friday sale. Newsday reports, "But for the spiderweb crack on the glass front door and the car tires rolling over fallen police crime scene tape as drivers searched for parking spots, there was little outward sign of the early-morning chaos" seen on Friday.

      

The Wal-Mart worker killed during yesterday's morning Black Friday sale stampede at the Valley Stream store was identified as 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour of Jamaica, Queens. Newsday reports that the Wal-Mart entrance doors were broken down by a restless crowd of 2,000 shoppers--many of whom had been waiting for hours--as workers were getting the store ready for the 5 a.m. opening. Damour, a temporary worker hired for the holidays, was pushed to the ground and trampled. Detective Lieutenant Michael Fleming, who is investigating the death, said, "This crowd was out of control," and "They overran him and kept running into the store. They pushed right over his body."

This morning, shoppers apparently broke down the doors of a Valley Stream Wal-Mart, and, in the process, trampled a Wal-Mart greeter to death around 5 a.m. The Nassau County police tell Newsday the store was a "mob scene" and that the worker was a temporary, part-time employee. One witness, Kimberly Cribbs of Far Rockaway, said that other Wal-Mart employees (some of whom were crying) asked shoppers to leave:

Though rumors circulated among the shoppers that someone had been badly injured, people ignored the Wal-Mart workers' requests that they stop shopping, move to the front of the store and exit, Cribbs said.

Continue reading "L.I. Wal-Mart Employee Killed in Black Friday Stampede"

Legendary rockers AC/DC have joined forces with...Wal-Mart? The big box store will set up shop in Times Square this week, but don't worry, it's just a temporary pop-up. Reuters reports that they'll also "have a truck roving around the city to celebrate the launch of AC/DC’s new album. On Saturday night, at the Times Square MTV store, Wal-Mart and MTV will unveil the 'AC/DC Rock Band store' and sell the first copies of the new album." And yet, they won't offer their music online.

At a breakfast forum this morning, Representative Anthony Weiner – a likely mayoral candidate – handed out a 5,000 word manifesto about how he would keep the city affordable for the middle class. The Sun has it that Weiner also used his half-hour speech to criticize the proliferation of big-box chains in New York, wondering, “What is the value of having a Wal-Mart on Queens Boulevard that wipes out economic development on the rest of Queens Boulevard. What is the value of saving 15 or 20% on that pair of jeans, in terms of creating jobs for the rest of Queens?” But the congressman also stressed that he's a "middle-class New Yorker.” And later: “I’m cheap.”

Where's Reverend Billy? That quote is from today's NY Times article about people trying to stop a Wal-Mart from coming to the Bronx. Nevermind that Wal-Mart hasn't officially said that they'd like to bring one of its store to the borough - activists are just making sure it never ever happens. This is in spite of the majority of Bronx residents saying they would welcome a Wal-Mart.

Londonist prepares a Happy Birthday bath for Buddah this week and then things get all cliched. A madman goes on a rampage while axe-wiedling and London's mayor warns an American diplomat to avoid the kitchen if the heat bothers him so much.