The clock is ticking for everyone's favorite purveyor of Ham Bowls to open up shop in NYC: Crain's notes that after Walmart wined and dined us last summer, it's now acting all "Oh we'll call you next week." In two years, the company will likely have to deal with an anti-Walmart mayor (although Christine Quinn has flirted with the store), and polling may not be so generous, so it's crucial that they don't squander the goodwill. “Walmart doesn't know how to be a good winner," a "political insider" says. Will they finally bust out the Wet kiwi strawberry intimacy gel and consummate this thing? more ›

In addition to providing fantastic Rollback prices on that Chronicles of Riddick: Director's Cut DVD you've been eyeing, Wal-Mart also rolls back the number of local businesses around its turf. A recent report [pdf] released by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's office indicates that the opening of a Wal-Mart on 125th Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem would shut down 25% of grocers nearby. It's survival of the fittest: those who don't provide inexpensive tubes of raspberry-chipotle cheese-filled sausage product must let nature take its course. more ›

Despite the 9% unemployment rate, unprecedented public disillusionment and the fact that the name of the event itself conjures a pestilence that killed at least 150 million people, Americans came together to spend $11.4 billion on Black Friday, a 6.6% increase and the largest amount ever. "Still, it's just one day," ShopperTrak's founder Bill Martin tells Bloomberg News. "It remains to be seen whether consumers will sustain this behavior through the holiday shopping season." Yes, keep your fingers crossed for more appalling acts committed in the name of unchecked consumerism. more ›

[Update below] Wal-Mart is still working (albeit quietly and behind-the-scenes) to gain a foothold in NYC, and it seems the big box behemoth is now using the "fake it 'til you make it" strategy, by portraying our city as already home to Wal-Mart, at least on the Tee-Vee. In a synergistic new commercial for the video game Call of Duty World of Warfare 3 and Wal-Mart, one proud American consumer flies to NYC so he can buy the latest version of the game before his friend in the Central Time Zone: more ›

If you think Wal-Mart would just plop down a store or two in East New York and call it a day, you don't know Wal-Mart. In order for the big box chain to gain 21% grocery market share, which is what they enjoy in the rest of the country, they would need to build 159 stores in New York City. That's 159 more places to get these fabulous hamster beds. more ›

In case a pair of polls showing a majority of New Yorkers supporting Wal-Mart's presence in the city don't make a believer out of you, the big box retailer has released data today showing that spending by New Yorkers in area Wal-Marts has risen 10% to $215 million. The largest increase came from Manhattanites, who spent 26%, or $65.1 million more at Wal-Mart than they did last year. But what these figures belie is the fact that there is no where else to shop in the 'burbs but Wal-Mart. more ›

Low prices may mean low standards when it comes to fair labor practices at big-box stores. Tashawna Green, the 21-year-old employee who Crain's calls the "face of the failed campaign to make a Valley Stream, L.I., store the first unionized Target in the country," was fired from her $8/hour job just weeks after the employees voted down union membership. Green, who has a 6-year-old daughter, says Target's management didn't take kindly to her push for unionization: "Because I'm for the union, they wanted to get rid of me." more ›

Everybody ready to drop the "anti-Wal-Mart" façade and embrace our cheesy sausage and trampoline-peddling masters? A new Marist poll shows that 64% of New York City residents support Wal-Mart's dubious labor practices and oh-so-low prices in their backyards, while only 31% oppose it. 68% of women as opposed to 60% of men approve of Wal-Mart, proving that humans' innate tendency to shop at Wal-Mart is a trait that likely originates in the womb. more ›

Here's a shudder-inducing new partnership destined to (further) destroy the music industry: Ticketmaster has announced a partnership with Walmart to sell tickets at some of its stores, including ones right here in New York—the AV/Club believes the deal may have formed in the bowels of Hell. more ›

In the grand tradition of corporate chivalry, Wal-Mart is buying a meal for a local community before it takes it back to its crib, dims the lights, and shows it the real meaning of the phrase "Rollback." The big-box chain that specializes in everything from fine cuisine to terrific labor practices, is taking out a few dozen members of the community surrounding the Gateway II shopping center in East Brooklyn for breakfast at the Lindenwood Diner. "We wanted to talk to the community and share information," a company spokesman told the Daily News, presumably before telling the community that Wal-Mart really just wants to settle down, and how much it loves their eyes when they laugh. more ›

The dream of an artificially flavored, mass-produced junk food will become a reality for millions of South Park fans at the beginning of next month, when Frito-Lay unleashes 1.5 million packages of Cheesy Poofs to be sold in Wal-Mart stores. Tragically, there are no Wal-Mart stores in New York (thanks a lot, union agitators!) but if you've got wheels you can make a pilgrimage to the suburbs and pick up a bag for just $2.99! The limited-edition Poofs are being marketed as part of a celebration of 15 years of South Park, the wickedly satirical series from Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who are also enjoying the boffo success of their unlikely Broadway musical triumph, The Book of Mormon. Below, Eric Cartman's inimitable Cheesy Poofs audition: more ›

Calling Wal-Mart "one of the great corporate citizens in this country," Mayor Bloomberg announced today that the big-box chain and cheesy ham and hashbrown retailer is donating $4 million to the city's Youth Employment Program, part of a $5 million surge that will create 3,400 jobs for the program. Hmm, but isn't this donation suspiciously timed? Bloomberg says: who cares? According to City Room, the mayor was asked during the press conference if the donation had anything to do with the retailer's full-court-press to open stores in New York City, to which he replied, “You’re telling me that your company’s philanthropy doesn’t look to see what is good for your company?” more ›

In a unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court tossed out a massive sex-discrimination suit against Wal-Mart, stating that the 1.5 million women who would have been affected by the case may not proceed as a class. The Court ruled that the plaintiff's lawyers, who would have succeeded in trying the largest class action suit in the country's history, "improperly sued under a part of the class action rules that was not primarily concerned with monetary claims, the Times reports. In the related claim of whether or not the plaintiffs proved that "there are questions of law or fact common to the class," the court split along ideological lines 5-4, with Scalia's opinion [pdf] for the majority stating that the plaintiffs failed to prove "a common answer to the crucial question why was I disfavored." (Italics his.) more ›

In twenty years, we'll all be driving our "Rollback Riders" to Father Walton's reeducation camps to pick up little "Wally" from his daily Bargain Drills. And this future has taken a step toward becoming reality through councilwoman and Wal-Mart naysayer Christine Quinn's recent efforts to integrate the chain with the Hunts Point produce market, negotiating a deal that would require Wal-Mart to purchase a portion of its produce from the vendors there. Quinn tells Crain's, "Walmart, by its own admission, isn't interested in a single supermarket in New York; they're interested in growing into a much bigger part of the market." This is presumably because once the Wal-Virus is implanted in a community, it spreads with abandon. So why fight it? more ›

Wal-Mart, the mom-and-pop purveyor of BBQ Fritos and 8,000 watt gas-powered generators, is antsy since their bid to move into the Gateway II shopping complex is getting plugged (may we recommend this Drano for $3.87?) America's favorite chain store is now reportedly sniffing around Bensonhurst, specifically "off Gravesend Bay between 34th and 35th streets," the Post reports. But Bensonhurst's councilmember, Domenic Recchia, Jr., says no dice (only $12.97!): "There's no way...it's just not big enough." At least Recchia dislikes small and large businesses equally! more ›

If your retirement is tied up in New York City pension funds, you're technically investing in Wal-Mart. The funds own 5.7 million shares in the company, and in a shareholder meeting on Friday they're planning on asking Wal-Mart's board of directors to "require vendors to publish annual reports detailing working conditions in their factories" overseas, the Times reports. Given that Wal-Mart has a history of using prison labor and that working conditions in the US haven't always been peachy, this makes sense. Unfortunately, those 5.7 million shares add up to less than 0.2 percent of an ownership stake. In Wal-Mart terms, the funds are like this gallon of mayonnaise that they sell: big but still worthless. more ›

Over the weekend Wal-Mart quietly launched an online grocery delivery service called Wal-Mart to Go, which could prove to be a tough competitor for Fresh Direct. Wal-Mart is by far the biggest grocer in America; the Times reports that the chain controls about 33 percent market share in the United States. Wal-Mart's online grocery inventory is more diverse than Fresh Direct (12 varieties of Triscuits, compared to Fresh Direct's measly two kinds!) and right now the prices are competitive— the Times found sixteen ounces of celery at Wal-Mart to Go fo $1.98, compared to $3.49 through Fresh Direct. With a Wal-Mart in the works for Brooklyn, some New Yorkers may soon be tempted to reevaluate their contempt for the corporate chain. more ›

New Yorkers are oh-so-close to getting 15 foot trampolines for $300 a Wal-Mart at the Gateway II development site in Brooklyn. But the Daily News reports that nitpicking over the city's $35 million dollar appraisal of the land has slowed the agreement between the developer, Related, and the quaint little store that has carefully and courteously charmed this great nation. Don't these gadflies know that we need cheap oil drums of Strawberry Whoppers NOW? more ›

Last month, the Stonewall Democratic Club, the "oldest and largest citywide Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) Democratic organization," came out against Walmart, the retail giant who are trying to open their first NYC-based store in East New York. And now, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, a political action committee based in Washington, has joined in the anti-Walmart fervor: “With the expansion of Wal-Mart stores comes the expansion of antiquated employment policies that provide little to no protections for, and at times even hostility toward, their L.G.B.T. employees.” more ›

Walmart has a bit of a reputation as an anti-union exploiter of underpaid workers, which is part of the reason why many liberal New Yorkers are opposed to the corporation's campaign to open their first NYC location, in East New York. But if you think Walmart ain't pals with the working associate man, you've got it all wrong, insists a new mailer going out to local residents. The mailer, written from the point of view of an unemployed construction worker, argues that the "special interests" would keep "him" out of a union job. more ›

Tomorrow current and former Walmart employees will "bravely testify" at a City Council hearing that promises to put a human face on Walmart’s "long history of exploiting and mistreating workers, while creating dangerous and harmful work environments for its employees." As the controversial retailer tries to break into the NYC market, the disgruntled workers will share their horror stories about "the lack of bathroom breaks and the culture of fear management creates," according to a City Council statement. But today Walmart would like New Yorkers to focus on all the happy satisfied Walmart employees, like this patriotic war veteran featured in this slick new commercial: more ›

Today's the big City Council hearing on Walmart's all-but-confirmed NYC debut, at the Gateway II shopping plaza in East New York. And of course the "Ground Zero" mosque protesters will be on hand to add their voices to the pro-Walmart side of the debate... because not allowing Walmart to open in NYC would mean the terrorists have won and make a mockery of 9/11? The relationship between the two issues may seem opaque to the untrained eye, but anti-Islamic gadfly Pamela Geller sees it, and she's calling all Ground Zero patriots to ask the City Council, "Who are you working for? Christine Quinn shilling for the pro-sharia mega mosque is... sad. What happens to those who share Quinn's lifestyle in a Muslim country?" Do they save money and live better? more ›

Many New Yorkers despise Walmart because the corporation has an established track record of sucking the lifeblood out of communities across America. With Walmart eying the Gateway II shopping center Brooklyn, opposition to the chain has come to a boil in NYC, and the City Council will be holding hearings tomorrow on the retail Godzilla's possible impact on Brooklyn. But could a white knight with giant lizard-slaying lasers be appearing on the horizon? Crain's reports that ShopRite is also interested in the 100,000-square-foot property. Sure, it's no artisanal, locally-sourced organic farmers' market selling fair-trade goji berries, but could it be a good alternative? more ›

The latest group to join the preemptive opposition for a rumored Walmart location in Brooklyn is the Stonewall Democratic Club, the "oldest and largest citywide Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) Democratic organization." The group has thrown its support behind the Wal-Mart Free NYC organization, which is committed to stopping the retail giant from getting a foothold in the city. SDNYC released a statement today explaining why it thinks Walmart is bad for homosexuals: more ›

Earlier this month, Walmart representatives refused to attend City Council hearings on their planned invasion of East New York, citing how unfair it was that everyone was ganging up on them while giving other chains an easy time. Now on the eve of another public hearing this Thursday, Walmart has decided to go on the offensive, with a series of radio, newspaper and mailer ads to try to appeal to people directly, while ignoring the Council and other politicians/critics. And they're kind of bitchy ads. more ›

As you may have heard, there have been some objections raised to a rumored Walmart location in East New York. The City Council is holding hearings at the beginning of next month, and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio recently released a report suggesting that a Walmart in NYC would "eliminate more jobs than it creates, result in the loss of independently owned small businesses, and create an increased burden on taxpayers." But the big box company probably isn't sweating it, because its got NY Post columnist Andrea Peyser in its corner. In her column today, titled "Absurd Wal of Fear," Peyser targets one of the studies cited by de Blasio: more ›

Looking over Wal-Mart's recent poll, you'd think New Yorkers just can't wait until the big box store plops down and makes East New York a shopping destination. But could you believe that the data may be skewed? According to a poll of 300 small retail shop owners, Wal-Mart would be bad for business, and 73% of grocery and convenience store owners rejected the idea of a Wal-Mart in New York. Brad Gerstman of survey conductors Gotham Government Relations told the Daily News, "We decided to do this poll because the results of the Walmart one struck us as absolutely impossible." more ›