Ever seen a WalMart inside a large city?

[raccoon]

Some co-workers and I were discussing this earlier. None of us had, just in smaller cities or small cities close to a large city.

My first thought would be the rents would be too high in the big city, but a co-worker mentioned that towns/cities often give WalMart all kinds of incentives to locate in their area.

[Glitterati]

1. Inside Atlanta, yes

There's one actually very close to Georgia Tech, which is right downtown Atlanta.

[RebelOne]

24. Yes, and there are plenty in the areas outside of Atlanta,

which are considered metro Atlanta.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Mike Bloomberg wants one in NYC in the worst way.

He doesn't care if it's Uptown, in Queens or Brooklyn.

Local businesses and communities have been fighting for more than a year.

[Lawlbringer]

32. More than a decade.

I remember rumblings back at the turn of the century about building one here in Brooklyn. In fact, a location being vetted was adjacent to the Best Buy I worked at at the time. My manager at the time said that it'd be a disaster, even for them.

I've been to Wal Marts a few times, but I fail to see the benefit of having one vs the way of life here as it is now.

[pnwest]

3. sure. phoenix, indianapolis. not real close to city

center, but still in city limits.

[GoneOffShore]

4. Two within the Philadelphia city limits.

And you can use the Walmart store locator to check your premise.

[raccoon]

6. Good idea. I figured there would be the demand for Wal Mart in the big cities, only that some

powerful people might not want it there for whatever reason.

[cbayer]

5. New Orleans has one, and it is very close to downtown

[Aerows]

44. Yes, was just about to point that out

In Southern large cities, a Wal-mart is always there. And I'm from NOLA, and have probably been to one or three of them for various reasons.

[hfojvt]

7. Wal-marts take lots of space

they are big stores with big, convenient parking lots.

City real estate tends to be expensive and the parking sucks.

So it is unlikely that there would be a Wal-mart in a city center.

[justabob]

8. parking lots

Rent is a big issue, as are the incentives, but I think it is more boring than that. Most large cities have some formula about how many parking spaces are needed for the square footage. There just aren't big enough lots to accomodate a standard size Walmart plus parking, and that lot would be expensive.

[frazzled]

9. They're making "mini" WalMarts in large cities

Here's some protesters in front of one in Chicago's River North neighborhood (it's a block from some of the city's most high-end stores: Luminaire, Blake, Lightology):



They're popping up everywhere. Here's another in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood:

[Initech]

10. There's two of them off I-710 and I-110 not too far from downtown Los Angeles.

[slackmaster]

11. San Diego has four in the city, Los Angeles has a bunch.

[Lizzie Poppet]

12. Portland's got one, too.

Great place for a little "ad hoc anthropology," People of WalMart-style...

[leftyohiolib]

13. cleveland ohio has one now

[Fawke Em]

14. They're not in too many medium-sized cities either.

The only one located within the city limits here (Knoxville, TN) was annexed after it was built. All the rest are outside the city limits.

Needless to say, as a city resident, I never frequented those stores before I knew how lousy they were to both the economies and their employees. I simply never was near one to make it a habit, so it was easy to "give it up" when I learned how they operate.

[Warpy]

15. It's not just the rent. Indoor spaces in large cities are smaller

and Walmart sized spaces are restricted to one or two convention centers and/or sports arenas. Cities are built up and offer few vacant lots for development into Walmart sized single level stores. Even big clothiers like The Limited have bought multi story buildings in urban areas to achieve the amount of square footage they require.

Somehow, I just can't imagine a multi story Walmart.

[HopeHoops]

16. No, but the only reason they'd locate there is to put something else out of business.

[rdking647]

17. they are all over Austin

[just1voice]

18. Sino-mart used to specifically set up business in smaller areas

as part of Sam Walton's business plan. After he died, all his repuke corporate greedwhores will sell their slave labor products to anyone, anywhere.

[Canuckistanian]

19. I've heard that Walmart avoids successful towns and cities

Too much competition.

It's said that if your town is getting a Walmart, it's going downhill.

If you have high unemployment and dwindling municipal services from lack of an adequate tax base - look for the "Walmart Opening Soon!" signs.

[raccoon]

20. And I've heard some people talking about a town getting a Walmart as if that mean Success!

"It's said that if your town is getting a Walmart, it's going downhill. " -- interesting hypothesis.

[MineralMan]

21. They're usually in the suburbs. That's where folks are on the weekend.

Go into any Walmart in the middle of a work day, then go to the same one on Saturday. There's a reason Walmarts are in the suburbs.

[leveymg]

22. Walmart is anti-union. Big cities tend to have powerful ones.

Prescription for protracted and successful union organizing.

[Texasgal]

23. Several in Austin, Texas

city limits.

[cherokeeprogressive]

25. L.A. and Orange Counties are like big cities.

Too many Walmarts to count.

[meaculpa2011]

26. None in NYC...

but plenty of them right across the border in Long Island.

[Enrique]

27. I think there's one in Chicago

it was very controversial, I'm not sure it got built but I believe it did, in a very congested area.

[riderinthestorm]

40. Yup, its there, and now there's a couple more. Daley got what he wanted in the end nt

[Sgent]

28. Two (and another being built) inside New Orleans (if that counts as large)

That being said, 2 of them are in very residential areas, although the third is almost in the center of town, just outside the CBD about 1/2 mile from the convention center.

There are also multiple ones in surrounding areas.

[littlebit]

29. I've delivered

to several in Philly a few in Pittsburgh and a bunch out on Long Island. There is two that I stop at on a regular basis is St Louis. And a few in the Dallas area that I've been to.

[demtenjeep]

30. we have 5 and 5 neighborhood markets as well

they are everywhere

[ieoeja]

31. Sam did not want to go there. His heirs do.

Sam cited higher costs, etc.

His heirs, like so many who inherit their wealth, hired business school grads to run things for them. And according to modern day business schools a business must always be growing. So off to the cities they have turned.

However, as others have already mentioned Wal-Mart demands tax incentives, building law exemptions, and labor exemptions.

So Wal-Mart spent a multi-year campaign trying to convince Chicago to "allow" them into the city. On the flip side were the progressives who thought Wal-Mart should *not* be "allowed" into the city.

In the middle was the unheard - but who held the reins of power - who tried vainly to point out that there was no law forbidding Wal-Mart from operating within the city. And they could not accuse Wal-Mart of setting up a strawman because the progressives jumped in to *be* Wal-Mart's strawman.

Wal-Mart did come into the city. But, aside from one zoning exemption - which is not really that uncommon - I believe they failed to get their tax breaks or labor law exemptions.

That last is actually a huge one with Wal-Mart. It wasn't enough that Wal-Mart is non-unionized itself. They don't even want to occupy a building if it was built by union labor. I have read that Wal-Mart sells no fresh beef in the entire state of Texas because Texas law is very protective of the butcher union. Wal-Mart has a tendancy to cut off their nose to spite their face where unions are concerned. On the other hand, I suppose one could credit them with taking the long view.

[texanwitch]

33. We have really large Walmarts in Houston, super Walmarts with grocery stores.

My neighbor's daughter sends her a gift card from Walmart.

I take her to the Walmart because she can't drive anymore, she buys food.

I keep telling her to get her daughter to change to a regular gift card so she can shop anywheres.

I am just helping a neighbor.

[mysuzuki2]

34. There are several in Milwaukee.

[progressivebydesign]

35. Tacoma is getting one this year.. and that's a pretty big city. n/t

[Raine]

36. They are trying to force their way into downtown Los Angeles in the Chinatown section

the people there are having fits because it will ruin their independant businesses and change the whole atmosphere of the area.

[raccoon]

37. These WalMarts in Nola, Chicago, Milwaukee, etc., what do they do about parking?

they don't have huge parking lots like in the sticks, do they?

[LadyHawkAZ]

38. Salt Lake has several, so does Vegas

Regular and supercenters.

[Crabby Appleton]

39. Yes, Dallas Tx

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=dallas+walmart&client=safari&oe=UTF-8&fb=1&gl=us&hq=walmart&hnear=Dallas,+Texas&t=h&z=10

[Chan790]

41. None in DC but DC has a bunch of Targets.

5 or 6 inside the beltway, 2 inside the city including one in Columbia Heights. I've been told that there are no Wal-Marts because Wal-Mart was told point blank they have to accept the same agreement Target has in DC: basically no concessions and agree that they will never even attempt to build or open a free-standing store. All the Targets in metro DC are in malls or open-air pedestrian shopping-districts.

[On the Road]

42. I Believe it Was Part of Walmart's Corporate Strategy from the Beginning

to target areas outside of large cities where there would be fewer big box competitors.

There are Walmart locations in large cities -- even in large Chinese cities.

[SeattleVet]

43. Yes, plenty...

Chongqing has 10, Nanjing has 3, Xi'an has 4, Beijing has 7, Shanghai has 10...

http://www.wal-martchina.com/english/walmart/wminchina.htm

[a la izquierda]

45. There are at least two in Guadalajara, Mexico...

a city of 4.5 million.

[tammywammy]

46. Yes n/t

[TCKnight]

47. Of course I have...

Several in Fort Worth, Arlington, Grand Prairie, Plano, Addison, Mesquite, etc.

As many have mentioned above, there are also some Wal Mart Neighborhood Markets in the area. Great selection, and at least at the newest one near me, never many shoppers there since many go to the nearby Whole Foods and Market Street.

[sammytko]

48. Yes - a bazillion of them in San Antonio. n/t