December 2004, the Wal-Mart Corporation announced that they were planning on opening a 135,000 square foot store in Rego Park, Queens, a block away from a strip of local businesses on Queens Blvd. “Wal-Mart is eager to make New York City its next frontier,” the company said, implying that a location in Queens would just be the start. But as the New York Times put it, “many New Yorkers seem ready to welcome Wal-Mart as enthusiastically as a frontier town welcomes a desperado.”
As Wal-Mart was dreaming of opening stadium size supercenters all around New York City, community and religious leaders, small business owners, City Council members, unions and student groups were all joining together to keep Wal-Mart out.
February 2005, the Coalition achieved a major victory: the developer for the site in Queens announced that they would no longer be working with Wal-Mart to open a store in Rego Park. However, soon after, the Staten Island Advance reported that Wal-Mart was exploring two sites on Staten Island. Since then, letters have been coming in to the Advance about how awful it would be for the community if a Wal-Mart opened on the island, and it's clear that Staten Islanders want to know what effect Wal-Mart will have on their neighborhood.
With Wal-Mart’s poverty level wages, staggering criminal record, and seemingly never-ending list of unsavory business practices, the opposition that has sprung up here in New York City is only one piece of an international movement to to hold Wal-Mart accountable for its actions.
Until Wal-Mart reforms its bad business practices, the Wal-Mart Free NYC Coalition will continue its efforts to keep Wal-Mart from opening in New York City.