By Gabby Warshawer
September 22, 2011
As far as attention-grabbing reports go, Alliance for a Greater New York’s “Walmartization of NY” is a doozy: The organization finds Walmart would have to open 159 stores in New York in order to replicate its average share of the grocery market nationally. The report projects that Brooklyn would have the most Walmarts of the five boroughs, with 48 stores. Three of those stores would be superstores, 10 would be Walmart Markets, and 35 would be Walmart Express stores.
The point of the study? “Our estimates show these 159 stores would drive out nearly 4,000 net retail jobs and result in a loss of over $353 million in total wages a year for all remaining retail workers. In fact, our analysis shows that one Walmart Supercenter in East New York alone could cause 105 surrounding businesses to close.” (Speaking of East New York, there’s still no word on whether the store there is a done deal yet.)
Walmart’s reaction to the study: “‘The special interests today issued what amounts to a fairy tale press release that’s billed as a study, I guess in hopes of scaring residents,’ said [spokesman] Steven Restivo. Walmart countered with its own numbers on Tuesday, claiming city residents were on track to spend 10 percent more at Walmarts located outside of the five boroughs in 2011 than in 2010.”
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