Wal-Mart is hoping that current economic conditions will make it easier for the chain to gain entry into Chicago. The chain, which operates one store in the city at the moment, has faced fierce opposition from organized labor and other groups in past attempts to build new locations.
Working to its advantage is that new Wal-Mart stores will bring construction and retail jobs, added tax revenues, plus savings for consumers in the area where it builds. According to reports, the retailer is looking at about a dozen sites in the city with plans to open as many as five new stores.
John Bisio, a spokesman for the chain, told the Chicago Tribune, "The West Side store set an example as a good employer, a good merchant... a real economic engine... This is nonsense that we don't have more Wal-Mart stores in Chicago."??
Chicago alderman Howard Brookins said Wal-Mart would be building a store on the city's 21st Ward on the South Side.
"In an economy where retailers are laying off people, it makes more sense than ever to pull the trigger," Mr. Brookins told the Trib. "This would mean hundreds of millions of dollars in construction revenue."??
Labor intends to fight any move by Wal-Mart to open new stores within Chicago's city limits.
"It's clear they are trying to take advantage of the economic crisis that's out there and use that for political leverage," said Jerry Morrison, executive director of the Illinois State Council of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). "In an economic crisis, you cannot go on giving people non-subsistence wages and having the state subsidize their health care."
Discussion Questions: Will current economic conditions get Wal-Mart fast-track approval to build multiple new stores in Chicago? Do Wal-Mart and other retailers have added leverage to gain concessions from local and state governments when it comes to new construction at the present time? How much of a factor is this in deciding to build?