Westchester consumers were handed a brand new shopping experience last week. Wal-Mart, the much maligned retailer that has stood at the center of a storm of controversy for many months now, cut the ribbon on a new store in downtown White Plains. The store represents a turn away from the traditional, “big-box” style typically found at Wal-Mart stores across the country. Instead, it is a two-level beacon of urban sensibility complete with organic foods, a recycling center and the largest Dunkin’ Donuts franchise of any Wal-Mart in the nation.
“This store represents an excellent example of how well the Wal-Mart concept can fit into an urban setting,” said Steve Mitchael, director of design for the company in this region. “The store’s contemporary design captures White Plains’ downtown revitalization efforts and offers a product mix and layout to meet this local community’s needs, while providing for a truly unique Wal-Mart shopping experience.”
As far as urban areas go, White Plains is not Wal-Mart’s first choice. The company is dying to bring its retail presence to New York City. Already, the store reports over $90 million a year in sales just from City residents at their store in Valley Stream, Long Island, a number likely higher since cash purchases cannot be easily tracked. Though surveys and spending indicate that City shoppers cannot wait for a Wal-Mart, the company is being blocked from finally entering the largest shopping market in the world.
The anti-Wal-Mart fight is being lead by the State chapter of the Working Families Party (WFP). The liberal group has put together a bill, called the “Fair Share for Health Care” Act that would force companies like Wal-Mart and other large retail employers to spend a certain percentage of their profits providing private health insurance to their employees. The bill failed to pass in the state Senate this year, but party officials are hopeful that next year, under potential Governor Eliot Spitzer, things could change.
But the courts may have decided the bill’s fate already. Last week a federal judge struck down Maryland’s version of the bill, which required that companies with more than 10,000 workers spend at least 8 percent of their payroll for employee health care or make up the difference in an equivalent payment to the state was found to violate laws requiring equal treatment to all employers. Maryland activists called the decision a “minor setback,” and local activists here said the New York bill might not be affected at all.
“The judge was careful to say that his opinion did not address the question of whether employer responsibility in the context of a comprehensive health care reform scheme would be pre-empted. In fact, he suggests such an approach would be permissible,” said Alex Navarro, a spokesperson for the WFP. “That’s encouraging for the WFP’s continuing effort to ensure that employers pay their fair share for health care, an effort likely to continue as Governor Spitzer advances his agenda for comprehensive reform in 2007.”
The main thrust of the WFP’s argument against Wal-Mart has been its treatment of its employees, specifically on the health insurance issue and the lack of unions in any of the company’s stores. Activists working across the country have put together a nationwide campaign to highlight the company’s bad points, and anyone who shops or works at a Wal-Mart store has likely heard at least one bad thing about the company.
For now, most City elected officials are doing all they can to keep Wal-Mart out of the five boroughs. Until things change, you’ll have to head out of town to take advantage of the store’s low prices. But despite all obstacles, people still want to work there. In fact, they’re clamoring to work there. In June, a new store opened up in Kearny, N.J., with 350 new jobs, for which 8,000 people applied. In White Plains, 4,200 people applied for the store’s 400 jobs. If the company is so bad, why would anybody want to work there? For Navarro, it is because people don’t have any other choice.
“There’s a shortage of good jobs in our economy and so most low-income people have few other options,” said Navarro. “The issue is how public policy can nudge our nation’s major employers to create more jobs that will sustain families. The evidence shows Wal-Mart is actually closer to being part of the problem than part of the solution, as its stores and trade practices crowd out local employers and domestic suppliers.”
Or, maybe some people just don’t find the store as offensive as others. The average hourly wage for full-time employees at the store is $10.17, certainly not a fortune but also not the bottom of the barrel. The company offers performance-based bonuses and has health care plans that employees can by into (like many other private, non-union employees have to do anyway). They even offer profit sharing and 401K. People need jobs, and that doesn’t sound that bad if you’re unemployed.
