Wal-Mart Exec Doesn’t (Heart) NY

H. Lee Scott Jr., ceo of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (Bentonville, Ark.), told The New York Times that the battle to open its first discount store in New York isn’t worth the effort.

“I don’t care if we are ever here,” Scott said at a meeting with The Times’ reporters and editors. He said Wal-Mart executives have lobbied for a store in New York, but he said he remains unconvinced. “It’s too hard to make money here.”

Wal-Mart spokesperson Mona Williams sought to amend Scott’s remarks. “Entering New York has been difficult, but not something we rule out,” she told The Times. “Lee said he personally didn’t care if we built stores there or not. It might be more trouble than it’s worth, but that he would leave that up to the real estate group that makes these decisions.”

Wal-Mart, which has met opposition in many U.S. cities, has sought to open stores in New York’s boroughs of Queens and Staten Island, but both plans fell through in the face of intense union, community and political opposition.

Scott said yesterday that the opposition to Wal-Mart in New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles and other cities had a common thread: “The glue is the unions.”

Labor leaders have asserted that while Wal-Mart’s prices are low, its wages and health benefits are often so skimpy that they leave many workers below the poverty line and pressure competitors to reduce pay and benefits.

“We don’t care if they’re never here,” said Ed Ott, executive director of the New York City Central Labor Council. “We don’t miss them. We have great supermarkets and great retail outlets in New York. We don’t need Wal-Mart.”