Tag Archives: wal-mart

Business and Money, The Daily Feed
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Will DC Save Money, Live Better With Wal-Mart?

Photo courtesy of
‘Welcome to Wal-Mart – We have blue light special’
courtesy of ‘kowitz’

I didn’t think I’d see the day that Wal-Mart would move into The District; but then again I never thought Costco would move into New York City or that Target would inhabit Columbia Heights.

The ongoing effort for the retail giant/labor union foe to build a location within Washington, DC may have come to a head this week. After announcing a deal to build a 2nd store in Chicago, the Washington Post is reporting that Wal-Mart is now close to finalizing a deal open a store in Northeast DC.

Anonymous sources within Wal-Mart told The Post that a deal should be in place by this fall to open a store on New York Avenue NE near the intersection of Bladensburg Road. The proposed site is 11 acres wide and wouldn’t need any zoning changes, a problem that came up for previous sites Wal-Mart has checked out. With a reputation like Wal-Mart’s, the corporation is looking for a location that would require the least amount of hassling. Right now the proposed piece of land is home to various auto parts shops and the Skylark Lounge, a strip club.

I wonder which would be more despised: a strip club or a Wal-Mart?

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The Daily Feed
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Could There Be a Wal-Mart In DC?

Photo courtesy of
‘Wal Mart: Salt Lake City’
courtesy of ‘Kenneth Hynek’

Wal-Mart wants a store right here in the District and is trying to get its ducks in a row to make it happen. According to the Washington Business Journal, Wal-Mart is “moving aggressively to work out a deal”. The top potential spot for the store right now is along Howard Road SE by the Poplar Point development. Wal-Mart wants to get into more urban areas and sees now as the time to do it, given the relative cheapness of land prices.

The article also goes on to discuss the fact that Wal-Mart will probably want a public partnership on this to help fund the land purchase because their stores bring foot traffic and tax revenue. Hmm, I’m not a complete self-proclaimed Wal-Mart hater like many, but I definitely do see the negative sides of bringing in a ginormous retailer to a neighborhood. Wal-Mart succeeds at capitalism at its finest and that’s the reason many people think it’s wrong for local government to stop them from being built. It’s the free market economy! So Wal-Mart, since you are such a capitalistic purist and have gotten filthy, filthy rich off of consumers, you get NO help from the government here. It’s the free market economy! Read: You can have your cake, but ain’t no chance you get to eat that shiz.

But even if they get no public funding for this effort, do you support Wal-Mart plopping down in DC? (get ready for comments from people who don’t live anywhere near the proposed site!)