Walmart finally comes to NYC

[kenny]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/02/03/new.york.walmart/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Walmarts are huge sprawling stores with huge sprawling parking lots.
They are fed by long lines of huge sprawling semi trucks.

I'm not expert on NYC, but I just can't visualize this in Manhattan, or anywhere near it.
Jon, are there locations where there is room for Walmarts in NYC?

Also, there's the car thing.
Many in NYC do not own a car and it's not because they can't afford them.
They buy their groceries a little bit at a time at little mom and pop grocers on their walk from the subway to their home.
Walmart cannot fit into that model.
Walmart's monster stores depend on customers having cars.

 

[ksinger]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/02/03/new.york.walmart/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Walmarts are huge sprawling stores with huge sprawling parking lots.
They are fed by long lines of huge sprawling semi trucks.

I'm not expert on NYC, but I just can't visualize this in Manhattan, or anywhere near it.
Jon, are there locations where there is room for Walmarts in NYC?

Also, there's the car thing.
Many in NYC do not own a car and it's not because they can't afford them.
They buy their groceries a little bit at a time at little mom and pop grocers on their walk from the subway to their home.
Walmart cannot fit into that model.
Walmart's monster stores depend on customers having cars.

My sincere condolences to NY'ers.

 

[lucyandroger]

I'm not Jon but am originally from NY. Yes, there are places in NYC that can fit a Walmart. NYC is made up five boroughs and Manhattan is just one of them. There are plenty of places within NYC that are almost suburban-like. We have large stores like Home Depot, Lowes, Kmart, etc.

 

[Rockdiamond]

Hi I am Jon ........KIDDING!

+1 to lucyandroger!

We do have five boroughs- but Costco built a store in Manhattan- in East Harlem.
instead of a sprawling parking lot there's a multi story garage.

 

[kenny]

I went to a Home Depot on Manhattan Island.
It was strange because I've been in a zillion of them here in California and they are all one-story, sprawling football stadiums with wide aisles and ceilings that are 4 times higher than necessary.
This one had several floors and no lumber on site IIRC.

 

[dragonfly411]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/02/03/new.york.walmart/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Walmarts are huge sprawling stores with huge sprawling parking lots.
They are fed by long lines of huge sprawling semi trucks.

I'm not expert on NYC, but I just can't visualize this in Manhattan, or anywhere near it.
Jon, are there locations where there is room for Walmarts in NYC?

Also, there's the car thing.
Many in NYC do not own a car and it's not because they can't afford them.
They buy their groceries a little bit at a time at little mom and pop grocers on their walk from the subway to their home.
Walmart cannot fit into that model.
Walmart's monster stores depend on customers having cars.

My sincere condolences to NY'ers.

Agreed.

 

[Jennifer W]

When the big stores like that moved into towns in Scotland, the small retailers died a slow death.

My aunt lives near the most fantastic store in Manhattan, The Garage. It sells the most amazing range of high quality food, fresh every day. It's the sort of store we had in Scotland before big retailers choked them out. I sincerely hope that never happens in NYC. Browsing round the Garage is one of my NYC trip highlights. (Well, I also quite like the Diamond District...)

 

[Rockdiamond]

I also hate the "Wal Mart" effect as it affects small towns.

But NYC is not going to be affected the same way.
As it stands now, even a small business in most of Manhattan has a rent of $20k per month or more. So there's really no "small business" in Manhattan per se.
The market is so huge that even a Wal Mart is not going to have the same type of effect it might in a small town

 

[Jennifer W]

$20k per month!

 

[iheartscience]

Not a New Yorker but a lot of my friends there rent Zip Cars for the day and make big Target/Ikea runs occasionally, so I think people will still be able to load up on stuff there if they want.

 

[davi_el_mejor]

Pier 1 has two (well soon to be one) stores on Manhattan. They can't receive the normal semi-truck delivers as other Pier 1's have so they have many many many small box truck deliveries. If Walmart were to go on Manhattan I imagine a non-stop box truck convoy in and out.

 

[purselover]

Well there are already Targets so I can't say I'm surprised. I'm curious whether or not they're coming to Manhattan itself or a borough because that's a ridiculously HUGE difference. Either way I won't be going though.

 

[atroop711]

Kenny I live in Manhattan and just recently they opened up a Costco and Target in the city YAY!!! . They built a multilevel parking garage and attached it to the adjacent building housing 4 floors of stores (located along side of the FDR drive which runs all along the east side). It's great! So happy to have these stores here instead of having to cross a river to get to the nearest one. Another + are all the jobs this "mall" brought to the city esp. to that area (spanish harlem).

So if Walmart comes to NYC...maybe they will finally close down that horrible disgusting KMART chain. We have 2 Kmart stores in the city and it's such a waste of huge space. Kmart gives me the "icks"

As for how we buy our groceries...the mom and pop groceries stores are only when you're in a pinch but nowadays in Manhattan it's either Whole Foods, Trader Joes or another large surpermarket chain like Food Emporium or Pathmark (which are all here in Manhattan).

 

[Rockdiamond]

+1 atroop to the jobs- and how cool that Costco is!

I do have a slightly different experience with food shopping and smaller stores.
They are much more expensive, but it's so convenient to be able to buy fresh fruit and veggies in the neighborhood places.
I was in the village last night and stopped on Bleeker Street to buy a romaine lettuce, red onion and some grapes.
The little store had really fresh stuff- I'd way prefer paying 2.49 for a romaine and have it be really fresh than buying the lettuce in bag in Costco ( for example)

I'm a Fairway man for most fresh food shopping- I love that place.
When I travel and am forced to buy groceries in the major supermarket chains, I feel like none of the stuff is nearly as fresh as the mom and pop places in the city.
Like in Florida- I love the place, but none of the supermarkets seem to have fresh veggies- and there's no mom and pops like we have here....

 

[atroop711]

+1 atroop to the jobs- and how cool that Costco is!

I do have a slightly different experience with food shopping and smaller stores.
They are much more expensive, but it's so convenient to be able to buy fresh fruit and veggies in the neighborhood places.
I was in the village last night and stopped on Bleeker Street to buy a romaine lettuce, red onion and some grapes.
The little store had really fresh stuff- I'd way prefer paying 2.49 for a romaine and have it be really fresh than buying the lettuce in bag in Costco ( for example)

I'm a Fairway man for most fresh food shopping- I love that place.
When I travel and am forced to buy groceries in the major supermarket chains, I feel like none of the stuff is nearly as fresh as the mom and pop places in the city.
Like in Florida- I love the place, but none of the supermarkets seem to have fresh veggies- and there's no mom and pops like we have here....

I see what you're saying and I have purchased at the local smaller stores in the village too (west village) but as an my ongoing shopping experience, location is key. I'm in the East Village (far east) and our small "bodegas" or korean deli aren't that great...even the fruit and veggies at my local supermarket aren't great. Since my children's school is near west end market, I get somethings there, citarella or head to wholefoods for my fresh fruit