Community Corner
Patch Asks: Would You Shop At A NYC Wal-Mart?
As the retail giant tries to push into the five boroughs, the Family Council tackles the question.
Retail giant Walmart is making headlines this week with a possible push into New York City. While we have not heard anything about immediate plans for a store opening in Queens, there is chatter that the first location could roll out in Brooklyn.
How would you feel if the megastore came to our borough? Would you welcome the savings for your family or be afraid that it would hurt local businesses?
Here are some local thoughts from the Forest Hills Patch Family Council, let us know what you think in the comments below.
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While I enjoy shopping at Wal-mart, the small mom and pop stores are a treasure, and really are a huge part of what makes Forest Hills, in particular, special. They give the neighborhood character, and I'd hate to see what it would look like if they all closed down. Sometimes bigger isn't always better. Jess
I think having a Wal-mart could bring a little variety and boost up the local economy — especially when families are trying to spend less and get more. With that being said, it would depend on the location. If there's no parking or if I have to pay for parking I'm not going to shop there.
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If a Walmart opened up at somewhere convenient, like Atlas Park, I may shop there. I'm a big fan of Target but having a little competition can lower the prices and consumers will obviously win here. That's my two cents! Soumaly King
As a family, we cannot support a store like Walmart, because it will do more harm than good for the small businesses that work so hard to keep their heads above water.
A "big box" store like Wal-mart will, undoubtedly, close the local stores that we would rather support. Every month we see more and more empty storefronts in the Austin Street area. We had hopes that this problem would dissipate, but with the news of Wal-mart I can only see it getting worse; Wal-mart will knock out the few stores that have been able to sustain the poor economy. In addition, Wal-mart has a history of unfair treatment of their employees, a practice that no matter the savings to our family, is unacceptable to us. We already have two Target stores in our immediate area. Isn't that enough? Beth