• Bloomberg, Tuesday, June 22, 2010 9:44 AM

Wal-Mart says it is going to work with the City of Chicago to build several dozen stores of varying size and format over the next five years as a thrust into the lucrative urban markets it had heretofore largely left to others. UBS Securities Neil Currie has estimated that Wal-Mart could add about $80 billion in sales if it achieved a market share in 50 urban areas roughly equal to its share in non-urban markets, Matthew Boyle reports.

Labor unions and community activists have battled Wal-Mart's attempts thus far to enter urban markets like New York and Chicago in the past. The company says that the Chicago outlets would create about 10,000 store employee jobs paying "competitive" wages, as well as 2,000 unionized construction jobs. It also plans to spend $20 million in charitable partnerships over five years, including donating 1.2 million meals a year to Chicago residents.

"There is no question in these times that we need jobs -- the question is what kind of jobs they will be, and how the community will benefit," says Rev. Booker Vance, a spokesman for a coalition of local unions, congregations and community groups in Chicago. If history be our guide, to be continued.

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