Big box, Big Apple, big benefits

DSN Retailing Today, Feb 28, 2005 by Tony Lisanti

The anti-big box battle in the Big Apple is escalating as Wal-Mart and other retailers continue to announce plans to expand in New York City and the surrounding metro areas.

It's nothing new to Wal-Mart and other big-box retailers that have been facing various roadblocks and anti-union sentiment for several years in various cities coast to coast. Last year, in Chicago, the city council approved a Wal-Mart store on the West Side, but vetoed a site on the South Side. In Inglewood, Calif., voters rejected a Wal-Mart site. Furthermore, last week, the Montana state legislature, in a bill sponsored by Sen. Ken Toole, proposed a 1% tax on big-box stores with sales more than $20 million; 2% for sales exceeding $40 million.

But the movement in New York will likely be stronger, nastier and more widely publicized simply because the city is the media capital of the world and a union stronghold. Therefore, local politicians will use this issue as a political platform to exploit their own views and agenda.

I grew up in the South Bronx, lived and attended college in Queens, traveled extensively throughout many of the neighborhoods in the area and still work in New York and reside across the Hudson River. Frankly, I just don't understand why so many local politicians and civic leaders are anti-retail, when so many local citizens not only would welcome new retail development and improvements to the local economy, but also prefer more choices as to where to shop.

The anti-big box rhetoric usually includes defiant messages on unions, traffic, pollution and the environment. Yet, all one has to do is to travel through some of the neighborhoods to realize how a big-box retailer could benefit the community. Consider the following examples:

* Passaic, N.J. Last year, it was reported that Wal-Mart was interested in an old, dilapidated factory in Passaic that has been abandoned since 1985 as well as a stretch of land along Rte. 21 and the Passaic River. If you drive down Eight St. and the surrounding area one can only imagine the positive impact a big-box retailer would have and how the area would be revitalized and transformed into a thriving retail center.

* Rego Park, Queens. This one-square-mile section of Queens is not rundown or abandoned as the Passaic site is, but one can still only imagine how much a big-box retailer, along with the other proposed residential and business development, would benefit this middle-class community with an average household income of $51,000.

* Red Hook, Brooklyn. IKEA is planning a megastore in a once abandoned area of Brooklyn along the waterfront. One can only wonder how this destination furniture retailer will help to revitalize the neighborhood and lure other businesses as well.

* Castle Hill, Bronx. BJ's Wholesale Club wants to build a 130,000-square-foot club on Brush Ave. and is facing stiff opposition from the city council. Once again, one can only wonder how a big-box retailer would benefit this community.

Big-box retailers, including Home Depot and Best Buy have already opened in Manhattan and other areas of the city, as well as in similar inner-city communities across the country. I have yet to read about one problem that has occurred as a result. It seems that all the "potential problems" outlined by local leaders during the planning stages--which are legitimate, but solvable concerns--have never materialized.

It's perplexing why the very neighborhoods--and their respective leaders--that desperately need the economic development, revitalization and J-O-B-S that the big-box retailers will provide are the most outspoken opponents to such growth and development.

The local citizens and consumers should not allow themselves to be bamboozled by self-serving politicians and local leaders that do not necessarily have the best interests of their constituents at heart. Let the local citizens shop, work and support their families in the very neighborhoods they are proud to call home.