Is Wal-Mart really forgetting about Manhattan?

After yesterdays breaking NYT article everyones initial response was excitment. Lee Scott cracked, he was pushed so far in the interview he had snapped and made comments such as “I don’t care if we are ever here.” But can we really believe him or is this just a simple public relations move. We've been running our campaigns against Wal-Mart throughout the five boroughs for years now and couldn't have been successful without the support and help from community members. Just 2 months ago Wal-Mart was attempting to enter the Fulton Mall in Brooklyn. We managed to get a signed letter from the developer saying "Wal-Mart will not be a tenant." New York City is the last major city in America Wal-Mart has not intruded, that is a remarkable feat but we have to realize that New York City is their pearl. It is where they want to be more than any other city in the world. So why is Lee Scott now saying he doesn't care if they open a store here or not? This has all of us thinking something is up his sleeve. He claims that we are snobbish elites in New York “You have people who are just better than us and don’t want a Wal-Mart in their community.” We ask Mr.Scott how many communites across the country have said the same thing to you? Hawaii, Massachusetts, Texas, Oregon, Illinois, North Carolina, Michigan, and Lancaster Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Milwaukie, St.Louis, Ohio, Riverhead Long Island, Arizona, Vermont, and we can keep going. We don't anticipate Wal-Mart to stop trying to come to any of the 5 boroughs and I myselft am not taking this quote as a victory because besides Wal-Mart we still have many irresponsible employers throughout this city that aren't paying a decent wage or providing quality products. We acknowledge that keeping Wal-Mart out is only half the solution to our problem, our next problem is now finding affordable quality goods for lower income communities. Errol Louis identifies these next problems we face in an outstanding editorial in todays Daily News. 1/2 of the battle is done, now we must solve the problem of finding responsible employers who provide good paying jobs along with quality affordable products.