Sociology

Wal-Mart is a retail store that offers a diverse line of merchandise, from groceries, to garments, and house-ware, and almost everything any consumer needs and wants. The first Wal-Mart store opened in 1962 at Rogers, Arkansas. Its owner, Sam Walton, was a former employee of JC Penny before he decided to open his own business. Today Wal-Mart is the largest revenue earning public corporation in the world. This is according to the 2008 Fortune Global 500 report. The company is also the biggest employer in the United States with over 3,800 stores around the country.

In 1988 Wal-Mart established itself as the undisputed retailing giant with the opening of its first Supercenter in Washington, Missouri. The new breed of discounts stores guarantee the lowest merchandise prices. In the latest tally released by Wal-Mart, they have 2,737 Supercenters in the United States. This fast growing branch of the business is aiming for other areas, one of which is Bronx, New York.

A survey of residents in Bronx, New York in 2006 showed that 64 agree with a Wal-Mart Supercenter opening in their area, while 27 do not approve (Fernandez). The protesters, mostly small business owners and workers of 1,500 or so residents, fear that the mega-retailer will put an end to many of their businesses. In an interview with Patrick Purcell, the director of the protesters, he said, just because Bronx is trying to develop itself economically does not mean that it needs any job. It needs good jobs. It needs responsible employers. (Fernandez 2006). 

While there is some apprehension of Wal-Mart coming to Bronx, in reality this move might be more beneficial to the area. Bronx has the highest unemployment rate and is the poorest Congressional district (Fernandez 2006). Wal-Mart Supercenter will be coming in with about 300 jobs and average tax revenue of over 5M (Fernandez 2006). These points might be too difficult to resist in the long run.