Earlier I noted that New York would be site of the biggest big-box brawl yet. Like Mike Tyson fights from years ago, this one was over almost before it began:
Facing intense opposition, a large real estate developer has dropped its plans to include a Wal-Mart store in a Queens shopping complex, thwarting Wal-Mart’s plan to open its first store in New York City, city officials and real estate executives said yesterday. The decision by the developer, Vornado Realty Trust, is a blow to Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, and comes after company officials said that New York City was an important new frontier in which Wal-Mart was eager to expand … [O]ne executive briefed on the talks between Vornado and Wal-Mart said Vornado had concluded that keeping Wal-Mart would jeopardize the city’s approval of a large, ambitious project that included other stores and two 25-story apartment towers. “There were people who felt it was a major risk for the project,” said the executive, who asked not to be identified in order not to anger either side.
Flashback to Inglewood, where WM also went down to defeat.