Daley optimistic about Wal-Mart stores in city

Daley optimistic about Wal-Mart stores in city
By Hal Dardick
Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune
June 16, 2010 6:14 PM
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/06/daley-optimistic-about-wal-mart-stores-in-city.html


Mayor Richard Daley sounded an optimistic note today about bringing Wal-Mart stores to Chicago, following a private meeting with officials for the retail giant last week.

He declined to discuss specifics of the discussion.

"We have to have people starting someplace on jobs," Daley said. "I really believe this. . . . You start here, and then you move up."

Daley last week met Wal-Mart officials in Oklahoma City, where the U.S. Conference of Mayors was holding its annual conference. They discussed potential solutions to the years-long political logjam that has prevented Wal-Mart from expanding beyond its single city store in the Austin neighborhood.

Pro-union aldermen have blocked any further Wal-Marts by saying the retailer first must agree to pay a higher minimum wage. Daley has refrained from pushing through Wal-Mart stores where City Council approval isn't needed, saying he wants aldermen to sign off on any new stores.

The mayor has recently lobbied aldermen, telling them a Wal-Mart deal would include filling abandoned shops in areas without grocery stores and building new Super Wal-Marts, city sources said.

Steven Restivo, a Wal-Mart spokesman, declined to discuss specifics of the meeting with Daley.

"We continue to have conversations with influential voices across the city about how Wal-Mart can stimulate economic development, expand affordable grocery options and most importantly create jobs in the city, and our discussions (with the mayor) on Saturday were part of that effort," he said.