Chicago, IL

For years, Wal-Mart’s policy of over-saturating a trade area with stores has caused the company to cannibalize its own stores. This is no great surprise

Chicago is Wal-Mart’s kind of town. Chicago is the city of backroom deals, and in the case of Wal-Mart, there were deals being cut everywhere.

On April 15, 2010, Sprawl-Busters reported that the battle lines had grown sharper over a plan to build a second Wal-Mart in Chicago — despite

It’s been a rough year for Wal-Mart. The giant retailer just announced its worst net sales increase in history — just a 1% increase over

Officials are getting desperate in Chicago. Instead of community self-determination, local leaders are turning for relief to national chain stores. Wal-Mart supporters who want to

When Wal-Mart opened its only store in Chicago, Illinois on the west side of the city, the retailer said, “This store will show what a

Now that the Windy City’s Olympic dreams have blown away, Chicago can get back to more important matters: like Wal-Mart supercenters. On July 1, 2009,

What do Michael Bloomberg, Donald Trump, and Howard Brookins have in common? They all don’t understand how Wal-Math works. The New York City Mayor, the

Wal-Mart and big city Mayors often don’t see eye to eye. But Wal-Mart figures that as the economy slides downward, and more people lose their

In Chicago, Illinois, Wal-Mart doesn’t need a weatherman to know which way the winds blow. On February 6, 2009, Sprawl-Busters reported that Wal-Mart wanted to

Wal-Mart would not comment publicly on this story — but they’ve clearly been talking to the politicians behind the scenes. The Chicago Tribune reports today

Wal-Mart got a bad case of the Chicago blues this past week, as a big wind of opposition blew the retailer out of the Windy

Wal-Mart has been trying to build a store on the south side of Chicago, Illinois for at least four years. Even Bad,Bad LeRoy Brown couldn’t

Silence is golden. But can gold buy silence? A report in today’s Louisiana Weekly quotes Jesse Jackson, Sr., president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, as charging

This week, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley vetoed legislation that would have forced large companies to pay their workers a living wage. According to Wal-Mart, the

The Chicago City Council, over the objections of its Mayor, adopted a “living wage” ordinance that requires large stores, such as Target, Wal-Mart, Lowe’s and

The Chicago City Council is reviewing two ordinances that would require big box stores like Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Target and Lowe’s to pay their workers

A new economic impact study from the north side of Chicago, Illinois says that local businesses produce enhanced economic impacts when compared with their chain

Like a whirling dervish that has to keep spinning faster and faster to maintain its balance, Wal-Mart is trying to keep up its growth image

Wal-Mart and Target have run into some tax problems in Illinois. The Chicago Sun Times has reported today that the Illinois Attorney General has sued

There’s lots of action on the South Side of Chicago — but it won’t be at Wal-Mart. The Chicago Sun Times reports today that Wal-Mart’s

Aldermen in Chicago are looking for ways to get business practices commitments from big box retailers like Wal-Mart to lessen the damage they do to

On May 26, the Chicago, Illinois City Council voted to give Wal-Mart a green light to open its first store inside Chicago city limits on

As Wal-Mart moves into urban locations, it has run into dense opposition to its stores. On the West side of Chicago, for example, Wal-Mart’s plans

Somebody doesn’t like Sarah Lee. An item from the Reuters news service this weeek notes that quarterly earnings at Sara Lee dropped 10% due to

Local residents on the Northwest side of Chicago say city politics is playing a role in the mounting pressure to accept a Home Depot in

Some of the big box retailers are promoting “urban” designs with great fanfare, as if they had discovered a new concept. For Wal-Mart, it was

Like savengers cleaning the bones of their kill, several discount chains are lining up to take over the stores of the recently deceased Montgomery Ward

The Chairman of Lowe’s has characterized the home improvement industry as a “two horse race” between his company and Home Depot. Lowe’s has indicated that

The old year 2000 went out with a retail groan, as thousands of workers were thrown out of work, victims of the “one country, one

It seems so heartless right before Christmas, but Wal-Mart managers across the nation gave groups like the Salvation Army and the Girl Scouts a sudden