By Emily Witt 7/19/11 7:09pm

Tales of Retail

duane_reade_liberty

While We Wallow in Walmart, Duane Reade Dominates

In the marbled halls of a converted lobby in the Trump Building on Wall Street last week, a party was underway. Rihanna was blasting from turntables manned by D.J. Clue. A line of office workers waited for autographed photographs from baseball once-was Darryl Strawberry. Caterers in bow ties circulated trays of chicken skewers and stuffed peppers.

It almost could have been a nightclub, except that it was 11 a.m. and, in a corner, a woman presided over a table of free antifungal toenail spray samples. Despite the professional athlete and the music, this was a Duane Reade, the opening of the drug store chain’s new flagship store. Read More

By Azi Paybarah 2/19/08 5:21pm

Comptrollers Target Corporate Political Contributions

The city and state comptrollers want America’s 10 largest companies to disclose who they make political contributions to.

“Shareholders need full and complete disclosure of companies’ political expenditures to fully evaluate the political uses of the corporate assets,” Bill Thompson said in a public statement.

The companies targeted include Halliburton, Wal-Mart, Entergy and Charles Schwab. Read More

By Staff 3/29/07 8:16am

The Round-Up: Thursday

  • Wal-Mart ‘would like to be’ in the outer-boroughs.

    • [Crain's]

  • Hamptons rental season strongest since ’03?

    • [NY Sun]

  • ‘Keen’ demand among investors for city rental properties.

    • [NY Sun]

  • Meet the city’s new urban-design director.

    • [NY Sun]

  • Large rezoning in Jamaica faces opposition.

    • Read More

    By Adelle Waldman 3/19/07 12:00am

    The Good, the Bad and the Gentrified

    For the record, I don’t care for shopping malls. Or Starbucks. In terms of my personal aesthetic preferences, I am with the contributors to The Suburbanization of New York, a new compilation of essays subtitled, “Is the World’s Greatest City Becoming Just Another Town?”

    But muddle-headed thinking is never so irritating as when it’s deployed Read More

    By Staff 2/08/07 4:19pm

    Shott On Location: “Ice Cold” at Fulton Street Mall

    “Good rally, guys!” announced UFCW Local 1500 honcho Bruce Both after Brooklyn Councilwoman Tish James led a placard-wielding mob in chants of “No Wal-Mart!” and “Not in my neighborhood!”

    After all the banter denouncing “poverty-wage jobs” died down around 1:48 p.m., some fired-up protesters blew off steam by dancing to Outkast’s 2003 smash-hit “Hey Ya!” Read More

    By Staff 2/01/07 2:07pm

    ‘Bling-Crazy’ Brooklynites Just Say No To ‘Always Low Prices’

    Local Wal-Mart-resistance forces will gather in Albee Square next week to protest the world’s largest retailer’s apparent plans to “destroy everything that Brooklyn stands for.”

    That’s according to Thursday’s letter from the group Wal-Mart Free NYC, which includes a statement from staunch anti-smiley-face-logo activist and graffiti-artist-turned-shopkeeper Leo Gulfam:

    “Our people are crazy Read More