Would You Be Cool With ShopRite Instead of Walmart?

Many New Yorkers despise Walmart because the corporation has an established track record of sucking the lifeblood out of communities across America. With Walmart eying the Gateway II shopping center Brooklyn, opposition to the chain has come to a boil in NYC, and the City Council will be holding hearings tomorrow on the retail Godzilla's possible impact on Brooklyn. But could a white knight with giant lizard-slaying lasers be appearing on the horizon? Crain's reports that ShopRite is also interested in the 100,000-square-foot property. Sure, it's no artisanal, locally-sourced organic farmers' market selling fair-trade goji berries, but could it be a good alternative?

The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500, which represents ShopRite workers, is obviously all for it. A spokesman tells Crain's, "If what we’re talking about is good jobs and access to food, this presents the community with the opportunity to have 300 outstanding union jobs with a recognized employer in the area." Full-time ShopRite employees start at $11.75 an hour, and get $12.50 within a year on the job. Over time, the average full-time wage rises to $16 an hour. Most employees also get either a $1-an-hour bonus or time-and-a-half for working Sundays, and 87% of ShopRite workers receive health coverage, paid for by ShopRite. Walmart's average hourly wage in New York is $13.09.

But let's not rush to embrace ShopRite without first listening to the NY Post! The tabloid asserts that "city shoppers could slash their grocery bills by 33 percent" if Walmart opens in Brooklyn. The Post came to that conclusion by comparing their receipt from a shopping trip to Walmart in North Bergen, NJ, and a Key Food in Forest Hills; reporters spent $103.36 at Key Foods, while the same items at Walmart came to $69.43.

"We don't think New Yorkers should have to pay more just because they live in a big city," says Walmart spokesman Steve Restivo. "That's why a Walmart store in Manhattan, Kansas, would charge the same price for Cheerios or diapers as a Walmart store in Manhattan, New York." But as cheap as Walmart's groceries get, many of their employees still need to use food stamps to shop there.