Wal-Mart is prepared to build "dozens" of Chicago stores large and small if Mayor Daley can find a way to break a six-year-old City Council stalemate over demands that the world's largest retailer pay a "living wage" of at least $11.03 an hour, City Hall sources said Tuesday.
Daley met privately with Wal-Mart executives last weekend while attending the U.S. Conference of Mayor's meeting in Oklahoma City and came away encouraged about a massive Chicago expansion.
Sources said Wal-Mart is no longer talking about building just five supercenters in inner-city "food deserts" desperate for shopping choices. Instead, it's talking about building "dozens" of large and small Chicago stores, creating "thousands" of sorely needed jobs.
"We've been very open about the fact that we want to operate more stores in Chicago. I can't speak to the number," Wal-Mart spokesman Steven Restivo said. "We operate different formats all over the world and, in every market where we do business, we're willing to do whatever it takes to be closer to our customers. Chicago is no different."
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