Tell Steve Ross Walmart Is Not Welcome!

Stephen Ross, CEO of the Related Companies, is the developer of your apartment building, and now he wants to help Walmart open stores in New York City. The problem is that Walmart has a long history of negatively impacting the communities it enters.

Protect the city you love. Tell Stephen Ross Walmart is not welcome.

Make your voice heard today by sending an email to Ross. We have provided a template below, but please feel free to personalize your email before hitting send. Every email matters. You and your neighbors have the power to keep Walmart out.

Stephen Ross

The Related Companies
60 Columbus Circle
19th Floor
New York , NY 10019

Understanding the Real Cost of Walmart for New York City

Walmart could soon be opening stores throughout New York City. As part of Walmart's urban expansion plan, the company is setting its sites on the nation's largest retail market, New York City. In order to reach its national grocery market share, Walmart would need to open approximately 159 stores of varying sizes in the five boroughs.

A city dominated by Walmart would mean the destruction of locally-owned small businesses. Walmart has been estimated to kill three retail jobs for every two poverty-wage jobs it “creates.” After a Walmart opened in Chicago, 25% of existing retail businesses surveyed within four miles eventually closed.[1]

In addition to threatening New York’s mom and pop businesses, Walmart is a threat to New Yorkers’ values of fairness, diversity and inclusion. Walmart historically has denied workers fair pay and breaks[2], it faced the largest gender-bias class action suit in U.S. history[3], it offers LGBT employees very few protections and benefits[4], and it is the largest seller of firearms in the nation.

We need to stop the world's largest retailer from destroying what makes NYC special. Walmart spent $2.6 million in 2011 on lobbying to bring their stores here, and company representatives have been making a lot of promises to elected officials and community leaders.

Walmart made many of the same empty promises in cities like Los Angeles and Chicago where they recently opened stores. The Crenshaw store in Los Angeles is neglected and understaffed by the company, putting its workers at risk.[5] In Chicago, Walmart promised wages at $.50 above minimum wage,[6] but as soon as Walmart won the zoning approval it needed, it said it never made a wage promise for its associates.[7]

New Yorkers are not going to stand for Walmart’s broken promises. That's why it is so crucial that you let Stephen Ross, CEO of the Related Companies, know that you're not happy about his company negotiating with Walmart to open stores here.

We all stand to lose more than we would gain from Walmart opening stores in New York City.

Please become more involved today in the effort to bring accountability to Walmart by signing our petition, and joining us on Facebook.