Wal-Mart scouting NYC locations

Wal-Mart is scouting out New York City locations as part of a push to open small locations in urban markets, the Associated Press reported. The superstore has been “on an aggressive roll” and has been talking to landlords and brokers about locations in Queens and Lower Manhattan, said Prudential Douglas Elliman retail chairman Faith Hope Consolo. The ideal size for the company is 20,000 square feet — larger than a drugstore but smaller than a supermarket, real estate executives said. A detailed explanation of Wal-Mart’s urban expansion strategy is expect next month at a meeting with analysts at the company’s headquarters. Competitor Target, meanwhile, is also making moves on the urban landscape, but is mostly looking for stores in the 60,000- to 100,000-square-foot range. Target opened its first Manhattan store in East Harlem this summer and is slated to open its doors in Queens’ new Sky View Center in 2011. [AP via Crain’s]