After Wal-Mart's plans to open a store in Brooklyn fell through this fall, the company has pulled back on its efforts to expand into New York City. The company had hired lobbyists and consultants to help them win approval of the project. Unions and many community groups had pushed back against Wal-Mart, saying that they keep wages low and would hurt other businesses. Wal-Mart's bribery of officials in Mexico and a fatal fire in a Bangladeshi factory where they produced apparel brought more scrutiny onto the company. The company says that they are still looking to expand into metropolitan areas.
See "A Respite in Efforts by Wal-Mart in New York", Steven Greenhouse and Stephanie Clifford, The New York Times, March 6, 2013