A New York state of mind.(Lee Scott's views on New York)(Column)

When Wal-Mart president and ceo Lee Scott was in New York last month to meet with television and newspaper reporters, the comments he made had the media buzzing and unions declaring victory.

To paraphrase those comments, Scott said it's not worth Wal-Mart's effort to open stores in New York--a declaration immediately interpreted by The New York Times as an admission of defeat in the company's ongoing efforts to penetrate urban markets. Not one to miss an opportunity to kick Wal-Mart when it's down, local labor leaders piled on the insults by saying the city didn't want Wal-Mart anyway, and spewed familiar rhetoric about bad jobs and the destruction of communities.

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