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After months of crafting an intense marketing campaign aimed at getting tough-as-nail New Yorkers to welcome the discount giant as a neighbor, Walmart thinks it is close to winning the war, people with knowledge of the effort said.
In fact, Walmart could be just months away from winning over a critical mass of Big Apple shoppers, these people said.
New York City is the last major retail market in the US that the Bentonville, Ark., behemoth has yet to crack.
A peek inside the Walmart marketing war room reveals a hybrid low-tech, high-tech machine aimed at both outer borough shoppers most likely to benefit from lower prices and Manhattanites who may be the retailer’s loudest critics. The massive marketing machine includes:
* A street level, door-to-door campaign in Brooklyn focusing on religious leaders and neighborhood leaders.
* A team of specialists experienced in cutting through New York City’s legendary red tape, including Bradley Tusk, a former Mayor Bloomberg campaign manager, and Phil Singer, who runs Marathon Strategies, a corporate consulting firm which has worked with prominent Democrats, including Sen. Chuck Schumer.
* PR firms that helped Home Depot and Ikea break into the city.
* A taxi TV advertising campaign aimed at winning over Manhattanites.
* A Facebook page that collects pro-Walmart comments and may tailor pro-Walmart ads by zip code.
“They are serious about coming to New York, and they want to do it properly and with the right sentiment,” said one war room insider.
Steve Restivo, director of community affairs at Walmart said: “If we open a store and no one comes, or a hiring center and no one comes, we will have learned an important lesson. I just don’t think that’s going to happen.”
The effort comes as Walmart’s sales have stagnated and are up only 4.3 percent over the past two years. Shares of the chain are basically flat over the past four years. Executives are looking for a spark to regain the chain’s momentum — and getting into the New York City market is part of that plan.
Last week, City Hall continued to back the sale of 26 acres of land in East New York — a site many believe will be used to build the city’s first Walmart.
The latest idea to spring from the war room is an op-ed campaign, based on positive comments left on Walmart’s Facebook page, that will be circulated to city newspapers in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, the big box chain will continue to hammer home its message that paints New York as a “grocery desert,” according to sources who say the retailer is pushing its “affordable groceries” talking points at every opportunity.
To be sure, Walmart’s attempted move into the city has sparked opposition from labor groups and small business owners, who fear the discounter will wipe out many businesses and the workers they employ.