The Future of Wal-Mart's Maryland Operation?

With the recent override of the Wal-Mart bill, perhaps the company will bring this example to the Mid-Atlantic:

Eighteen months after the Chicago City Council torpedoed a South Side Wal-Mart, 24,500 Chicagoans applied for 325 jobs at a Wal-Mart opening Friday in south suburban Evergreen Park, one block outside the city limits.

The new Wal-Mart at 2500 W. 95th is one block west of Western Avenue, the city boundary.

Of 25,000 job applicants, all but 500 listed Chicago addresses, said John Bisio, regional manager of public affairs for Wal-Mart.

"In our typical hiring process, you're pretty successful if you have 3,000 applicants," he said. "They were really crowing about 11,000 in Oakland, Calif., last year. So to get 25,000-plus applications and counting, I think is astonishing."

The City of Chicago apparently did not want Wal-Mart, so the company dropped anchor just on the outskirts of town, providing benefits to residents without the benfits to the city government.

I am certainly not suggesting that Wal-Mart is going to close all of its stores in Maryland and encamp on the state lines. However, I certainly would not be surprised if the distribution center planned for Somerset County wound up in Virginia or Delaware either.