Report: Plans for Newark's First Walmart in Final Stages

Plans for Newark’s first Walmart store are in their final stages, according to sources quoted by The Wall Street Journal Wednesday.

Rumors have long circulated that the retail giant was planning on building a store at a 100,000 square-foot lot located at Springfield Avenue and Jones Street. The site is owned by Tucker Development Corp., which has offices in New Jersey and Chicago.

A Walmart spokesman said there were no “announced plans” for a store, echoing a statement the company released in early December, when protesters  opposed to Walmart’s presence in Newark rallied at city hall.

The protesters bashed the company for its labor practices, which include discouraging unions.

The plans for the Newark location include a grocery component, the paper also reported. Springfield Avenue and other parts of Newark have few full-service grocery stores, a phenomenon known as a “food desert.”  Such food deserts are commonplace in many of the nation’s poor urban areas.