Wal-Mart is not releasing many details about its Queens store. Acompany spokeswoman says it will be a standard Wal-Mart discountstore without perishable groceries, as opposed to a Supercenter.Though the unit will be on one level, it is still not decided whatfloor of development will house the store. The unit could open sometime in 2008. The company has no specific plans to expand in NewYork City, she says.

The retailer could eventually open about three stores in each ofthe city's boroughs, including Manhattan, says David Rosenberg, anEVP at New York City-based real estate services firm Robert K.Futterman & Associates. "Wal-Mart's understanding of the marketwill determine how many stores there can be."

Big-box retailers are moving into urban areas such as New YorkCity because, in many cases, they don't have much more room toexpand in the suburbs, Rosenberg says. "The main problem thosecompanies will face, besides high real estate costs, is adaptingtheir store formats to urban environments. The biggest obstacle forthese companies is to look beyond the typical prototypelocation."