Arkansas Business

An item we missed earlier this week: The New York Times reporting Wednesday that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville has all but abandoned its push for a store in the nation's largest city:

The company has pulled back after its push to open a store in the East New York section of Brooklyn fell through and after it terminated its contracts with five lobbyist-consultants it had hired to help it win approval for that project.

...

One of those consultants, who insisted on anonymity for fear of angering Wal-Mart officials, said the retailer had all but shut down its efforts in New York. “They’re not pushing at all,” the consultant said in an interview. “They’re all but packed it up and left.”

Having thoroughly conquered rural America and the suburbs, Wal-Mart has made limited inroads to more urban locales, and the biggest prize -- a foothold in New York City -- remains elusive. This, as the retailer continues to focus more on smaller sized stores, including Neighborhood Markets and its new ultra-compact Express format.

In other WMT news, AdAge reports that the retailer has streamlined some of its public relations agency deals, moving most of its consumer-focused work to Interpublic's GolinHarris.

And Fox Business/Reuters and the AP has word that the retailer's corporate affairs leader, Leslie Dach, is leaving the company.