Without Fanfare, Wal-Mart Opens in Landover Hills

Wal-Mart quietly opened its first store inside the Beltway yesterday after permit problems forced the retailer to cancel a grand-opening celebration earlier in the week.

The Landover Hills store, located in the former Capital Plaza Mall, was supposed to open Wednesday but failed to secure a use-and-occupancy permit from the Prince George's County Department of Environmental Resources in time. Don Frieson, Wal-Mart vice president and regional general manager, said the store obtained a temporary permit yesterday after a visit from a county health inspector.

The store opened its doors. By late afternoon, Frieson estimated several hundred customers had stopped by.

The shopping center has been controversial, with community and labor organizations concerned that it would run out nearby small businesses and depress employee wages and benefits. To appease residents, Wal-Mart agreed not to sell alcohol or guns, and to provide parking lot security and design a more attractive storefront, among other concessions.

Wal-Mart also designated the area as one of 10 "job and opportunity zones" across the country. It plans to give free advertising, hold workshops and provide grants to local businesses as part of the program.

But community and political leaders remain skeptical. At a rally Wednesday at the Safeway supermarket next to the Wal-Mart, people called on the retailer to keep its promises and improve wages and health benefits for its employees. A letter signed by county council members Eric Olson, Will Campos and David Harrington and addressed to Wal-Mart chief executive H. Lee Scott Jr. was circulated, asking the company "to put an end to this health-care crisis."

"We're asking Wal-Mart to change," said Mark Federici of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400. "We want jobs that pay for the work that we do."