Wal-Mart opts to pass on Downtown Crossing

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. yesterday confirmed the company met with Boston officials about opening a store in Downtown Crossing, but said it is not interested in the location.

The statement comes about a month after Wal-Mart executives approached the city to discuss moving into one of the massive buildings on Washington Street due to be vacated next year by Federated Department Stores Inc.

''We're not interested in that location at this time," said Wal-Mart spokesman Philip Serghini, who declined to explain why the world's largest retailer does not want to move into Downtown Crossing.

''In the long term, we will be looking at Boston," Serghini added. ''We see no reason why our customers in Boston should be denied access to our low-priced goods."

Still, as unions, politicians and residents learned yesterday about Wal-Mart's meeting with Boston officials, the possibility of the giant discounter opening in the middle of the struggling shopping district set off a firestorm of opposition.

''The Greater Boston Labor Council will do everything in its power to stop Wal-Mart from moving into Downtown Crossing," said Rich Rogers, the executive secretary-treasurer of the regional labor organization, which represents 90,000 workers. ''We will be calling on our community allies and elected officials to join us in opposing Wal-Mart."

His comments follow about two weeks after Rogers and a coalition of labor leaders, healthcare advocates, and workplace safety activists organized a Wal-Mart protest in Boston as part of a nationwide back-to-school boycott of the retail giant. The coalition, which urged parents to shop elsewhere for school supplies, blasted Wal-Mart for breaking child labor laws, paying low wages, and discriminating against women. Wal-Mart has fought union attempts to organize workers at its stores.

Serghini, the Wal-Mart spokesman, said the labor groups are engaging in ''a national campaign to vilify our company, and they certainly don't care about our employees or our consumers. The one and only thing the unions care about are their own special interests."

Meanwhile, Boston City Councilor Felix D. Arroyo yesterday said he had planned to write letters to other councilors and the Boston Redevelopment Authority, which oversees projects in Downtown Crossing, to express his opposition to a Wal-Mart in the middle of Boston.

''We don't need that kind of neighbor," Arroyo said.

The Downtown Crossing site has garnered increasing attention since Federated Department Stores, a Cincinnati-based company, said last month that it planned to vacate either the Macy's or the Filene's building on Washington Street. Federated, which on Tuesday completed its $17 billion acquisition of May Department Stores Co., has said it plans to retire the Filene's brand and close its flagship store in Downtown Crossing.

Federated officials say they have not decided whether to keep Macy's at its current location, or move it across Washington Street to the Filene's building.

So far, discounter Target Corp. has expressed interest in occupying one of the buildings in Downtown Crossing, Mayor Thomas M. Menino has said. Other retailers, including Home Depot Inc., Jordan's Furniture, and Kohl's Corp., have also approached the city about the sites.

In a Boston.com poll conducted yesterday, Nordstrom and Target were the people's choices. The unscientific sampling, which attracted 3,351 online responses, asked people what they would like to see in Downtown Crossing after Filene's closes.

According to the results as of 6 p.m., about 38 percent favored upscale department store Nordstrom and 31 percent preferred Target. Meanwhile, Jordan's Furniture placed third with 7.1 percent of the vote, ahead of Wal-Mart with 6.8 percent. About 4 percent of the responses favored Old Navy, while Home Depot received 1.9 percent of the vote.

A Nordstrom spokeswoman this week said the company wants to open a store in Boston but is not considering the Downtown Crossing site. A spokeswoman for Gap Inc., which owns Old Navy, said the company does not comment on real estate strategies.

''As to who specifically will move down there, it's all speculation at this point," said Meredith Baumann, a spokeswoman for the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

''Our goal is to bring a retailer that has a wide appeal to the diverse population that visits Downtown Crossing today, and one that is a good community neighbor."

Jenn Abelson can be reached at abelson@globe.com.