Ian Ritter is national online editor for GlobeSt.com/RETAIL.

NEW YORK CITY-Wal-Mart's proposed store in a Vornado Realty Trust development in Rego Park, Queens could just be the beginning of an overall push into the city by the largest retailer in the world, industry observers say. Plans for the store follow urban openings by the Home Depot and Target here earlier in the year.

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

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