Similar-sized stores are set to open in early 2007 at Interstate 75 and Howell Mill Road, the side of the former Castlegate Hotel; and in Chamblee at Peachtree Industrial Boulevard near Interstate 285, area marketers who have worked with Wal-Mart on other projects, tell GlobeSt.com. Representatives of the Gresham Park Community Association, Greystone Park Community Association and community activist John Evans couldn't be reached at GlobeSt.com's publication deadline.

One condition the residential groups obtained from Wal-Mart officials was that the store would sell no firearms or ammunition. Wal-Mart officials declined comment. In Georgia, Wal-Mart has 125 stores, supercenters and Sam's Clubs totaling an estimated 24 million sf, according to GlobeSt.com research. The company's eight distribution centers total an estimated 3.2 million sf.