Wal-Mart Watch: Wal-Mart wins approval for one Chicago store, and loses it for another: After a raucous debate, the council voted 32-15 to allow Wal-Mart to construct a 150,000-square-foot store in a poor, largely black and Hispanic neighborhood on the city's West Side. In a second vote, the council rejected a huge store Wal-Mart wanted to build in a racially diverse, largely middle-class South Side neighborhood. The vote was 25-21, just shy of the majority of the 50-member council needed to make the zoning change. It was referred back to the zoning committee for reconsideration. The Bentonville, Ark., discount retailer ran into fierce opposition from community leaders who claim Wal-Mart pays substandard salaries and who fear the store would hurt established businesses. The victory for Wal-Mart comes after an expensive defeat in April in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, where voters rejected a superstore.