The Beast from Bentonville has done its best to enter the New York City market–but so far labor and community groups have kept it at bay. Wal-Mart has been turned back in its attempts to build a store in Queens and on Staten Island.

Interestingly, there has also been a move to stop it from opening up a store in the Bronx–even though the company has not announced public plans to build a store in the borough. Check out today’s article in The New York Times–opponents are mobilizing even before any public acknowledgement of a desire to open the store:

Now, the Bronx has emerged as the latest battleground over attempts by Wal-Mart to open its first store in New York City. Leaders of the anti-Wal-Mart campaign have been forming alliances with Bronx community groups and politicians as well as holding town hall meetings to plan their attack and energize their ranks.

At Our Lady of Refuge Roman Catholic Church in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx, where for decades parishioners have rallied to denounce neighborhood drug dealers, people gathered last summer to demonstrate against an enemy that deals in digital cameras, toasters, shower curtains and thousands of other products.

But for the most part, they are fighting a ghost: Wal-Mart has not officially announced any intentions to build in the Bronx, and no one is certain where, when and even if it will try to open a store in the borough.

“The effort here is to head them off at the pass,” said Richard Lipsky, director of the Neighborhood Retail Alliance, an advocacy group representing more than 10,000 city supermarkets, bodegas, greengrocers and restaurants that helped lead the recent fights against Wal-Mart on Staten Island and in Rego Park, Queens.

This makes a lot of sense to me. Wal-Mart has a powerful machine that swings into action, buying political support and convincing the community that the company offers wonderful benefits. If you wait until the deals are made, often times, the battle is lost.