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In a front-page story two weeks ago, our reporter Sarah Portlock took a walk along the Fulton Mall shopping strip in Downtown Brooklyn and found that at least 11 chain stores have more than one location in that short eight-block stretch.

One store, Payless Shoes, has three!

Real-estate observers said that such saturation makes sense from a retailers’ perspective, although it does little to enhance shoppers’ choice or help keep prices competitive.

But change is afoot on the Fulton Mall.

This week, The Brooklyn Paper confirmed that H&M, the high-fashion, low-price, Euro-styled clothing store, plans to open next year on the mall, at Bridge Street.

And the New York Sun is reporting that JC Penney may occupy the current Conway site next door.

This is great news for shoppers, as both chains pride themselves on diverse offerings and competitive prices.

As does Ikea, which will open on Wednesday in Red Hook.

As does Target, whose Atlantic Terminal store is said to be the chain’s busiest location in the United States — so busy, in fact, that Target is planning to build another store just four blocks away.

Which brings us to Wal-Mart, whose revolutionary combination of size, selection and price has lowered the cost of living for millions of Americans. As Brooklynites have welcomed Target and Ikea, they would flock to the Bentonville behemoth if given the opportunity.

• • •

This newspaper has long supported Wal-Mart’s efforts to open its first New York City store in Brooklyn, and has said that there is no better place for Wal-Mart than near the Fulton Mall.

While we remain concerned about some of Wal-Mart’s corporate policies, we also believe that if it opened a truly urban store, Brooklyn consumers — and their dollars — would bend the chain towards our values, not the other way around.

And therein lies the key to adapting big-box stores to our urban environment.

If developers put them in mass-transit-starved enhanced strip malls like Caesar’s Bay or Gateway at Spring Creek, we end up with an auto-driven “sucking sound” pulling the life out of nearby neighborhood shopping strips.

But put a Target, JC Penney or Wal-Mart in an existing downtown, and you draw even more traffic to the merchants occupying the adjacent streets. Then, instead of killing Mom-and-Pop stores, they’d present the Mom and Pops with enlarged opportunities for profit.

Fulton Mall is well served by public transit that efficiently connects it to most of New York City — and is surrounded by booming residential and commercial neighborhoods with hundreds of thousands of potential shoppers.

With Fulton Mall changing, it is time for city officials to reconsider Wal-Mart’s attempt to bring its low prices and vast selection to Downtown Brooklyn.

©2008 The Brooklyn Paper