Not the first time I’ve seen this story play out. The opening of another discount store (I don’t remember the brand) in one of the Cleveland suburbs had a similar turnout many years ago. Many people I know applied, and we live more than thirty miles away. Who would want a low paying job you had to drive more than sixty miles round trip for? Cleveland’s in bad shape, not as bad as this story makes it seem, but bad. I think you could see this happen in many other cities too, Cleveland’s not unique.

6,000 is nothing.  A Chicago area Wal Mart received 25,000 applications for 325 positions.  See

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=19286

At some point, Wal Mart critics have to acknowledge that these jobs are in demand, and that if they are in such demand they cannot be bad.  Not that many make stupid decisions for themselves.

I also have to point this out:

“That’s Depression-era kind of imagery,”  Amy Hanauer, executive director of Policy Matters Ohio, told the Plain Dealer. “You can’t have an economy that works that way. It speaks to the need to generate a different kind of employment in Cleveland.”

All you need to know about Policy Matters Ohio can be learned by noting the representation of labor unions on the organization’s board of directors.  Ohio’s economy is going into the toilet precisely because of the efforts of groups like Policy Matters Ohio, not in spite of those efforts.

#3
I clicked on your link and discovered that a few members of the board are associated with labor unions, some are professors, some are economists and some are community activists.
How exactly is Policy Matters leading Ohio’s economy into the toilet?

Despite their different occupations, the Policy Matters group look to be of one mindset - government needs to control things with the assistance of a heavily unionized working class. 

Wake up - the 1950s are over and have been for some time.

http://www.jibjab.com/originals/big_box_mart is a satiric look at the global economy and WalMart.

The paint industry has lobbyists in Columbus, the auto industry has lobbyists in Columbus, the coal industry has lobbyists in Columbus—I love it when a small and relatively insignificant group which lobbies
for higher working and middle class wages gets people nervous.
Get out of Shaker Heights much?