The world's largest retailer has faced strident opposition across the country from unions, resident groups and some municipalities over its push to open hybrid, warehouse-sized Supercenter stores.

In California, the retail giant is taking its case directly to voters to thwart attempts to block its rollout of 40 of the stores in the next several years.

Its lobbying efforts paid off last week in Contra Costa County, where residents voted against a proposed measure to block so-called big-box stores that sell groceries from opening in unincorporated areas.

But the Bentonville, Ark.-based company failed to woo voters in the city of San Marcos in northern San Diego County. Residents overturned a City Council-approved change in zoning rules that would have allowed a second Wal-Mart store to be built there.

Next month, a vote by Inglewood residents could determine whether a Supercenter is built in that Los Angeles suburb.

"Wal-Mart has taken on California as a battleground — that is clear," said Madeline Janis-Aparicio, executive director of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, a public policy group helping to coordinate opposition to the Supercenters. "They're the ones that are coming in here with millions and millions of dollars to try to push themselves into local communities," she said.

The stores are huge, one-stop-shopping centers, adding a full supermarket to the chain's familiar discount inventory. Wal-Mart contends consumers benefit by saving on groceries while shopping for other discount merchandise.

"When voters are asked whether they want the benefits of Wal-Mart Supercenters, we see time and time again that they say yes," Wal-Mart spokeswoman Amy Hill said last week.

Additional calls to Wal-Mart were not immediately returned.

Opponents aren't focused on savings and convenience, however. They see a low-wage, low-benefit job mill that will displace better-paying jobs as independent retailers are driven out of business.

They also fear the super-size stores will contribute to suburban sprawl and jammed roadways.

Since 1988, Wal-Mart has opened more than 1,500 Supercenters across the country, drawing opposition from a number of communities.

In Hawai'i, Wal-Mart's project on Ke'eaumoku Street has drawn opposition because of concerns about added traffic, the discovery of human remains at the site and its economic effects.

California represents the last major untapped market for the Supercenters, raising the stakes for Wal-Mart.

"California is much more serious for them, because they have never tried to get into major metropolitan areas to the extent they are trying to do so in California," said Ulysses Yannas, an analyst with Buckman, Buckman & Reid Inc.

Much of the opposition in California is coming from labor groups that have united against Wal-Mart on a national scale.

"Wal-Mart has a record of pushing down wages and benefits everywhere that they go, into below a living wage, and they have a record of driving out businesses that provide a living wage and health benefits to their workers," said Barbara Maynard, a spokeswoman for the United Food and Commercial Workers.

Southern California grocery workers represented by the UFCW were on strike or locked out for 4ý months after three national supermarket operators pushed to lower their employee costs out of fear of being unable to compete against Wal-Mart's Supercenters.

The strike ended recently with the union ceding to the companies' demand for a separate pay and benefit scale for new hires.

Wal-Mart has had some success in California. On Tuesday, it opened its first Supercenter in the state in La Quinta, a desert community about 120 miles east of Los Angeles.

Further progress will depend on whether it can get the public on its side.

"They have a very powerful, voter-friendly argument: We're going to bring down your cost of living," Yannas said, adding that Wal-Mart does bring down prices, particularly for food, wherever it opens Supercenters.

"The other thing that does happen is other businesses do come in because of the huge traffic Wal-Mart attracts," Yannas said.

Janis-Aparicio said that doesn't benefit communities in the long run.

"There's almost nothing that they do that really helps build communities, except provide low prices — but at an enormous cost," she said.