Two days ago, we learned that Whole Foods is shutting down a store in San Francisco. Now we are finding out that Walmart is closing four stores in Chicago.
This news comes just as Democrats have announced their plans to hold their 2024 convention in the city.
CBS News reports:
Walmart is closing 4 stores in Chicago, the latest in a series of planned shuttersWalmart has begun closing more than a dozen stores in major cities in recent months, the latest being four locations in Chicago.Located in the Chathem, Kenwood, Lakeview and Little Village neighborhoods, the four Walmart stores are part of a list of 19 closings in 11 states and Washington, D.C., slated for this year, reported Business Insider. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported job cuts at the retail giant’s e-commerce fulfillment centers in Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida and New Jersey, impacting over 2,000 workers.The nation’s largest employer said Tuesday the Chicago stores have collectively been losing tens of millions of dollars annually and have not been profitable since the first of the four opened almost 17 years ago. Walmart also said it tried several different business strategies to improve the performance at the locations, including investing $70 million in recent years.”Unfortunately, these efforts have not materially improved the fundamental business challenges our stores are facing,” the company said in a statement, adding that the stores will close for good on Sunday.
In their official announcement, Walmart dances around the obvious. Crime:
We know the community will have questions about why we are closing these locations.The simplest explanation is that collectively our Chicago stores have not been profitable since we opened the first one nearly 17 years ago – these stores lose tens of millions of dollars a year, and their annual losses nearly doubled in just the last five years. The remaining four Chicago stores continue to face the same business difficulties, but we think this decision gives us the best chance to help keep them open and serving the community.Over the years, we have tried many different strategies to improve the business performance of these locations, including building smaller stores, localizing product assortment and offering services beyond traditional retail. We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the city, including $70 million in the last couple years to upgrade our stores and build two new Walmart Health facilities and a Walmart Academy training center.It was hoped that these investments would help improve our stores’ performance. Unfortunately, these efforts have not materially improved the fundamental business challenges our stores are facing.
Some people who live in Chicago are angry about this decision. What did they expect?
NBC News in Chicago reports:
Customers Slam Walmart for Closing Chatham Supercenter: ‘It’s a Slap in the Face’Regina Dickey went for an appointment at a new primary care clinic in Chatham Tuesday. Newly furnished and close to home, she thought she’d come back and was disappointed to learn she’d never get the chance.Dickey, 38, is in fine health, but the clinic where she went and the store it’s attached to – a Walmart supercenter on the South Side – is not, according to its owners.The supercenter is one of four Chicago stores that Walmart announced Tuesday will close by Sunday, joining other grocery stores — particularly on Chicago’s South and West sides — that have closed in recent months.In addition to the Chatham Supercenter, the Walmart Health center and the Walmart Academy, at 8431 S. Stewart Ave., the other stores closing are the Kenwood Neighborhood Market, at 4720 S. Cottage Grove Ave.; Little Village Neighborhood Market, at 2551 W. Cermak Road; and Lakeview Neighborhood Market, at 2844 N. Broadway.“This is going to cause a lot of issues for people in the community,” Dickey said. “Not cool.”Dickey said she shopped there and at the Walmart in Kenwood (also closing) regularly.“It’s like they didn’t even give a thought to the people in these communities,” Dickey said.
Angry Chicagoans should take this up with their local leaders. That’s who failed them, not Walmart.
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