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mahatmakanejeeves

(60,944 posts)
Sun Apr 16, 2023, 05:59 AM Apr 2023

Walmart to close half its stores in Chicago, citing huge financial losses

Walmart to close half its stores in major U.S. city, citing huge financial losses

Updated: Apr. 15, 2023, 9:54 a.m. | Published: Apr. 15, 2023, 6:05 a.m.

By Katherine Rodriguez | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Walmart plans to shutter half its stores in Chicago, citing poor performance at each of the locations. ... There are eight stores in Chicago, and the company will close four of them.

Three of the locations are located in primarily minority-dominant areas of Chicago in its South and West Side neighborhoods and have long struggled with access to grocery and retail stores, according to CNN.

Walmart said in a blog post the four stores that are closing “lose tens of millions of dollars a year” and annual losses have doubled over the past five years.

{snip}

Workers at the affected Chicago stores will be able to switch to other Walmart stores, and the company said it would work with city government leaders to find a way to repurpose the space formerly occupied by the stores.

What Walmart’s pullback from Chicago says about Corporate America’s limits

Analysis by Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN
Updated 4:09 PM EDT, Sat April 15, 2023

New York CNN — A line of Chicago mayors heavily courted Walmart over the last two decades, brushing aside community protests. And Walmart welcomed the opportunity to show cities it could be a strong corporate partner. ... But now, Walmart is pulling back from Chicago.

The largest retailer in the country announced plans this week to close four of its eight stores in the city, citing growing financial losses. Three are in predominantly Black and low-income neighborhoods, and their closures with little warning mean residents — including elderly citizens and people without reliable transportation — will have to travel further to buy groceries and pick up their medications.

“These stores lose tens of millions of dollars a year, and their annual losses nearly doubled in just the last five years,” Walmart said. Despite years of different strategies, the company said, it did not see a route to profitability for these stores. Walmart, which made $20.6 billion in 2022, did not specify why losses were growing in Chicago.

{snip}



Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Walmart gave less than a week's notice it would close four stores in Chicago.

Whole Foods closed in Chicago earlier this year, along with CVS, Aldi and Save A Lot. In 2019, Target closed two stores, angering residents. Chains like Dollar General and Family Dollar are expanding in low-income areas, but they don’t sell fresh groceries.

{snip}
5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Walmart to close half its stores in Chicago, citing huge financial losses (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves Apr 2023 OP
Seems like a good opportunity for Black owned stores to buy the buildings MichMan Apr 2023 #1
Seems the business model isn't working. Let's see if Chicago is the only city... brush Apr 2023 #2
The last two Walmarts in Portland, OR closed recently. barbaraann Apr 2023 #3
They closed the one closest to me Warpy Apr 2023 #4
April 21, Brooklyn Center Walmart closing - heavily minority suburb bordering Minneapolis progree Apr 2023 #5

MichMan

(13,172 posts)
1. Seems like a good opportunity for Black owned stores to buy the buildings
Sun Apr 16, 2023, 06:38 AM
Apr 2023

Keep the profits local and employ people from the immediate areas at good wages and benefits.

brush

(57,495 posts)
2. Seems the business model isn't working. Let's see if Chicago is the only city...
Sun Apr 16, 2023, 06:51 AM
Apr 2023

they'll be closing stores.

Warpy

(113,130 posts)
4. They closed the one closest to me
Sun Apr 16, 2023, 11:11 AM
Apr 2023

because they were averaging 3-5 police calls a day. The area directly around it isn't bad (I live here) but it drew customers from some really sketchy areas to the east. Since they opened a grocery and all the unionized groceries went under, this area has become a food desert. It really, really sucks. The people in the sketchy areas had no alternative already, and now this area doesn't.

progree

(11,463 posts)
5. April 21, Brooklyn Center Walmart closing - heavily minority suburb bordering Minneapolis
Sun Apr 16, 2023, 12:28 PM
Apr 2023
https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-business/walmart-store-closing-in-brooklyn-center-to-impact-over-400-employees
3/27/23 ... Walmart's announcement comes after other major retailers have recently moved to close stores in the Minneapolis area and surrounding suburbs.

Aldi and Walgreens both left north Minneapolis last month, and the Uptown Target is slated to close in May. (north Minneapolis is the heavily Black Minneapolis community -Progree)

Target closed its Brooklyn Center location in 2019.


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https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/brooklyn-center-police-responded-to-over-6000-calls-at-shingle-creek-walmart-in-last-5-years/
Brooklyn Center police responded to over 6,000 calls at Shingle Creek Walmart in last 5 years
KSTP, 3/22/23

(6,177 calls. Compare that to Brooklyn Park Walmart's 1,679 calls, a few miles to the west),
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