Retail giant Walmart announced that it would close four of its eight stores in Chicago, claiming that the four locations were "unprofitable."
The four stores located in the Kenwood, Lakeview, Little Village and Chatham neighborhoods will close on April 16, although their pharmacies will remain open for up to 30 days. In a statement, the company said the four Walmart locations "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."
Walmart has faced tough competition from home-grown retailers Target and Albertsons, and the German supermarket chain Aldi. The Arkansas-based Walmart had tried to improve its performance by building smaller stores, localizing its merchandise offerings and investing $70 million in recent years in store upgrades, health facilities and a training center – but all in vain.
In spite of this, the retail giant denied that competition prompted the closure of the four stores. The company also denied that the closures were to due crime and retail theft, both of which have cast the Windy City in a bad light.
Outside of the Windy City, Walmart announced that all of its locations within Portland would be closed by late March 2023. The last two stores within the City of Roses closed for good on March 24. In the same case, Walmart attributed the closure of its Portland stores to their failure to meet financial expectations.
Business Insider also reported that Walmart is closing a total of 19 retail locations across the U.S. this year – including those in Chicago.
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Lawlessness in Chicago the real reason for Walmart closure
John Nolte, senior writer at Breitbart, said the lawlessness in Chicago and other Democrat-run cities is the actual reason for Walmart's decision to close stores. "No one can stay in business under those conditions," he added.
"It's unlikely Walmart is worried about taxes or even violent criminals. The problem is that shoplifting has been all but decriminalized, and these retailers are losing … tens of millions of dollars."
In a statement, outgoing Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot urged the big-box retailer to ensure that communities affected by its store closings would continue to have a reliable source of essential goods. She also called on Walmart to work with local communities to repurpose the shuttered stores for new uses.
"I'm incredibly disappointed that Walmart, a strong partner in the past, has announced the closing of several locations throughout the south and west sides of the city," Lightfoot said. "Unceremoniously abandoning these neighborhoods will create barriers to basic needs for thousands of residents."
According to Nolte, Lightfoot wasn't radical enough for Chicago voters – so they elected an even more dangerous left-wing radical in the person of incoming Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
"Johnson promised to raise a billion dollars in taxes on corporations and to ensure even more violent criminals run free. Chicago voters are obviously happy to live this way and want even more crime, violence, blight, taxes, filth, dangers, failing schools, murder, robbery, gangs and failure."
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Watch this video about the mass layoffs at Walmart stores.
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