On Tuesday, Walmart announced that four of its stores in Chicago would be closing by the end of the week due to poor financial performance.
The Walmart Community Markets on Grand Boulevard, Lakeview, and Little Village, as well as the Walmart Supercenter in Chatham, which houses a health clinic and a Walmart Academy for the benefit of both Walmart employees and the local community, are all set to close.
In a press release published on the firm’s website, officials explained the trend as follows: “The most straightforward explanation is simply that collectively our the city of Chicago shops have been struggling to be profitable since we opened our inaugural one more than seventeen years ago.”
Those stores’ annual losses amount to tens of millions of pounds and have nearly doubled in the past five years.
Will Walmart’s Chicago Store Move?
The locations that are scheduled to close are at 8431 S. Steward Ave., 4720 S. Forest Wood Ave., 2844 N. Broadway, and 2551 W. Cermak Drive. “continue to encounter the same commercial issues,” Walmart said of its four Chicago-area stores in Austin, Pullman, Auburn Gresham, and Belmont Cragin.
The company has stated that they anticipate this decision to improve their chances of survival and continued service to the neighborhood. According to Walmart’s announcement, the company will donate the Chatham Walmart Academy to the city “to help further enhance Chatham and the neighboring areas.”
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Walmart representative Felicia McCranie said the company is having discussions with “local leaders and the community” in Chatham, but she would not comment on the specifics of those discussions or name the potential recipient organization for the academy.
Is It Now The Neighborhood’s Fault?
Fears claim that the clinic’s central location made it especially beneficial to the uninsured people of Chatham and the surrounding areas.
Fears lament that it will lose a lot of money and that locals weren’t consulted about how to make the business successful in the long run. City of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot slammed Walmart in a statement released on Tuesday.
Specifically, Lightfoot said in the statement, “All neighborhoods in Chicago ought to enjoy access to vital products and services.”
That’s why the news that Walmart, a trusted ally, is closing so many stores in the City’s South and West areas has hit me particularly hard. If these communities are suddenly deserted, it will have a devastating impact on the lives of thousands of people.
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Are We Done Here? Or A Fresh Start In Life?
In the summer of 2017, after an Aldi store had been closed in Avondale Gresham in early June, Lightfoot was highly critical of the company. It appears that political leaders in the area were not given any advance notice.
Get the word to Aldi’s, Lightfoot said. In order to avoid major problems in Chicago, you should “meet us where we are” and “talk and collaborate with us.”
Owner Yellow Banana is replacing Whole Foods in Englewood with a Save-A-Lot. Protests from Englewood residents and local politicians, who have been critical of Save-A-Lot’s reputation and food quality, forced the store to delay its soft opening from last week.
McCranie claims that Walmart will not announce any additional store closures today. In February, Walmart planned to shut down three of its stores in relatively remote areas: Lincolnwood, Plainfield, and Homewood.
When asked about the decision to close the stores, company representatives said at the time that a “thorough evaluation process” had shown that the locations were failing to meet objectives.
Conclusion
It has been announced that employees of the Walmart stores in Chicago that will be closing will be eligible for store transfers. The company has promised that its pharmacies will remain open for “up to” 30 days following the closure of its stores.