Woke Wal-Mart Closing Four Chicago Stores Replacing Petty Thieves With Democratic Convention

Back in December, Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” During that interview, McMillon flatly stated that thefts are historically high, and if they don’t stop and the thugs aren’t prosecuted, it will cause prices to skyrocket and some stores may have to close. Although McMillon didn’t name locations that may be forced to close, you don’t have to be Nostradamus to realize that Democratic run cities with catch and release criminal policies are most at risk.

Yesterday, Wal-Mart released a statement confirming that they will close four stores in the Chicago area. Although the statement did not specifically mention theft as a reason, it isn’t difficult to read between the lines and to realize that it was a major contributing cause.

Wal-Mart has shown some reluctance to reveal exactly how bad the shoplifting problem has been for them. However, Capital Counselor has estimated their losses to be approximately $3 billion for last year.

Part of the Wal-Mart statement is as follows:

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.

Community and city leaders have been open and supportive as we met with them over the years to share these challenges. As we looked for solutions, it became even more clear that for these stores, there was nothing leaders could do to help get us to the point where they would be profitable.

With that in mind, we have made the difficult decision to close these underperforming stores in Chicago. The following stores will close to the public by Sunday, April 16:

• #5781 Chatham Supercenter, the Walmart Health center, and the Walmart Academy, 8431 S. Stewart Ave. 
• #3166 Kenwood Neighborhood Market, 4720 S. Cottage Grove Ave. 
• #5645 Lakeview Neighborhood Market, 2844 N. Broadway St. 
• #5646 Little Village Neighborhood Market, 2551 W. Cermak Road

I think it’s telling that Wal-Mart hung in there for as long as they did. Clearly they tried everything that they could, even trying to become a neighborhood “Good Guy” by building two health centers and a training facility. Sadly, it didn’t work. The theft continued and in the end the stores will close and the community will suffer because of a lack of decency and morality.

As you read the statement, you can feel the sense of resignation that the company felt when they said, “As we looked for solutions, it became even more clear that for these stores, there was nothing leaders could do to help get us to the point where they would be profitable.

Translation:  Lawlessness wins when the justice system becomes a revolving door. All the good intentions in the world won’t replace keeping the guilty parties off of the streets.

I find it ironic that within the same time period that Wal-Mart announced these closings, Democrats announced that Chicago is where they will hold their convention.  The city will now mindlessly celebrate the people and policies that are destroying their city.

The city isn’t correcting its street crime issues and now they’re bringing in the white-collar criminals for a party.

A modern-day den of thieves, …… where no-one goes to jail.