What in the hell did you expect...

You can call it a coincidence because it doesn't match up with your assumptions.

Low income areas, which are typically also high crime areas, are not gold-mines for any businesses, and are more prone to be closed.

Either way, you are free to believe anything you want.

 

The stores according to Walmart's statement have not been making money for 17 years. Lightfoot has been mayor of Chicago for what, two years? So again, the political BS you are spouting is not matching what Walmart is saying officially in its statement.

Yes, they are closing 4 stores. They are closing some 20 stores altogether in 11 states plus the DC area. Walmart also made statements in 2022 that shoplifting is on the rise nationwide.

 

And notice the word "nationwide" in that statement, in 2022, which is the 2021 fiscal business cycle and estimates for fiscal 2022 year.

So, to make it specifically that it is chicago ONLY or "liberal areas" only is also a bunch of hogwash.

 

Not the one I shop at, west Plano Texas, near Dallas North Tollway, near a country club. As I said, I live in a middle-class area where Walmart is located. It is a super Walmart. And yes, there is pretty much no person in that area where the self-checkout is located. but it is also in front of the "customer service desk" area as well. No greeters either. But this area is a major shopping destination with a major shopping center across the street with a super Target and a whole bunch of other stores and on the other side of the tollway, a major mall, Costco, and even more shops, restaurants, etc. so, what is saving this Walmart, quite literally, is the traffic flows but there still is shoplifting going on in that store usually in the gaming section area

 

Sounds like the karens from the country club got tired of being checked when they were slumming it, and so the store just wrote it off.
Likely enough of those karens come in and buy enough electronics that the bit of shoplifting that gets past them gets paid for.

The paradigm in the chicago stores is quite a bit different. Not the least difference is that if you catch a shoplifter in Texas you get support from police and local laws. Chicago ain't really the same deal.

 

So now you are justifying shoplifting because of the neighborhood it's in?

 

You wanna quote me where I said that? Honestly, how do you go through life like this?

I said 1) its in a nicer neighborhood so shoplifting is likely less of an issue and 2) the karens bitching was probably worse than the minor amount of shoplifting that goes on in West ****ing Plano down the street from the ****ing country club.

Jesus ****ing Christ lady.

 

What I highlighted in bold. there is only one logical way to take that when you made that stupid arse statement. Quite literally, you are justifying shoplifting.

 

WalMart doesn't cause that.

If the same people went to work for another retailer, with the same level of skills, they would likely make the same amount. After all, if another employer was offering more, don't you think they would quit WalMart and go work for the other employer?

 

It's about how you think, and you made that clear.
I have a brother whose wife is a professional decorator. She wouldn't be caught dead in Wal-mart.... But she will buy the exact same brand items from a more upscale store and pay a substantially higher price, and tell herself that's "class". It's insecurity and we all know it, but we don't tell her that.

Is it hard for you to understand that labor is a commodity in the production of goods, just like materials? Probably. A lot of people think a business must also be a social service agency existing for the comfort of their employees.
An employed person is actually- a person in business for themselves.
They are selling their product (their services) to a client for a mutually agreed price- just like my business does.
They are free to market that service anywhere, and free to get the best price any buyer in the market will offer.

The fact that others might work cheaper is what's called "competition", which is what every business has to deal with everyday- and if your business \ can't compete, you don't win customers- and you fold.
Nobody bails you out, and in settlements... the law protects the employees as the first priority to get paid. The employer- get zero protections.

When you buy something, the sellers ask if you are satisfied and happy, tell you they appreciate your business, and ask you to come again. If you voice a problem, they try to fix it so you are satisfied.
You expect that. You feel that as a customer- you deserve that. I agree.

Now- your employer IS YOUR CUSTOMER. How many times have you ever asked those questions or expressed your gratitude for their business?
Do you bad-mouth your employer to other employees or friends? Do you think you do all the work, and they make all the money? You probably do, a large percentage of employees think that way.

I didn't say you went to Walmart, you came up with that... then tell me you do, just not often. The people with dedication to fair wages usually don't connect wages to prices at all.
My company manufactures in the USA, and over 90% of our materials are made in the USA. But that is because we have a nich market, and we manufacture our own inventions.
Anyone in mainstream marketing has no choice. You do. You can brand-buy things assembled in the USA with parts made in China... Pay more. and tell yourself you are buying American.

Sadly, American labor has priced itself out of the world market. It wants the benefits of low-cost labor but doesn't want to provide it. Can't have both.

 

Nobody at Costco makes less than $15/hour. They are doing quite well.

 

Wow. Thanks for the education, but I'm not anything like you claim. I've always liked my employers, or left for better companies. Why would I badmouth the people who put food on my table?

Please keep your opinions of me to yourself. They are none of my business, and you base your opinions without knowing anything about me.

Why should the American taxpayer subsidize Walmart's labor costs? Many of them, who work there full time, need government assistance to afford to live. This is an issue for me. HUGE issue. Walmart should be paying the costs of whatever we provide to their employees.

 

Costco sells a fair amount of high priced merchandise like TVs, computers and other appliances. I went in buy a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black the other day and was shocked to see they were offering a $3,999 bottle of French brandy offered.

 

The thread can be characterized as part of the "be afraid, be very afraid of those uncivilized folks of a color other than yours" narrative the POT and right wing media continues to promote. After all, it's easier to do that than offer solutions to the country's problems.

 

Of course the CEOs are not going to point their finger at any individual location because people would have a fit.

You don't find it slightly curious that four out of eight stores in that one specific area are closing? Of course theft has the most to do with it it's Chicago for Christ sakes.

Looting is just a way of life there much less shoplifting

 

We have politicians basically legalizing petty theft and then in those areas there's an explosion in shoplifting.....

Who the hell could possibly see the connection?

 

Where is it they can steal $999 and walk out and not be charged... California I was thinking..

 

I do not believe that there is any Walmart where there is not someone on duty at the self checkout at all times.

In addition to the normal problems that are going to require associate assistance.....

Cigarette lighters, spray paint, slingshots and BB guns and BB's ( and I'm certain that I have missed some other age restricted products that are common purchases) and last but not least alcohol..... Requires an associate to come and verify the customer's age.

I'm not buying that for one second

 

I believe you are correct but also in Chicago the threshold for felony theft was raised to $1,000 from the previous 300.

So you can steal up to $999.99 and if they bother to prosecute you in Chicago it will be a misdemeanor.



https://abc7chicago.com/shoplifting-kim-foxx-chicago-crime-news/5769897/

 

Walmart is closing a batch of stores in 2023 — here's the full list

Walmart is closing 20 retail locations across the US this year, including four in Chicago, citing poor financial performance at each.

The recent closures follow a trend of Walmart closing a handful of stores across various states each year, with the company saying that the stores are "underperforming" without providing specifics.

In addition, the retail giant is ending its nine-year experiment with two pick-up only locations in Illinois and Arkansas, and confirmed it would lay off hundreds of workers at five ecommerce fulfillment centers across the US.
https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-store-closings-2023-full-list

If you listened to Charlie Munger on Saturday you'd know commercial real estate in metropolitan areas is suffering across the country. But I guess you want to play the race card.

 

A great example of what you talk about towards the end of your post is Harley-Davidson.

So many Harley owners tend to look down on people that ride Japanese bikes such as Honda Kawasaki Yamaha and Suzuki because don't you know? they ride "American made bikes"......

And that might have been true 20 years 30 years ago..... Now they ride bikes assembled in America made of foreign components.

 

Not one time have I mentioned race.

Is this your way of telling us you believe all shoplifters are black?

 

That's pretty much the norm and even your article continues (in the part you 'forgot' to quote) by saying "Thirty states have set their threshold at $1,000 or more. "We still prosecute retail theft cases," Foxx said. "The difference is they are prosecuted, depending on the amount, as misdemeanors opposed to a felony."

Class A misdemeanor in Chicago = up to 364 days in jail

 

It would be interesting to see how many people are arrested for shoplifting in Chicago that are never prosecuted

 

Again: Did I say that shoplifting was moral, or not illegal?

No. I said that from a CBA perspective, not dealing with the plethora of bitching karens present in a country club neighborhood in West ****ing Plano harping about being treated like common criminals by having a pleb check their receipt and purchases vs the very few people likely to shoplift in a country club neighborhood in West ****ing Plano, is a pretty simple choice from a retail manager's perspective.