Walmart is set to close both of its Portland, OR stores by the end of March. This means they are completely leaving the city, as they claimed they were not meeting “financial expectations” there.
The last day for business will be March 24. Some speculate that the closures are due to rampant shoplifting, a “consequence of the 2020 BLM-Antifa riots,” as journalist Andy Ngo puts it.
Ngo added that shoplifting has been “normalized” along with urban criminality due to the riots.
Ngo also shared that “Walmart has long been harshly criticized by the city’s left-wing politicians & residence.”
“Walmart has announced it will permanently close all its locations in Portland, Ore. Nearly 600 will lose their jobs. The closures follow the consequences of the 2020 BLM-Antifa riots that helped justify & normalize urban criminality & retail theft.”
Walmart has announced it will permanently close all its locations in Portland, Ore. Nearly 600 will lose their jobs. The closures follow the consequences of the 2020 BLM-Antifa riots that helped justify & normalize urban criminality & retail theft. https://t.co/LKx5FP1p1q
— Andy Ngô ????️???? (@MrAndyNgo) March 3, 2023
A Walmart spokesperson said, “The decision to close these stores was made after a careful review of their overall performance. We consider many factors, including current and projected financial performance, location, population, customer needs, and the proximity of other nearby stores when making these difficult decisions. After we decide to move forward, our focus is on our associates and their transition, which is the case here,” of the decision to close all Portland stores.
Fox 12 spoke with one resident of Portland and patron of Walmart, Amanda Pahl, about the news. She told Fox 12, “Safeway is the go-to-store if I have to but that’s three times the price I would spend here. What are we going to do? You got to go further, then you have to spend gas money. Might as well pay for it at Safeway at this point.”
Pahl added, “We gotta resolve the shoplifting one way or another if that is simply the problem, its gotta stop.”
It is unclear at this time if other retail stores have considered leaving the city in the future as well. Many have already had to leave the downtown area for various reasons. It seems it will take more bleak developments before elite Democrat voters start to realize their cities are being decimated financially.
Recently, Democrat Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot was ousted. However, it remains to even be seen yet if she will be replaced by someone modestly more conservative, or a man who wants to defund the police.
