Walmart closing two Portland stores (Beaverton, Tualatin: crime rate, neighborhood, college)

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

Their statement "not meeting financial expectations" could mean different things, such as not enough patronage there, people are only buying the low profit items, or they are losing profit due to shoplifting. All of those affect financial performance. In a city near us, Bellevue WA there were two, neither a Superstore. The neighborhood market is still there but is getting run down and both their produce and meat are pretty bad. The other larger one has shut down, "due to poor financial performance" and will be replaced by mixed-use development complete with housing, offices and additional retail. This is in a city where the median income is $140,252, median home $1.28 million, though this is at Factoria which is a lower income area with many apartments.

Or that they sucked compared to the nearby Fred Meyer stores that Oregonians tend to prefer.

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Or that they sucked compared to the nearby Fred Meyer stores that Oregonians tend to prefer.

That doesn't seem to be the case:

People who live near the stores that are closing say the closure is going to have a big impact on them and low-income shoppers.

“Safeway is the go-to-store if I have to but that’s three times the price I would spend here,” Amanda Pahl said. “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.”

[pnwguy2]

There is no question Walmart has among the lowest prices among chains. When they close there are certain reasons which many don’t realize. Part of it is the fact they thrive in lower income areas. But that is not the whole story. Walmart is a difficult store to navigate, especially for elderly folks. It also makes shopping for regular folks somewhat difficult. From parking to navigating the many rows. If you can drop into your local smaller grocer and get out quicker it may be worth the extra cost. Such is the grocery industry today.

[doc1]

Apparently rampant theft was a factor:

"Walmart to shutter Portland locations just months after CEO’s warnings on crime"

""Theft is an issue. It’s higher than what it has historically been," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in December on CNBC. He added that "prices will be higher and/or stores will close" if authorities don’t crack down on prosecuting shoplifting crimes...."

"...A clothing shop called Rains PDX permanently shut down in November after facing a string of break-ins that left the store financially gutted. The store owner even posted a blistering note on the shop's doors slamming the city’s crime rate.

"Our city is in peril," a printed note posted on Rains PDX store read. "Small businesses (and large) cannot sustain doing business, in our city’s current state. We have no protection, or recourse, against the criminal behavior that goes unpunished. Do not be fooled into thinking that insurance companies cover losses. We have sustained 15 break-ins … we have not received any financial reimbursement since the 3rd."

https://www.foxbusiness.com/retail/w...warnings-crime

[Jimrob1]

Didn't the East side already lose a Fred Meyers and a Safeway in recent years? Now the Walmart.

[karlsch]

Nike also closed their store on MLK Blvd. They offered to hire off-duty Portland police to provide security, Nike would pay for them, but Ted Wheeler won't allow it.

https://www.kptv.com/2023/03/04/whee...orhood-detail/

[pnwguy2]

Retail continues to move online. It is a slow plow but it is indeed reality. Are we going to see many more empty storefronts as we progress through the 20’s? My best guess is Yes. Apartments will take up these spaces as has already started occurring in places like Seattle, Bellevue, Portland.

[pnwguy2]

The next decade will bring more micro apartments. Usually one room apartments. Bed, living room, kitchen all within a small space. This is the future.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by doc1

Apparently rampant theft was a factor:

[i]"Walmart to shutter Portland locations just months after CEO’s warnings on crime"

...
https://www.foxbusiness.com/retail/w...warnings-crime

same story, different source

The closures, which will result in nearly 600 employees being laid off, come after a statement by Walmart CEO Doug McMillion in December 2022 noting that record-breaking retail theft had undercut the company’s economic performance of late.

“Theft is an issue. It’s higher than what it has historically been,” McMillon told CNBC. Prices “will be higher and/or stores will close,” the executive added if Oregon authorities failed to address rampant shoplifting.

https://news.yahoo.com/walmart-set-c...154823875.html

As one who frequents both of thses locations (because they are near where I buy parts).

It has been obvious that it is impossible for a business with very low margins to be financially viable with unlimited shoplifting. You MUST use a steering Wheel lock at each of these locations, as parking lots have roaming thieves and group theft of vehicles and contents. Shelves are nearly empty, because store employees are not allowed to stop shoplifters (good idea to avoid getting killed or beat up).

There was never much success in the Walmart 'neighborhood model' (Delta Park location), and Walmart MUST have very high volume of shoppers because margin is so low. Groceries have never been cheaper at walmart, it is not their core business and has a very expensive and complicated supply chain than what Walmart normally does for sales volumes (warehouse / logisitics / high volume sales). Delta Park is NOT a good tactical location for a Walmart. It is out-of-the-way. When your 'neighborhood' is homeless camps, no one else is gonna come, and your neighbors are gonna strip you of your goods. (for free).

Sometimes you need to cut your losses, and Portland business challenges continue to plague the city and it's businesses. Some friends who ran a very successful, high demand consumer business in the Pearl had to sell the business, then the buyers could not hack the homeless, so they abadoned the 20+ YO business and the property had to be sold and much very expensive capital equipment sold. Hundreds of jobs lost. These friends are still suffering the trauma of the business and property loss nearly 5 yrs later. They may never recover emotionally, and certainly not financially. They were doing terrific in all ways, then the city abandoned them and all businesses and residents.

While the Walmart decision is a financial one. It is precipitated by the violence and uncontrolled theft that is allowed in Portland. It is spreading.

[texasdiver]

As Stealth points out, the Delta Park location was stupid from the beginning as there isn't much population that lives close by. It is mostly warehouses and light industry. Except that there are all the homeless living across at Delta Park who are probably now the biggest customer base. There are few Portlanders for whom that is going to be their closest and preferred grocery.

I kind of suspect that Wal-Mart located it there with the idea that they would get a lot of traffic from Vancouverites seeking to avoid the sales tax. Which is why Jantzen Beach and Cascade Station exist where they do at the base of each freeway bridge, respectively. But that was a miscalculation because people tend not to seek out Wal-Mart for big ticket tax-evasion shopping. They have Best Buy for electronics and Home Depot, Lowes, Target, and Costco right across the river too. Plus that Delta Park location is way more inconvenient for people coming southbound on I-5 from Vancouver compared to just hitting the Target or other shops at Jantzen Beach. And there is no WA sales tax on groceries anyway. So it was just a dumb place to put a grocery store and it doesn't surprise me that it is doing poorly. It would probably be doing poorly if there was zero crime.

The 82nd Ave location is a bit different. That is Lents which has always been somewhat sketchy. But a lot of people do live around there. Back when I was in college that section of 82nd was mostly strip clubs, porno stores, and biker bars. In the past decades the Asian population has grown and now it is lots of Asian restaurants and groceries as well as Hispanic run transmission and auto repair shops. Still pretty low rent. There is a Winco across the street as well as Shun Fat which is a big Asian grocery that is better than Wal-Mart and at least three Safeways and three Fred Meyers no more than 5 min away by car. So it won't be a food desert. The building isn't going anywhere. I would not be surprised if some kind of Asian or Hispanic grocery decides to occupy it. Or if it gets converted to something like medical offices which is what I've seen happen to some abandoned K-Mart buildings.

The city is finally taking over 82nd Ave from the State and has plans to renovate the street with sidewalks, landscaped medians, express buses, and such to make it more pedestrian and neighborhood friendly. That is long term, but that will improve the area far more than a Wal-Mart.

But yes, controlling crime is necessary to achieve any other objectives in that area or anywhere in Portland.