Supercenter mystery: Conspiracy theories fly around the suddenly shuttered Wal-Mart

Tulsa World ^ | Friday, April 24, 2016 | Robert Evatt

[Star Traveler]

From crime to labor issues to an intricate military coup of the entire United States, conspiracy theories are flying around the closed Wal-Mart supercenters in Tulsa and elsewhere.

The official reason for the sudden closure of the store at Admiral Place and Memorial Drive last week was two years of plumbing issues that would take six months to fix.

That was the same reason given for each of the four other Wal-Mart locations, which all closed at the same time with just a few hours’ notice. The other stores are in Brandon, Florida; Pico Rivera, California; Midland, Texas; and Livingston, Texas.

Though the fuel pump and the pharmacy remain open at the Tulsa Wal-Mart, most of the supercenter has gone dark. One entrance is covered in black tarp, while the other is guarded by two Tulsa Police Department cars.

One of the most commonly-cited theories cited by commenters on the Tulsa World website and the Tulsa World Facebook page is that the store was closed due to crime problems. In February, officials from the Tulsa Police Department complained that the store received 1,500 larceny calls between 2012 and 2014, which is 400 to 500 more than other supercenters.

[21twelve]

“Why does Wal-Mart even have to give a reason why they are closing a store? Just close it.”

If the stores are in crime infested areas and they are closing to to shoplifting and/or other related reasons, they may not have wanted to give anyone an excuse to riot if they told the true reasons.