Posted on 01/30/2016 8:44:31 AM PST by upchuck
A minimum wage of $12.55 an hour in Oakland, Calif., may be the culprit for a Wal-Mart store's closure.
Wal-Mart announced Jan. 15 it will close 269 stores globally, including 154 locations in the United States-affecting about 10,000 associates across the nation... snip
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, a Democrat, has been leading statewide efforts to raise the minimum wage to $15.
"This higher city minimum wage eliminated the jobs of the very workers advocates wanted to help," said James Sherk, a research fellow in labor economics at The Heritage Foundation... snip
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that most Wal-Mart hourly store employees in the U.S. will see a pay increase in February.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailysignal.com ...
Stores are ranked by region. They mind the details. Stuff damaged by shippers and suppliers is debited. Shrinkage (theft) is tracked daily. Wages are only part of the story. If a stores doesn’t perform, management is eyeballed and the location. There’s a store in WV that is only open from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm seven days a week. That store out performs every other store, even those much larger. in WV and half of Kentucky.
Walmart knows where its losses are coming from. They’re not a non-profit. The $2 pay raise announced over a year ago to be put into affect over two years is partly a cost saving measure. Walmart would rather retain employees instead of incurring the constant training expense associated with new employees.
In an era when it’s touch to find drug free employees, Walmart is doing what it can.
“I am willing to bet there was also a lot of shoplifting at that location.”
No one seems to want to talk about it, but this is the real reason that there are no shopping centers in “urban areas”.
I worked in college at a department store. One of the managers came from an “urban” store like ours with many fascinating stories. For example, they would get a shipment of sunglasses in and put them on one of those rotating racks at the front of the store. By the end of the day, it was nearly empty. They checked the registers and sales inventory, and they had sold exactly three pairs. And that was a long time ago.
Apparently to some. The Chamber of Commerce arm of Free Republic thinks so.
“I’m surprised these Marxist areas don’t create laws making it illegal for businesses to move despite revenue losses. “
I’m sure that they are working on it.
That’s why I predict if Sanders is elected, we will see “Bernie-Marts”, government-run stores in urban areas, funded by the taxpayers.
Bernie Sanders might use that idea in his campaign.
Not if they have to pay the jacked up minimum wage.
To stay in business, low volume Mom and Pop stores need much higher margins than high volume, low margin competitors like Wal-Mart. That is why Wal-Mart put them out of business in the first place.
Increasing labor costs enough to close Wal-Mart stores is even more devastating to small businesses.
It has worked so well in Venezuela.
The wage law was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. There’s far far too much crime and violence and dangerous population in Oakland - and people come into the stores and shoplift almost at will. Any police response is usually very slow - mostly just arriving to write brief report for insurance. And if you’re trying to live there and have to call police for burgulars or rapists breaking into your home — you can pretty much forget it. Very sad. It used to be quite a nice town.
I read through a list of many of the stores that are being closed.
Several were on “Martin Luther King Blvd.” in various cities
It only failed because the “wrong people” are in charge, don’cha know.
This time Socialism will work!
The Wal-Mart in my town seems to be a crime magnet; it is outside of the residential area, in a swamp between Newark & Jersey City. Newark residents have tried to fill carts and just walk right out.
I believe it will stay open, but I think they are changing it from 24 hours to a more profitable (or “policeable”) schedule.
Yes they will and in doing so they will create an opportunity for some else to come in and take advantage of the open market.
The jobs will be filled and the services will still be provided but the consumers in those areas will pay much higher rates for everything. Their standard of living will diminish and the community will decay as people move away to avoid the increasing tax rates needed to offset the loss of sales tax receipts.
Bernie Marts with long lines and empty shelves?
The shelves will be kept full, because you’ll be paying for it.
“Thatâs why I predict if Sanders is elected, we will see âBernie-Martsâ, government-run stores in urban areas, funded by the taxpayers.”
And they will look just like the Hugo Chavez stores in Venezuela - Empty - Will not even be able to buy toilet paper.
Just like the Back in the OLD U.S.S.R and Eastern Europe under the good commie regime that Bernie favors
they seem to be busy and doing fine...
these types of stores attract a higher socio-economic clientele who don't mind higher prices for safety, for cleanliness, for orderliness and for value.
Walmart you go to strictly to save money...
Walmart would love to expand in the San Jose- Oakland -San Frencisco bey area. Eight million people but only a handful of walmarts largely on the extreme peripheries of the region too. The closed Oakland store was walmart’s only outlet in that major city of 400,000 people . Walmart has been blocked from getting even a single store in San Francisco (800,000), Marin county (about 400,,000) and San Mateo county (another 800,000 people) It’s a combination of leftist politicians being paid off by some small local businessmen who do t want to have to compete for their now- captive customers. Result of course is some richer politician- whores and higher prices, higher cost of living for millions of people. But anyway Oakland residents now have to drive a few miles to the San Leandro Walmart store ( which may close next we hear?). And over 450” jobs are lost. And Oakland loses all the sales tax revenue too, which will hurt the city quite a bit. Very sad but who knows? Maybe someday something else might show up there —?
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