They talk all around the issue but it all boils down to theft vs profit.
Opened a Walmart Mini Store in our “food desert”. Went there because it had good meats.
Always had good foot traffic when I was there but it closed without giving a reason after 18 months.
The article mentions $2.9 million of city (OUR) money given to developers to open a food market in Stop Six (our downtown Portland) and which went bully up in a few years. Throwing money at this issue goes down the toilet.
“,,,it closed without giving a reason after 18 months.”
Pilferage by employees and open shoplifting by “patrons”.
The outlet was definitely becoming a “not for profit” enterprise, and Wal-Mart can only self-insure against a certain level of individual store losses.
So, a Target store in Atlanta. On Moreland Ave became one of the anchor stores in the strip mall. Very much a food and retail desert. It has. Kroger, bestbuy, Lowe’s and a few other decent places to shop in an area that had nothing.
The place targets the inner city liberals and hipsters that are gentrifying the area.
Anywho….. the Target is #1 in the amount of theft and shoplifting in the company. In order to get tax breaks they signed a did joins deal with the city but apparently, also, use the store a one big tax deduction for all the losses it takes.
The folks at Lowe’s aren’t even allowed to confront shoplifters as they walk freely, in and out of the contractors door.