Walmart announced last month that it would be closing both of its Portland stores, but it drew renewed attention this week as politicians bickered over the matter online.
The retail giant will lay off 580 employees when its stores close on March 24, officials said.
Here are five things you should know about the closures.
Why is Walmart closing its Portland stores?
In announcing the closure, Walmart said little more than that the stores had failed to meet their financial expectations.
“There’s not a single reason a store closes,” Lauren Willis, a spokeswoman for Walmart, told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “We conduct a thorough review of a store’s performance and weigh many factors before making the difficult decision to close a facility.”
Walmart has also announced store closures in Arkansas this year; Washington, D.C.; Florida; Illinois; New Mexico; and Wisconsin, according to insiders. It also doesn’t give specific reasons for the closures elsewhere.
Why is this getting so much attention now?
A fresh round of news reports stated that Walmart is closing all of its Portland stores. And indeed, it closes the two within city limits.
The company continues to operate stores in the metro area, including Gresham, Happy Valley, Milwaukie, West Linn and Vancouver.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott over the weekend aimed at Portland Referring to the issue, he said the closure is “what happens when cities refuse to enforce the rule of law”.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler shot back Mondaywho noted that dozens of Texas stores have closed in recent years, adding, “The retail industry is changing and retail theft is a national problem.”
What role did crime play in Walmart’s closure?
Without confirmation from Walmart, it’s hard to say. The company’s CEO told CNBC in December that shoplifting could force price increases or store closures.
Cody Bowman, a spokesman for Wheeler, said the company has not made inquiries to the mayor’s office regarding retail theft.
However, other major retailers have asked the city to crack down on shoplifting. Nike recently attempted to hire off-duty police officers to provide security for the reopening of a temporarily closed store, a proposal the city dismissed as unfeasible given the police department’s staffing levels. And a broader coalition of retailers has asked for a more reliable police response to theft reports and the prosecution of suspected shoplifters.
Wheeler said retailers allow their security staff to hold suspected shoplifters until police arrive, a practice many retailers avoid due to potential legal liability. However, Walmart detains shoplifters, Bowman said.
Willis, the Walmart spokesman, said the Portland Police Bureau “has been a great partner and we really appreciate their crime fighting efforts in this business.”
The National Retail Foundation’s annual security survey found that “shrinkage,” the industry term for lost inventory, primarily theft, was 1.4% in 2021, slightly below the five-year average of 1.5%.
That amounts to $94.5 billion in losses nationwide, the organization said. However, retailers attributed more of the incidents to organized theft rings than in previous years and said violence and aggression related to the incidents had increased. Many have increased their security spending, although Walgreens’ CEO admitted earlier this year that the chain may have overestimated its losses and overspent on new security measures.
What is the history of Walmart in Portland?
The Eastport Plaza store in southeast Portland opened in the mid-1990s and added a grocery department in 2011. The North Portland location near Delta Park opened in 2013.
It had proposed new stores in Portland twice in the past few years, one in Sellwood and one on Hayden Island. Both locations have met strong opposition from neighbors and from Sam Adams, the city commissioner and later mayor of Portland, who said the company mistreated its employees.
Walmart also closed a small technology office in Portland this year.
What about the rest of Oregon?
Walmart operates 45 stores in Oregon — including about a dozen in the greater Portland area but outside the city limits — and the company said no further closures are planned.
— The Oregonian/Oregon Live