Walmart Superstore leaves Chatham

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BY TIA CAROL JONES

The pharmacy will remain open for 30 days so that people with prescriptions will have time to move them to another pharmacy.

According to the outgoing 21st Ward Alderman Howard Brookins, upon being informed about the closing of the store, he met with 21st Ward Alderman-elect Ronnie Mosley and 6th Ward Alderman-elect William Hall. “It was profoundly disappointing. I thought that we were out of the woods with respect to the fragility of the store. For years, I had always been told the store was losing money, but when they decided to re-invest in the store after it was destroyed after the George Floyd protest, I thought we had turned a corner. Then, they built the Walmart Academy and that further gave me hope they would continue to invest in the community,” Brookins said.

Once Brookins received word about the Walmart closing, he said he started to call developers to see what was possible. For the Walmart Academy, Brookins and Walmart are looking for non-profits to inhabit the space. According to Brookins, there are more than 400 jobs that will be lost at the Chatham location. Brookins also has spoken with Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson and has reached out to outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Brookins acknowledged there is a Jewel Food Store on 87th near the Dan Ryan, 95th and Ashland, also a Jewel Food Store in Marshfield Plaza on a 119th, A Food 4 Less at 112 W. 87th St. and an Aldi’s at 8500 S. Holland Road. “The 21st Ward won’t be a food desert, but Walmart will be sorely missed. They provided a need that other retailers in the area didn’t. You could buy a bike there, you could buy a basketball, you could buy a TV. There are so many things you’ll have to go out of the community to get,” Brookins said, adding the closing is a blow to the community.

Felicia McCranie, Walmart Spokesperson, said the reason for the store closures is because they were not profitable. While Walmart wanted to invest in the stores and see if it could bring them back to a profitable status, unfortunately, the tough decision was made to close these stores. According to McCranie, there were some community classes that took place at the Walmart Academy, including HVAC, tech classes and resume writing.

Walmart is planning to host job fairs for current employees with the hope they can be placed at other locations. Beyond Sunday, associates will be paid their hourly regular wage until Aug. 11th. After Aug. 11th, associates who are eligible will receive severance pay. The goal is to give them enough time to find a job. “Our associates are the beat of our company; we wouldn’t have Walmart without our associates. This has nothing to do with their amazing work. In each of these stores, we’ve got amazing stories of achievements from associates in these stores,” she said.

McCranie said the intention was that the investments Walmart made to the locations would improve store performance, but the efforts haven’t improved the business challenges the stores were facing. She added, Walmart

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