If you live in the Portland area, Walmart just made an announcement that the stores in the Portland area are permanently closing all of its locations later this month.
"We have nearly 5,000 stores across the U.S. and unfortunately some do not meet our financial expectations," Walmart said in its announcement. "While our underlying business is strong, these specific stores haven’t performed as well as we hoped."
I recently shared in another NewsBreak story that the CEO of Walmart, Doug McMillon, warned that shoplifting was a serious problem for Walmart and even said that some stores could close because of that problem. "If (retail theft) is not corrected over time, prices will be higher, and/or stores will close,” McMillon said. (source)
And theft played a major role in the decision to close these stores in the Portland area.
“Theft is an issue. It’s higher than what it has historically been,” McMillon said. "Prices will be higher and/or stores will close.” McMillon also added that the authorities in Oregon did not address rampant shoplifting problem at the stores. (source)
Both Walmart locations at Hayden Meadows and East Port Plaza will officially close on March 24.
Many other businesses in Portland are struggling as well
Public data shows that since the pandemic, more than 2,600 downtown businesses have filed changes of address with the U.S. Postal Service to leave their downtown ZIP codes. (source)
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