The last two Walmart stores within Portland’s city limits will close in late March

Paco Dennis

Paco Dennis

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Oh NO!


"The last two Walmart stores within Portland’s city limits will close in late March, the company announced.

The locations, at 1123 North Hayden Meadows Drive and at 4200 Southeast 82nd Avenue at the Eastport Plaza, will both close on Friday, March 24. Walmart says they are closing the stores because they were not meeting financial expectations.

“The decision to close these stores was made after a careful review of their overall performance. We consider many factors, including current and projected financial performance, location, population, customer needs, and the proximity of other nearby stores when making these difficult decisions. After we decide to move forward, our focus is on our associates and their transition, which is the case here,” a spokesperson with Walmart said.

People who live near the stores that are closing say the closure is going to have a big impact on them and low-income shoppers.

“Safeway is the go-to-store if I have to but that’s three times the price I would spend here,” Amanda Pahl said. “What are we going to do? You got to go further, then you have to spend gas money. Might as well pay for it at Safeway at this point.”

According to a Walmart spokesperson, pharmacy staff will work with customers to transfer their prescriptions to other locations before that date.

All employees at the two locations will have the option to transfer to other, nearby locations.

“We are grateful to the customers who have given us the privilege of serving them at our Hayden Meadows and Eastport Plaza locations,” the company said in a statement.

There will still be over a dozen Walmart stores in the metro area, outside of Portland’s city limit."

https://www.kptv.com/2023/02/23/2-portland-walmart-stores-close-march/
 

And where I live, there 3 within a 10 mile radius. 104th ave, 192 ave and fourth plain. Additionally, Battleground & Woodland.

However, our police force is isn't as anemic as Portland's they're 100 officers below minimum and really need 200 more.

0f course our store theft rate isn't as bad. But you get what you vote for
 
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There is a Walmart several miles from us. I went there once last year to buy groceries because I'd earned a gift card. I never go otherwise, but it's always good for entertainment.

 
The most significant reason they are closing those in that city but not the dozen plus Wallmarts in its suburbs, is obviously for PC reasons, not something they will publicly state, just like all the retail closing in San Francisco and Seattle for similar reasons. Sad state of current era American life while Wallstreet corps for the sake of their Global Economy, keep pressuring their puppet politicians to keep borders open.
 
Muskrat said:
Walmart killed off a lot of mom and pops.
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I watched that happen in this town starting ten years before Walmart actually showed up and then closing down rapidly after that. Every last one deserved it.

Lazy owners that closed up whenever the mood struck, no ready stock, big display windows that were seldom trimmed, chit-chatting with their friends while ignoring any customers they hadn't gone to high school with.

I remember going into a floral and gift shop on December 20th looking for a Christmas centerpiece to take as a gift to a friend I was visiting. They had absolutely nothing Christmas themed prepared, "If you describe what you want we could probably get Marion to work on it when she comes in tomorrow." The bakery always had empty display cases, too, and told me I should order ahead of time. One woman in a tobacco shop actually got mad at me and told me I couldn't take all of the product I was buying because someone else might come in and want some.

My father owned his own small business and I know he always worked 16 hours a day from mid November until after the New Year. He knew that was when he could really make money if he was prepared and worked hard.
 
You could throw a stone through our local Walmart and not hit anyone most week days. Weekends are different, busy.

People seem to gravitate more to the specialty stores such as the pet stores, hardware stores, decor & home stores.
 
Della said:
I watched that happen in this town starting ten years before Walmart actually showed up and then closing down rapidly after that. Every last one deserved it.
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I at first thought Walmart was being mean. But then I realized, no "Mom & Pop's" gave ANY benefits. Hell, I worked for a 5 person company. We ONLY shut down for T day, C day and that's it. Oh sure you COULD have the 4th off or NYD, but not holiday pay. So you either worked or lost out.

I admit, there's a hardware store which makes $$$ as they offer a few things, Walmart won't. Or can't. People who know the products, have used them extensively. Rental equipment and good customer service.

You should see their fastener supply, equal to either HD, or Lowe's. Every barbeque they self assemble, they know what they got. And they only sell Carhartt.
 
David777 said:
The most significant reason they are closing those in that city but not the dozen plus Wallmarts in its suburbs, is obviously for PC reasons, not something they will publicly state, just like all the retail closing in San Francisco and Seattle for similar reasons. Sad state of current era American life while Wallstreet corps for the sake of their Global Economy, keep pressuring their puppet politicians to keep borders open.
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Well....no, not really; at least for SF where I lived for most of my career. It's more a combination of the consolidation of retail stores and the changing shopping habits of Gen X, Y, Millennials and Z. I worked in the retail consulting division of one of the two largest IT consultancies. Way back in 1998 GBN Consulting did a fascinating study for us on the future of retail as it began to feel the influence of the Internet.

They divided the then-current retailers into four groups. Remember back then: Sears was still big, K-Mart and JC Penny were profitable independent corporations, many regional department stores remained powerful local mini-chains. The Gap was a high-flying company. GBN concluded the consumer mix was going to shift drastically as the WWII buyers began to retire and Boomers were coming into their prime earning years. They forecast the Internet was going to dramatically alter retailing - remember, Amazon had only started in 1994 and in 1998 was still mostly selling books with some CD music albums and VCR movie tapes.

Retailers who did not take advantage of the Net, GBN forecasted, would eventually fall behind in profitability and market share, and either shut down or be bought out. Changes in taste would come increasingly fast, and changes in lifestyle with its resulting implications, would inevitably follow.

Which, of course, came true. Retail malls and downtowns are struggling as those long-term leases end and prized "anchor clients" are merged out of existence or into irrelevancy. In San Francisco's Union Square, I. Magnin and Joseph Magnin, City of Paris - are gone, swallowed up by Macy's. Macy's also owns Bloomingdale's, and I fully expect within the next 5 yrs to see that store close in Westlake Center which is less than 3 blocks from Union Square. Saks is owned by Hudson Bay Corp. of Canada. Nordstrom is going bankrupt. Sears swallowed K-Mart and still fell. JC Penney is drowning in debt and quietly closing stores. The Gap is barely hanging on by virtue of Old Navy, which is oddly still popular with Millennials.

Big generalized dept. stores are dying dinosaurs. Smaller specialty brand boutiques that can switch out fashion fads on a dime are where retail is going, when in-person shopping (still popular, even with young people) is chosen. You're looking at small stores run by Shein, Zara, and Asos. Because at those ages fashion is throw-away, they do shop the bargains just like Boomers - Costco, Amazon, Wal-Mart, Target - but they go where they live. Which is not downtown cities, but the malls and stores nearest them, in the suburbs.

Over the last 30 yrs, even discounting the pandemic effect, fewer and fewer workers need to go "into downtown" to work. The suburbs are exploding in contrast. The Net's influence has substantially changed the business environment, which in turn affects how people live, and how they spend their discretionary income.

I have noticed that Gen Xers are virtually the last generation who are visually familiar with San Francisco's Financial (business) District. People younger than 45 almost never go into SF at all, for any reason, unless it's for a major event like Bay to Breakers race. They don't live there or work there, no friends or family do either, so why would they go? With the homogenization of retail sources - there isn't much difference between what Macy's carries vs what Bloomingdale's offers - there's not much advantage gained in traveling elsewhere to shop.

The pandemic sped up the altered timeline substantially. Stores beloved by Boomers - Bed Bath & Beyond, Crate & Barrel, et. al. - are already struggling. Their businesses did not easily lend themselves to the Net without cannibalizing their own retail profits. Flexibility, adaptability, and speed is needed in the Internet world, which resulted in Amazon recently shutting all its Go stores in SF, plus more than 80 other subs. There is no profitable long-term outlook for them that is worth the high fixed overhead cost, in Amazon's view.

Try it out, let it run for a while, tinker with it to see if it improves - and if not, shut it down.

Wal-Mart may survive simply due to sheer size in its fight vs Amazon. Their experiment of opening inside metro city limits has been a failure and it's now clear long-term profits lie elsewhere, unless municipalities overhaul their zoning and permitting to convert some of that useless office space to housing. But all cities, urban or suburban, are living entities, and change is inevitable. Success goes to the ones who are best able to change course and go where the consumer is spending.

The thing to remember is don't fixate so much on why the consumer isn't spending his/her $$$$ at the store on Stockton St. or wherever. Your competition is where the consumer is spending $$$$, and competing there.
 
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Lethe200 said:
Wal-Mart may survive simply due to sheer size in its fight vs Amazon. Their experiment of opening inside metro city limits has been a failure and it's now clear long-term profits lie elsewhere, unless municipalities overhaul their zoning and permitting to convert some of that useless office space to housing. But all cities, urban or suburban, are living entities, and change is inevitable. Success goes to the ones who are best able to change course and go where the consumer is spending.
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However, there's only 2 shuttering. If you map the Walmarts in OR/WA you'll find 14 operational within 32 miles. Now regarding Hayden Meadows, that's a sparse area, I really was surprised they'd dare open there.

82nd on the other hand, the area is loaded with homeless, and I wouldn't be surprised if some workers were sliding out the door with unpaid items. It's even reported that it's mainly due to thefts.

And no surprise, Portland is 100 officers short and need 200 to bring staffing up.
 
My first though was Walmart closing? They close down other stores. I'm not surprised to read though that this within the city. This will effect people. I still remember a little woman in tears after one of the riots (in what city I don't remember) in tears because either a Target or grocery had been burned down. She said "this was my store, where am I going to go." I wonder how many cared about this little woman's plight.
 
We don't miss Walmarts in NYC. We don't need them as you all think you do. Getting real pissed at Big Corporations and how the customer is always wrong. Thinking of taking my millions of dollars worth of prescriptions out of CVS and into a little Anteka. That's an independent pharmacy for those who do not speak Russian.
 
In reading this thread, I'm getting the idea the Portland incident is an anomaly due to some factors specific to that area. I use Walmart a lot. I buy online things that need to be shipped from Walmart cheaper than from Amazon. For groceries in my area, they sell for 20% less than the other chains, except for Aldis which I only recently discovered. I find myself driving the extra miles to Aldis, which is even cheaper than Walmart by another 20%, although they have a smaller inventory. I almost never shop and the usual chains, because I always feel like I am overcharged. In spite of all the bad publicity about Walmart, I'm still a fan. Now with inflation, I'm even more careful about staying out of the more "politically correct" (whatever that means) stores. Yeah, I guess that makes me a low life.
 
Pepper said:
We don't miss Walmarts in NYC. We don't need them as you all think you do. Getting real pissed at Big Corporations and how the customer is always wrong. Thinking of taking my millions of dollars worth of prescriptions out of CVS and into a little Anteka. That's an independent pharmacy for those who do not speak Russian.
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Choice is a good thing.
 
I would imagine that theft has some play in all that's going on at Walmart. Like so many other people on this forum, I have seen people steal goods on those self checkouts and the person that is supposed to be watching what's going on couldn't care less.

Last Saturday afternoon, I was using the self checkout and a Latino couple was across the aisle from me and as I was waiting to get a register, I watched the man scan a product and put a couple of items into his bag. I think he may have paid for about 1/3 of his order. I thought good for him. Walmart deserves what they dish out. It's wrong, it's stealing, but all of these big companies steal from the public each day without recourse.
 
JustDave said:
In reading this thread, I'm getting the idea the Portland incident is an anomaly due to some factors specific to that area. I use Walmart a lot. I buy online things that need to be shipped from Walmart cheaper than from Amazon. For groceries in my area, they sell for 20% less than the other chains, except for Aldis which I only recently discovered.
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I used to drive from Cabool, MO to West plains, MO. For the Aldi's located there. It was always worth it. 34 miles one way. Mostly dry ingredients as I used a cooler
 
The last time I was at Walmart the aisles were totally clogged with merchandise. Racks and racks of clothes in the middle of the aisle, bins of shoes, display shelves full of vitamins, shampoo, etc....I don't know what all. It was like trying to navigate through a badly planned out flea market. They are suddenly grossly over stocked. I remember awhile ago when Family Dollar was going through the same thing, to the point where I walked in, saw the aisles were a holy mess, and walked out.
 
Disgustedman said:
However, there's only 2 shuttering. If you map the Walmarts in OR/WA you'll find 14 operational within 32 miles. Now regarding Hayden Meadows, that's a sparse area, I really was surprised they'd dare open there.

82nd on the other hand, the area is loaded with homeless, and I wouldn't be surprised if some workers were sliding out the door with unpaid items. It's even reported that it's mainly due to thefts.

And no surprise, Portland is 100 officers short and need 200 to bring staffing up.
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Which further illustrates my point. There are few large cities in the PNW. Wal-Mart is successful in rural areas and somewhat less so in suburbia, depending on the median age/income of the immediate local population.

Where they have a real problem is the age of their consumer base. It is much higher than Amazon's and WM's profits disproportionately come from groceries. Also, their inability to make inroads with the urban middle-class does not bode well for the future, as the long-term trend is for metropolitan areas to continue to expand while rural communities trend downwards into being poorer and aging.

Walmart's average customer is a woman who is 59.5 years old, white, married, and earning <$80,000 per year.

Amazon's typical shopper is a college-educated, white married woman, and split across two age brackets: 35 to 44 and 55 to 64. She typically lives in the Southeast, does not have children, and earns more than $80,000 per year. Amazon has over 100+ million Prime subscribers, the majority of which now pay $139/yr for membership.

If you strip out groceries, Amazon has better future prospects. 8 out of 10 Americans have shopped at Amazon. Epsilon found that high-spending Amazon shoppers spend two times more than the average consumer across all retailers and channels in its database. More than half of regular Amazon shoppers have a net worth of more than $500,000. The average Amazon shopper has higher annual household income ($84,449) than the average Walmart consumer ($76,313), according to another survey. Prime members in the U.S. spend an average $1,400 per year. By contrast, non-Prime members spend an average of $600 per year.

Wal-Mart is also pressured by Costco (another Seattle company, LOL). Costco has an Average Customer Profile that is the envy of all retailers. Their ACP is an Asian-American woman, age bracket 40-60, average income $125,000/yr.

All of this is to say that there is not much point in looking for local reasons or politics or corporate conspiracies, when the shut-down of familiar retailers is governed more by changing demographics and technology advancements, combined with the simple physical fact that the bigger something is, the harder it is to change its course - and the more radical the change, the more difficult (if not impossible) it is to solve the problem, without creating even more chaos that would be fatal to your business.
 


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