Walmart is set to close its last two stores in Portland, Ore. as leftist-run American cities continue to experience relentless waves of high crime and shoplifting.
Walmart locations in the North and Southeastern sections of the Rose City will shut their doors for the final time on March 24, months after company CEO Doug McMillon lamented a rise in “shrink,” an industry term for in-store theft.
Although Walmart did not acknowledge whether or not theft was a factor in the decision to close the stores, saying it was done after a “careful review of their overall performance,” Jeremy Girard of the Oregon Retail Crime Association says shoplifting in the city has a “crisis level” and stores are losing $5 million per year to theft.
McMillon previously told CNBC that “prices will be higher, and/or stores will close” as a result of the spate of thefts, which is “higher than what it has historically been.”
600 employees at the two stores face being transferred or laid off, while the majority of law abiding residents in the area will now be deprived from being able to shop locally.
Portland is such a hellhole city that it can’t even keep its Walmarts open https://t.co/7ReEXUGDsd
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 6, 2023
Portland police recently carried out a “blitz” targeting shoplifters across the city, although their actions are routinely hindered by leftist government officials who are constantly pressured by the heavy presence of Antifa radicals.
“We’re having big retailers leave,” said Jordan Zaitz, a member of the Portland Police’s Neighborhood Response Team. “I mean, to have Walmart close two of its stores is a really big deal. The people in those neighborhoods, that’s where they shop.”
Home Depot, Target and Nike, which has had one of its stores in Northeast Portland closed for months, have all been prime targets for criminals.
Nike even asked city officials to give them permission to post off-duty police officers at their stores with the power to arrest shoplifters.
As we document in the video below, major cities across the country are increasingly descending into bedlam and chaos as the mad, the mentally ill and criminal mobs take over the streets while ‘defund the police’ initiatives leave resources stretched to breaking point.
Wealthy residents are investing in protection dogs that cost as much as high end Mercedes cars in cities like L.A., which is experiencing a huge spike in home robberies.
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