Walmart (Bentonville, Ark.) announced plans to close its final two locations in Portland, Ore., later this month because the stores “haven’t performed as well as we hoped,” reports the National Review.
Though the retailer didn’t specifically cite theft as a reason for the closures, the move comes just a few months after CEO Doug McMillon said the company could shutter some stores if law enforcement did not get more active about prosecuting in-store theft.
“We have nearly 5000 stores across the U.S. and unfortunately some do not meet our financial expectations,” the corporation said in a statement made to local TV station KPTV. “While our underlying business is strong, these specific stores haven’t performed as well as we hoped.”
The move will leave Walmart with six stores in the Portland area, but none of those are within the city’s limits, the station reports.
Store closures have become increasingly common in Portland. Last year, KPTV notes, local clothing store Raind PDX shut down, with the company citing the cost of retail theft.
“Small businesses (and large) cannot sustain doing business, in our city’s current state. We have no protection, or recourse, against the criminal behavior that goes unpunished,” a letter posted on the company’s store read. “Our city is in peril.”
Nike and Cracker Barrel also closed locations there in 2022, with the companies citing similar reasons.
Editor’s note: For more on the rising theft problem retailers are facing and steps designers can take to help combat such problems, see the “Retail Trends Forecast” in VMSD‘s January/February 2023 issue.