Sad Facts That Walmart Can’t Escape: For Every 2 Poverty Jobs Walmart “Creates” 3 Are Lost
New York– Rather than owning up to their job eliminating and small business shuttering business model, Walmart executives announced today they would rather spend untold amounts of money on a flashy propaganda campaign to buy their way into New York City while avoiding answering any questions from the New York City Council, the elected body which represents the eight million New Yorkers. The fundamental question is: why is Walmart hiding and refusing to answer questions which New Yorkers expect and deserve?
The announcement of the ad campaign comes at a time when New York’s small business community is under siege. Small businesses, the engine that drives New York’s economy, continue to face tough times as the economy slowly recovers, and the specter of Walmart moving into New York City could drive hundreds out of business.
“I can’t compete with fancy ad campaigns, I need to pay my bills,” said Mark Tanis, General Manager of Shoppers World located at 1572 Pitkin Avenue in East New York. “They come into our neighborhoods and don’t care about the little guys like us who have been here for years, all they care about is stomping us out. We have hundreds of stores that would be in danger if Walmart came to New York.”
“Times are tough, but Walmart would make it even tougher. Walmart wants to put guys like us out of business and kill dreams of families like mine. If a store like mine goes out of business it’s no big deal to Walmart, but for me it would be devastating,” said Luis Hernandez owner of an Associated Supermarket in East New York.
Studies have shown that Walmart destroys small businesses and jobs when it opens up in urban neighborhoods. A study published by the Center for Urban Research and Learning Loyola University Chicago found that after a Walmart store opened in the Austin neighborhood in 2006, over 25% of area businesses sampled closed. Stores that were near Walmart were “more likely to go out of business eliminating the equivalent of about 300 full time jobs—about as many as Walmart initially added to the area.”
An author of that study found that, “the findings support the contention that urban Walmart stores absorb sales from other city stores without significantly expanding the market.” In addition, the study found that there was no increase in retail activity or employment opportunities.
Walmart Free NYC is a coalition of workers, small business owners, community leaders, clergy and elected officials who are committed to increasing economic opportunities, preserving local businesses, and creating more jobs in communities across New York’s five boroughs.
WALMART IMPACT STUDIES
“The Impact of an Urban Wal-Mart Store on Area Businesses: An Evaluation of One Chicago Neighborhood’s Experience.” Davis, Julie, David Merriman, Lucia Samayoa, Brian Flanagan, Ron Baiman, and Joe Persky, December 2009. Center for Urban Research and Learning Loyola University Chicago.
Available online at http://luc.edu/curl/pdfs/Media/WalMartReport21010_01_11.pdf.
“The Effects of Walmart on Local Labor Markets.” David Neumark, Junfu Zhang, and Stephen Ciccarella. October 2005. Public Policy Institute of California.
Available online at: http://www.businessweek.com/pdfs/2005/david_neumark.pdf
“The Effect of Walmart on Businesses in Host Towns and Surrounding Towns in Iowa.” Kenneth Stone. Iowa State University. November 1988.
Available online at: http://www2.econ.iastate.edu/faculty/stone/Effect%20of%20Walmart%20-%201988%20paper%20scanned.pdf
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