Chicago real estate owners will want to take note of this development: Attempts to make the way for more Chicago Wal-Mart stores fell through this week in city council meetings.
Now, the nationwide chain of superstores only has one Chicago location within the city, on North Avenue in the West Side. Another site in Chatham on the South Side, where a Wal-Mart is supposed to be built, was on hold due to the labor groups, Wal-Mart and the city council being unable to come to an agreement on a living wage ordinance for the employer.
Chicago real estate owners take note: Wal-Mart stores aren't coming to the city yet.
The Chatham Wal-Mart, which would be a Wal-Mart Supercenter selling groceries and wares, would be located at 83rd and Stewart and would be the first of a possible 5 Supercenters in Chicago. The Supercenters would all be located in low income areas known as “food deserts.” According to Wikipedia, food deserts are districts “with little or no access to foods needed to maintain a healthy diet but often served by plenty of fast food restaurants.”
Because of the delay at the Chatham site, the developer was facing foreclosure. The city council and organized labor groups have proposed tying both the Chatham site and the Wal-Mart stores, in the 9th, 12th, 20th and 34th wards, to an ordinance requiring the store to pay employees at least $11 an hour. Last month, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, Wal-Mart “said it would accept a city-mandated minimum wage, but only if it applies to all Chicago businesses.”
Previously proposed ordinances that singled out “big box” stores were vetoed by the Mayor. The ordinance proposed this week applies instead to companies with 50 or more employees who benefit from a city subsidy and would not apply to the South Side location since its development began before the ordinance was proposed. Despite the new proposal, retailers, labor groups and the city council could not come to an agreement on the ordinance yesterday, further delaying the development of Wal-Mart stores. Meanwhile, the South Side Wal-Mart location was given the go-ahead, since that deal was arranged before the ordinance would have taken effect.
In opposition to the proposed ordinance, “David Vite, president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, said Burke’s proposal would have prevented even smaller businesses, including some restaurants and franchised hardware stores, from locating in the city,” according to the Chicago Tribune. “Nobody is going to leave, but they certainly would not invest in Chicago,” Vite said. “We shouldn’t be putting roadblocks to employment up in Chicago.” Likewise, the Tribune also reported that Wal-Mart spokesman John Bisio stated the proposal “is the wrong direction for a city that desperately needs jobs and economic growth.”
On the other side of the story, Wal-Mart has been criticized widely for its employment practices, including low wages and lack of health care for its employees.
The inclusion of new Wal-Mart Supercenters in some impoverished areas of the city could have a positive effect on the Chicago real estate and commerce in the areas. Check back for more developments on the Wal-Mart agreement.
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too bad for Chicago not having a Wal Mart. This is a nice store
It’s too bad Wal-Mart won’t sign a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) to legally say what they have no problem saying publicly: they pay their employees $11/hr.
On January 17th, over 1000 people on the South Side got together to demand all Big Box Developers pay their employees a Living Wage so they can pay their bills, and stay in their homes. The community wants Living Wage Jobs!
LIVING WAGE OR ELSE!!!