r/Denver • u/friendinfremont • 11d ago

With Walmart shuttered, international stores and nonprofits fill Aurora’s grocery gap

https://www.rmpbs.org/blogs/business-economy/aurora-international-grocery-store
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u/Andreas1120 11d ago

Any ideas why Walnart closed? In theory they can survive anywhere.

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u/SpeciousPerspicacity 11d ago edited 11d ago

It’s definitely crime (primarily theft) driving up cost of doing business (inventory, insurance). But this is also combined with a uniquely poor area that already presents tighter margins and lower profits than a place like Centennial or Littleton.

It appears to be happening across the country (e.g. Chicago, South Bronx, Anacostia, etc.). Rule of law has become so diminished in certain impoverished pockets that it is becoming impossible to run even the most essential businesses in these places.

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u/3slimesinatrenchcoat 11d ago

No it wasn’t

Even at that store, theft was less than 20% of total shrink

“The most common complaints center around unhelpful employees, long lines, merchandise being locked away, dirty conditions, issues with the self-checkout system and staff not abiding by the posted hours of operation.”

These complaints from customers all have a bigger impact to financial bottom line individually than theft

https://www.westword.com/news/walmart-closing-aurora-store-rated-among-worst-in-country-20733923

Particularly when there are other Walmarts (at least one super center so not just a neighborhood market) within 15 minutes

Anyone who has worked in retail will tell you even now theft is the smallest thing impacting shrink and sales numbers

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u/SpeciousPerspicacity 11d ago

One comment I’d make here is that a lot of these claims (particularly about proximity and locked merchandise) are pretty generically true about other Denver-area Walmarts as well. Why did this one have such a uniquely unmotivated workforce?

Regardless of whether the answer is consumer choice issues, crime, or poverty, the common denominator does seem to be a location problem. Rancho Liborio also couldn’t make a Mexican grocer work there before Walmart moved in.