The final two Walmart stores in Portland are closing permanently due to a lack of sales.
A number of Walmarts will remain open in the Portland suburbs, but the city itself, which has long favoured independent and regional retailers, will be Walmart-free by March 24. The store closures will impact 580 employees, who the company says will have the option to transfer to other locations in the area.
The two Walmart locations that are closing are located far from the city’s urban core. One store is located in the Delta Park neighbourhood of far North Portland, while the other in a shopping centre in Southeast Portland. The Delta Park location, which was the city’s first new Walmart in 18 years when it opened in 2013, lasted less than a decade in business.
“We are grateful to the customers who have given us the privilege of serving them at our Hayden Meadows and Eastport Plaza locations. We look forward to serving them at our other stores in the surrounding communities and on walmart.com,” Walmart media relations senior manager Robert Arrieta said in a statement reported by local television station KGW.
The closures in Portland come as Walmart prepares to close 10 under-performing stores across the country, with other stores set to be shuttered in Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Washington, DC. The company is also closing three of its tech hubs, including one in Portland.
Walmart has long been a target of ire for a segment of Portlanders. Residents organised efforts to keep Walmart locations out of their neighbourhoods in the 2000s and early last decade, and some 150 people protested at what was then the company’s only location in the city on Black Friday in 2012.
