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No Wal-Mart For Black Neighborhood in Chicago

  • Company Pulls South Side Store Because it would have to Pay Higher Wages to People 
Looks like Wal-Mart won't be opening a store on Chicago's South Side. The retailer's contract to build the store (at 83rd and Stewart) has expired, and Wal-Mart decided not to renew it. Spokesman John Bisio says the company was concerned about efforts to impose minimum wage and benefit standards on stores like Wal-Mart.  Those standards are proposed in a pair of ordinances that have been introduced in the Chicago City Council. Bisio says Wal-Mart will move forward with its plans for a store on the city's West Side (1657 N. Kilpatrick), but that project could also be in danger if the ordinances pass. The city council voted 32-15 back in May to allow Wal-Mart to construct a 150,000-square-foot store in the poor, largely black and Hispanic neighborhood on the city's West Side. [ more ]