West side story: Wal-Mart coming to an impoverished part of Chicago

Even when I was in high school in the 1970s I remember reading about the unwillingness of large retailers to open stores in the poor areas of large cities. Neighborhoods that experienced "white flight" often saw many retail outlets flee as well.

Thirty years later the situation isn't much better. Those individuals living in impoverished communities for the most part face two choices: pay more for products at "mom-and-pop" outlets, or spend a lot of time on a "shopping commute" to a distant neighborhood to get decent prices on things like clothing, shoes, and the like.

The Austin community on Chicago's West Side is a poverty-stricken neighborhood. I drive through there once in a while, and I don't see the big-name stores that people like myself, who live in the northern suburbs, take for granted.

That's about to change. ABC 7 Chicago is reporting on Wal-Mart's impending opening of a store in Austin. It'll be Chicago's first Wal-Mart.

(0h, if anyone is interested, I found this story on my own.)

Of course, with America's third-largest city finally getting a Wal-Mart, local union leaders are doing their chicken-little act.

From the ABC 7 story:

"Wal-Mart, just come in and pay people a living wage, and pay them benefits and give them a pass to the future," said Dennis Gannon, Chicago Federation of Labor.

Political pressure torpedoed another Wal-Mart planned for the South Side, so the company opened in Evergreen Park, where there were 25,000 applicants for 325 jobs.

In Chicago, 3,000 people applied in the first week for an estimated 400 jobs.

"It's all about getting your foot in the door and having a great start and working for the company," said Natalie Williams, job applicant.

Clearly, there is interest in those jobs.

According to Wal-Mart, the average wage in the Chicago area is about $11 an hour, and their jobs pay less than that. Not all new hires will get health care benefits.

However, the average wage on Chicago's West Side is very less than $11 an hour.

Here is more from the ABC 7 report:

(Wal-Mart) is also offering the Austin community, and nine other potential locations around the country, millions of dollars in business programs aimed at burnishing its controversial reputation and winning over skeptical politicians and labor leaders.

Wal-Mart is inviting Uncle Remus, a black-owned fast-food chain, to put an outlet in the new store. The company is donating money to local schools and community groups.

Now, under a new program announced Tuesday, Wal-Mart is pledging to spend at least $2 million in Chicago and nine other cities to promote, support, and train local businesses, suppliers and would-be entrepreneurs so they can be successful, instead of being run over by the giant retailer.

Margaret Garner, an African-American, is the general contractor for the new Wal-Mart.

Technorati tags: Wal-Mart WalMart Chicago metroblogging African-American Inner city retail