Chicago's first Wal-Mart--one year later

Bill Baar, who usually blogs at Bill Baar's West Side, but today at Illinoize, caught a good article in the Austin Weekly News, a community publication serving the Far West Side of Chicago.

From that newspaper:

"I'm here to tell you all that we at Wal-Mart couldn't be more pleased with the results from this store," said Todd Libbra, regional general manager for Wal-Mart, at Tuesday's ceremony. "This store truly reflects the community, and we credit that to the partnerships we have developed with Ald. Mitts and other local elected officials, the 37th Ward Pastors Alliance, community leaders and residents.

"Let me make one thing clear to everybody out there," Libbra added. "We as a company could not be more pleased with this store, in this location, in this community, and we are very, very proud of our 400-plus Wal-Mart associates that have been here taking care of our customers and taking care of our store."

There have been a few bumps in the road for the Chicago's first Wal-Mart, but as Baar notes, "I don't know if its success met expectations but it has to be better than an empty lot."

Ald. Emma Mitts of the city's 37th Ward fought against most of her colleagues to get that store built in her jobs-and-retail starved community. Other aldermen would do well for their constituents to follow her lead.

Related posts:

5,000 apply for Detroit area Wal-Mart jobs

My book report: The Wal-Mart Revolution: How Big Box Stores Benefit Consumers, Workers, and the Economy

Daley vetoes Chicago "big box living wage" ordinance

Technorati tags: Wal-Mart Business Big Box retail Chicago politics Illinois