Second Walmart approved for Chicago

On the day ADP Employer Services reported that the private sector added just 13,000 jobs, Chicago's City Council voted to approve the opening of a second city Walmart, this one will be in the South Side Pullman neighborhood. The retail giant hopes to opens dozens of stores within the city.

Hank Mullany, Executive Vice President and President of Walmart North, issued the following statement a few minutes ago:

Today is a victory for the residents of the South Side. The Mayor, Alderman Beale and the Council are to be commended for representing the will of the people of Chicago.

But there is more to do. To that end, we have already started to identify additional opportunities across the city that will help more Chicagoans save money and live better.

Over the next several months, we look forward to working with the city to help ensure our stores are part of the solution in terms of creating jobs, stimulating economic development and eradicating food deserts here.

With each new store that opens here and every new job created, Chicago moves one step closer towards returning the city to better economic times while also serving as a successful model for other cities across the country that face similar challenges.

Much of Alderman Beale's 9th Ward has been identified as being part of Chicago's largest food desert--an area bereft of supermarkets offering inexpensive fresh food and goceries. Unemployment in Chicago's 60628 ZIP code, which covers part of that ward, is at forty percent, according to Beale.

Technorati tags: Wal-Mart retail business big box economy news jobs economy politics walmart food deserts illinois politics unemployment chicago Illinois