CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Remember the Fergusson riots?
The unrest in 2014 was based on a lie. Activists claimed that Michael Brown was shot by a police officer in the street in cold blood. The lie is that he had his hands up and was going to surrender. Not true. He was shot when he was reaching into a squad car, trying to reach for an officer’s gun.
Protestors yelling “hands up, don’t shoot” looted every store on the main drag in Fergusson. One of the executives for the corporate pharmacy chain that was stripped bare said that they support the good people of Fergusson, and would rebuild.
That’s nonsense. Why would a company that just had millions of dollars in assets stripped bare say that they’re excited to rebuild so it can happen again?
Corporate America has smartened up a bit since then. In the suburbs of Chicago, Walmart has announced that they’re closing four supercenters. All of the stores were looted during Black Lives Matter protests. Perhaps you recall Ariel Atkins, a BLM organizer, who shouted through a megaphone in favor of looting. “That’s reparations,” she yelled. “These businesses have insurance.” Walmart says the stores that are shutting down are not profitable.
Whole Foods thought San Francisco would be a promising market, full of tech workers who appreciate upscale, healthy food. Their store will also be closing, as upscale customers don’t want to shop where the homeless are eating out of the salad bar and drug deals are going down outside the store’s front door. Such crimes are not punished in that city, as the police, the perpetrators, store security, and customers all understand.
Upscale department store Nordstrom will also not renew the leases for its two stores in San Francisco. Seeing crews of thieves show up with pillow cases who steal light off the shelves is not the shopping experience that Nordstrom customers are looking for. And this is a city that recalled their District Attorney for not prosecuting low level crimes.
The first lesson of retail is that you have to create an environment where customers want to shop. Bad environment? No business? The empty buildings that once were Walmarts, Whole Foods, and Nordstroms will serve as reminders.
Chris Conley
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