Transcription
Another rash of grocery stores are closing in black neighborhoods in Chicago. Businesses continue to leave, and I've got to be the one to say it. I don't care.
There are a lot of black conservatives that I follow and you should check them out. You've got the black conservative perspective. You've got Antjuan Daniels. You've got Carmen JayC, who's actually going to be on a live on Sunday. And all four of us agree, it's time out for the victimhood. It's time out for blaming white people. It's time out for blaming corporate racism. Everything that's happening in black Chicago is black people's fault.
Take a look at this latest closure of stores that are all happening in the black neighborhoods of Chicago.
>> Several Save-A-Lot stores on the city's south and west sides are on track to shut down by the end of the week. The looming closures would make it even harder for residents in underserved neighborhoods to access fresh groceries. WGN's Jenna Barnes joins us live with the details. Jenna?
>> Yeah, Mike, the cost of living is expensive. Groceries are expensive. And the shoppers we met out in Englewood today are frustrated that they could lose one of the few convenient and affordable grocery stores they have.
>> Okay, it's important that we're starting in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago because Englewood has had nothing but problems trying to attract and keep businesses in their neighborhood. At this particular location, there was a Whole Foods a few years ago. They couldn't keep that then, and they can't keep Save-A-Lot now.
>> Whole Foods is closing and leaving Englewood after just 6 years in a brand new state-of-the-art facility. This afternoon, we've been tracking the store's departure.
>> I did like the model in which they entered, but I hate the model on which they're exiting.
>> We talked to a number of people really disappointed to hear the store is one of six Whole Foods stores closing nationwide.
>> And those that don't have cars and really a lot of transportation it's harder, but this was actually walking distance for most of us.
>> So, Whole Foods was supposed to stay open because it was walking distance for the people who live in the neighborhood. No, that's not how business operates. And that store eventually closed because Whole Foods made the decision that it wasn't profitable. They were experiencing, uh you know, theft, you know, from the people who were shopping there. So, then Save-A-Lot tries to come in and fill the space. You would think the local residents would be happy that someone was willing to come in and fill that void. That would make sense. But, that's not what happened.
>> I'm a track record of having like bad produce.
>> Plans now on hold for a controversial opening of a new grocery store in Englewood.
>> Protesters put pressure on the store owners today to address some major concerns.
>> Geo Ewing has that story.
>> There's a fresh market where they will actually be cutting meat and there's fresh produce, but because of community concerns, this Save-A-Lot won't be opening up right now.
>> Shut it down!
>> More than 50 protesters gathered outside the Save-A-Lot near 63rd and Halsted in Englewood demanding respect. Alderman in this area, Stephanie Coleman, was here to back them.
>> Why the rush? Get to know us.
>> That's a local alderman saying to the store, "Get to know us." This is why black people have such hard times in these poor neighborhoods getting the things that they actually need. This is not a a 501c3. This isn't a church. This isn't a charity. This is a for-profit business that's trying to come into this neighborhood and was trying to fill the void that Whole Foods left when they exited that community. They're trying to come in and provide a service. They're a for-profit business. They're not something They're not supposed to come in and do focus groups and get to know the people and blah blah blah. And this is why we need to elect people who have some level of business acumen. This alderman saying that they need to come in and get to know us just shows the reason why you have so many blue cities and so many blue states that have just ground to a halt because you have people out there who don't know what they're doing. They've never run a private business and so they should not be in charge of government.
But let's continue to listen what they were saying 3 years ago.
>> can build the trust.
>> Whole Foods was here before and city officials say this time the owners of Yellow Banana responsible for bringing the Save-A-Lot haven't listened to the community.
>> Whole Foods operated in a way that was inclusive of the community, hired from the community, and actually stocked the shelves with local vendors.
>> Once inside the store, there was fresh produce, a local coffee shop, and this area the owners say will be for local vendors. Majority of the employees were hired from Englewood. With the growing protest outside, the owners decided to talk with the community members, and when it was all said and done, CEO of Yellow Banana Joe Canfield made the tough call.
>> We decided not to open the store tomorrow based on the the conversations I had with Alderman Coleman and the community members.
>> The owners will now meet with Alderman Stephanie Coleman of the 16th Ward to talk about catering to the Englewood community.
>> Okay, so they didn't have their hard launch on the day that they wanted 3 years ago. They said that they met with the local alderman and they wanted to have all of this collaboration with local people, which obviously wasn't a profitable model because Whole Foods doing that, they eventually closed that store. So now the store was open and now they're about to close and the very same people who were protesting Save-A-Lot, who thought Save-A-Lot wasn't good enough for them, now that they're leaving, now as you can imagine, the sentiment has done a 180° turn.
>> Discounts and disappointment for shoppers at the Save-A-Lot store at 63rd and Halsted.
>> We don't we ain't got nowhere to go.
>> We need affordable things to be able to feed our kids.
>> All seven Save-A-Lot stores operated by a company called Yellow Banana are set to shut down Saturday unless new investors step in. Save-A-Lot blaming financial challenges for ending its arrangement with the operator.
>> So within the 2-mi stretch, we're losing two grocery stores within Englewood community.
>> This one used to be a Whole Foods. It closed in 2022 and we were there as Yellow Banana was planning to open the new store. Englewood pushed back.
>> We wanted something substantial, something that we knew um would be viable for the community.
>> The city worked out a deal to give Yellow Banana 13 and 1/2 million dollars to renovate run-down Save-A-Lot stores. Its CEO promised change.
>> These will be very very different stores.
>> In a statement, Save-A-Lot says they faced financial headwinds including dramatic cuts to SNAP benefits which have severely impacted these stores. Compared to last year, the stores have experienced a 26% decline in SNAP EBT tender types.
>> So Save-A-Lot is closing eight stores in the on the west and the south sides of Chicago and they're citing a 26% decline in SNAP and EBT tender types. What does that mean? That means the majority of the people who are coming in or or at least the plurality of people who are coming into these stores and spending money were poor people. They were and they're using SNAP benefits and EBT and when the Trump administration put a work requirement on the on the recipients of that benefit, people didn't do it. They lost the benefits. So now they don't have the money to spend.
But it's important to look at this list of actual stores that are actually being closed and where they are. Take a look at this. So, if you look at this list of the actual neighborhoods in Chicago that are being closed, you've got Auburn Gresham, Englewood, South Chicago, South Shore, West Garfield Park, West Lawn, and West Pullman. Of those eight neighborhoods, seven of them are between 88% and as much as 95% black. And of With the exception of West Lawn, all of those neighborhoods have high crime rates. So, what does that mean? You put together a majority of black people who are living in these neighborhoods, uh a plurality of them are using SNAP and EBT benefits, and all of them are high crime neighborhoods. This wasn't some corporate racism. This wasn't some decision that Save-A-Lot or the Yellow Banana, but this wasn't some decision that they made to pull out of these neighborhoods because they didn't want to serve the black residents. The black residents aren't doing their jobs. You got to stop playing the victim. You got to start holding people accountable. You got to start taking pictures and taking videos when you see people shoplifting or when you see people stealing, when you see people jump up across the counter and grabbing liquor and cigarettes or hanging outside the store and making other shoppers feel uncomfortable coming into the store. This is 100% on the residents of black people in those neighborhoods.
And it's not just Whole Foods and Save-A-Lot that are leaving black parts of Chicago and Chicago in general. You've got major corporations that are orders of magnitude larger than Save-A-Lot that are running for the exits trying to get out of Chicago.
>> A new round of store closures including one of the largest locations on Chicago's South Side.
>> Nate Rodgers is live in Chatham with details on this. Nate?
>> Yeah, absolutely. I'm Natalie Anne Anthony. This news certainly catching city council members and long-time Walmart patrons off guard. Four locations to close throughout the Chicagoland area this coming Sunday. Those locations are neighborhood markets in Kenwood, Lakeview, also Little Village, also the Chatham Supercenter that you see right behind me located here on South Stewart. Now, according to a memo, Walmart officials say collectively their Chicago stores have not made a profit since the first store opened 17 years ago. They claim to be losing tens of millions of dollars a year with losses doubling over the last 5 years. Here at the Chatham location, the company remodeled the store twice after massive damage from looting incidents following unrest after the death of George Floyd.
>> Haven't made a profit in 17 years. They tried to remodel the store twice. And if they were being looted after the George Floyd incident, so they closed. They weren't profitable. If Walmart can't survive, certainly Save-A-Lot can't survive. But it's not just Save-A-Lot, it's just not Whole Foods, it is not just Walmart who are leaving the city of Chicago.
>> We're often looking for a quick and affordable lunch. That includes us here at CBS.
>> And some of our colleagues noticed there used to be lots of McDonald's locations nearby. Check out all those golden arches. But one by one, you can see most have disappeared.
>> I hate to see it closing, but um a lot of our businesses over here are closing.
>> Neighbors in Chatham react to the news.
>> It's a neighborhood store. It's very convenient to get to. Yeah, but it's a lot of um unlawful things that happen around here with the peddling and the stealing and it's a lot of stuff that happened that causes our businesses to close.
>> It's so refreshing to hear a local resident actually tell the truth about what's going on and what's causing these businesses to leave Chicago, but not let me put a finer point on it. Not leaving Chicago, leaving the black neighborhoods of Chicago. No business is going to remain if it's not safe for their employees, if they can't maintain loss prevention, and if they can't make a profit. And as long as black people are not going to hold one another accountable and lift the culture so that it's theft is no longer acceptable, then you're going to continue to see businesses leave. And like I said in the beginning, if you don't want to modify your behavior, I don't care. I don't even know that I care. If you're not going to do what you need to do to attract, but keep the businesses that you want in your neighborhoods, then why should anyone care? You've got to do your part.
But right on cue, you've got another local alderman who's going to come in and is going to blame everything and everybody except for the actual culprits that are causing this a business attrition in black Chicago.
>> The pharmacy chain told us this location has experienced, quote, significantly higher levels of theft and violent incidents than our other locations, adding that, quote, safety must remain our top priority.
>> I have witnessed some of that, but it's not what you call constant constant, but it has occurred.
>> We're here to announce something, the office of pharmacy access.
>> An office of three staffers, Alderman Hall says, will secure space for pharmacists, covering their overhead costs in neighborhoods that require access to medicine.
>> My conversation with the mayor is going to be, where can we get the money for accessing medicine through the office of pharmacy access?
>> It's not clear what funds would pay for the program. The pilot location is scheduled to open on July 1st.
>> You heard it right there. Walgreens is talking about they can't keep their people safe. They have higher incidents of violence at that Chatham location, so they closed the store. And then Alderman Will Hall, whom I haven't interviewed before, what does he do? He doesn't come out and say, "We need more police. We need to release CPD and let them actually man do their mandate of protect and serve." He doesn't say to the mayor, "Hey, we've got to put more police officers in these specific neighborhoods if we want to keep economic activity going and allow the local residents to have access to the things that they need." No, he wants to get some more money to form a panel so he can do an office of pharmacy access. You already have an office of pharmacy access. It's called the Chicago Police Department. But this is another far-left progressive Democrat and a far-left progressive city like Chicago that's being run by a far-left progressive, dare I even say, socialist administration, and it's not working. Black people, it's not working. Nobody's going to give you anything. No one owes you anything. If you're going to go into a neighborhood and open up a business, it could be a Walmart, it could be a Walgreens, it could be a CVS, it could be a local mom-and-pop, it could be a Save-A-Lot, or a Whole Foods. If you're going into an area where you know the crime rate is high, where you know the average incomes are low, when you know there's a higher propensity towards crime, you're already rolling the dice by even going into these neighborhoods. And if you don't have the support of the local community who are going to help you keep the place safe by photographing and videoing when someone comes in and steals and then present that that evidence to the police department and then those same residents have to demand from their politicians that these criminals are take are being held accountable. I don't understand why this is so difficult and it's not difficult.
But today is Friday when I'm uploading this video. This was the violence that happened on a Thursday night in Chicago just in the last 24 hours. Take a look at this.
>> Developments from a rush of deadly shootings overnight in Chicago.
>> Yes, we're talking about six shootings in the span of just 7 hours. They happened really throughout the speckle throughout the city there. A total of five people were killed. Britney Tullis is live to break this all down for us with a timeline. Britney, good morning.
>> Yeah, good morning, guys. Those shootings all spanning just about 7 hours and on top of those five people killed in these six shootings, four additional people were also shot including a 13-year-old boy and aside from the shootings, a person was also stabbed overnight. But let's get into these shootings. Okay, they happened across the city, north, west and south sides all seeing violence. Nine total people were shot overnight. That first shooting happening at 69th at Ellis and Hyde at 59th and Ellis and Hyde Park. Police say a man and a woman in their mid-20s were found in a vehicle shot in the head, both dying at the University of Chicago Hospital. Investigators recovered a gun there though. That second shooting just over an hour later at Hamlin Boulevard and Adams. A 49-year-old James Gooden was walking on the sidewalk and a 13-year-old boy was in a parked vehicle when two people started shooting according to Chicago police. That 13-year-old boy was shot in the foot. He was taken to an area hospital in good condition. 49-year-old Gooden though shot in the head and did not make it. He is the only victim identified overnight. Four other people were also shot while sitting in parked vehicles overnight just after 11:00 p.m. on South Shore Drive just south of 53rd Street. A 25-year-old man and woman were in a parked vehicle when police say a passing car started shooting. The man was shot in the stomach and died. That woman though is expected to recover. The last fatal shooting of the night also happened in a parked vehicle. Police say a 21-year-old was sitting in the car when someone walked up and started shooting in the Uptown neighborhood. The 21-year-old shot in the neck and died.
>> All of that happened on a random Thursday night in the summer night in the city of Chicago. Ask yourself, if you don't feel safe just going about your daily business, whether you're going to the grocery store or just driving around or walking down the street, if you don't feel safe then and can have the the certainty of knowing that you can just go through a regular day, not mess with anyone, and you don't have to worry about getting shot or stabbed or killed or someone whom you love doesn't have to worry about that. If you don't If you can't just go through your normal day, why would you invest millions of dollars in these very same neighborhoods if you can't protect yourself, you're not going to be able to protect your business, you're not going to be able to protect your employees, you're not going to be able to protect the investment that you made. This is This is again, this is corporate black fatigue, and I for one salute it. Every business out there, every corporate business out there should continue to pull out of these inner cities until the local Democratic far-left progressive leaders get it through their heads that they have to establish law and order. If you don't have law and order, nothing else is going to survive, nothing else is going to be successful. Law and order is the foundation of our society. And sans law and order, you're not going to be able to have thriving businesses, you're not going to have people who are going to buy homes and raise families. You're not going to be able to have community. All of this is happening in the black inner cities of Chicago of the United States, but specifically happening in the black inner city parts of Chicago. And I for one am saying as a black person, unless and until the black people in these neighborhoods stand up and take their neighborhoods back, no one's coming to save you. Nobody cares that you have a pharmacy desert. No one cares that you have a grocery desert. If you have to travel one or two or three more miles to get your prescriptions and your groceries, and the only thing that you had to do to prevent your commute being a few miles longer is number one, report things when you see them, and then demand that your politicians do their jobs by making local police do their jobs to go out and apprehend and get these people off the street. If that's If you're not willing to do your small part as a citizen to create the safety and the business environment that you want in your neighborhoods, then you don't deserve it. Like, your job doesn't end, black people, when you vote. Your job is after you vote, you still have to hold your politicians accountable. You still have to hold the criminals in your neighborhood accountable. And if you're not going to hold people accountable just because they're black and you're black, and then Save-A-Lot leaves and Walmart and Walgreens and Target and CVS, when all of them leave, then you just don't have what you need. And again, nobody cares. These businesses are not charities. They are for-profit organizations. You have to do your part as a citizen to make sure that you are creating the community in which you want to live.
I'm going to end it right there because again, I can feel myself getting angry, but do me a favor. If you're still hanging out at this point, I know a lot of you are watching the David Seaman show off from your televisions. So, I really appreciate that. So, I've tried to curate a format that is that is pleasing to to watch on larger screens. But, do me a favor. If we're just a few members under 16,000 and I would love for us to hit that milestone, go ahead and hit that subscribe button and hype this video. All you have to do is just swipe to the left on that bar right above where you can put a comment, you'll see the hype button. Go ahead, hit that hype button. That helps amplify this video out to more people and that's something YouTube implemented for smaller channels. Also, you can support this channel through super thanks. You can support this channel through Venmo, Cash App, and Zelle. We're going to have a live coming coming up this Sunday where we're going to be talking about this African American Vernacular English thing that's going on in California. And we're going to have some really great guests. You don't want to miss that. I appreciate you for hanging out this long and I'll catch you in the next one.