THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN WAL-MART DRIVING OUT SMALL BUSINESSES IS WAL-MART DRIVEN OUT OF BUSINESS.

At the end of last year, we noted that the absence of bourgeois norms finally came for Wal-Mart.  That, despite Wal-Mart being the kind of place where the absence of bourgeois norms was the norm (prior to that notorious text about Wal-Marts smelling of Trump voters, and without any reference to the nasty People of Wal-Mart web site).  I'm as guilty as anyone of being snarky:  "We'll get a better class of Walmarts when we get a better class of shoppers there."  And yes, we've noted, not always approvingly, the criticism of Wal-Mart for destroying small businesses in traditional business districts.

Then, the class of shoppers becomes the class of shoplifters, and even one of the world's most successful retailer has enough. "Walmart to close remaining Portland stores as crime-ridden city battles shoplifting wave."  Yes, that's a New York Post article, complete with editorial content in the headline. A few lines into the article comes the disclaimer.  "The company did not say whether retail theft was a factor in shuttering the Walmart locations in the North and Southeastern sections of the Rose City."

The Gray News reporting notes that it is not the carriage trade going to be affected by the closures.

People who live near the stores that are closing say the closure is going to have a big impact on low-income shoppers.

“Safeway is the go-to-store if I have to, but that’s three times the price I would spend here,” Walmart shopper Amanda Pahl said. “What are we going to do? You’ve got to go further then you have to spend gas money. Might as well pay for it at Safeway at this point.”

According to a Walmart spokesperson, pharmacy staff will work with customers to transfer their prescriptions to other locations before the store closing date.

All employees at the two locations will have the option to transfer to other, nearby locations.

There will still be more than a dozen Walmart stores in the Portland metro area, outside of Portland’s city limits.

When all of Portland becomes a food desert, what are the odds of Portland's political class blaming "capitalism?"