Ward Four Thrives: What's up with WalMart?

(Thanks Stop Heights WalMart in Houston!)

An average size Walmart Supercenter will generate nearly 10,000 car trips per day. ⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾
A Walmart Supercenter often has between seven and nine tractor-trailer deliveries daily, as well as one or two smaller trucks delivering products from vendors. ⁽³⁾

In 2004, there were a reported 148, 331 police calls across 514 Walmart stores analyzed.
That equates to an average of 269 calls per store. ⁽⁴⁾
- In Texas, there were 21,741 police incidents reported at 69 stores studied. ⁽⁴⁾
- The Houston store located at 2727 Dunvale reported 1,123 police incidents, placing it in the Top 10 stores nationwide.⁽⁴⁾
Between 2003 – 2006, there were:
- 16 alleged murders committed at Walmart stores and parking lots, including 2 alleged
- murders in the Houston area (Katy and Spring).⁽⁴⁾
- 16 alleged rapes and sexual assaults at Walmart stores and parking lots, including 1 in the Houston area.⁽⁴⁾
- 11 alleged sex crimes against children at Walmart stores and parking lots, including 1 in the Houston area.⁽⁴⁾
Nationally, Walmart stores cost taxpayers an estimated $77 million annually in increased police costs.⁽⁴⁾

There have been at least 29 subsidy deals in Texas benefitting Walmart worth a total of about $90.8 million.⁽⁵⁾
- The Baytown and New Braunfels developments alone were granted $39 million in tax subsidies.⁽⁶⁾
Since the mid-1980s, Walmart has obtained at least $1.2 billion in reported subsidies nationwide.⁽⁵⁾
By its own admission, Walmart disclosed that they did not pay $2.85 billion in taxes for fiscal year 2009, which they would likely have to pay if audited.⁽⁶⁾⁽⁷⁾

Walmart store openings reduce retail employment in a county by 2.7%.⁽⁸⁾
Walmart’s entry into a metro area eliminates similar jobs that pay about 18% more than Walmart.⁽⁹⁾
The presence of big box stores, such as Walmart, causes “a substantial reduction in net employment growth at smaller retailers, which is mostly accounted for by an increase in job destruction from store exit.”⁽¹⁰⁾
An average of two local supermarkets are forced out of business by every Walmart Supercenter.⁽¹⁰⁾