When I read this week that Walmart was closing its store on Imperial Avenue, I instantly thought of my suegra. It’s her neighborhood grocery store. I wondered what she thought about it, so I asked. She texted me a crying emoji.
The retailer announced on Wednesday, Jan. 10, that it would close two stores in the county next month. One is in El Cajon and the other is the one on Imperial Avenue in Logan Heights. (It sort of sits between Sherman Heights, too.)
Walmart reps told the Union-Tribune that the company opted not to renew the lease for both stores because they were unable to reach an agreement with the property owner. They cited no other reasons for the closures.
I’m not familiar with the location in El Cajon, but I am with the one on Imperial Avenue.
The building used to house a popular in-door market that residents described as a cultural and community hub. A Logan Heights resident recently described it to me as a one-stop-shop where you could get tortas, clothes and a hair cut. That market closed in 2010 and the building became an eyesore.
Walmart wasn’t totally welcomed with open arms when it decided to move in. There was a legal effort to stop construction and opposition from local labor unions. Then-councilman David Alvarez told KPBS in 2012 that residents wanted a grocery store to have access to fresh produce and a pharmacy, but that the community wanted to company to be transparent about changes to the historic building — including some demolition.
“Every morning I wake up to see this historic building being crushed. I see this as [Walmart] having disregard for community values and historic resources. It really scares me,” said Lorena Gonzalez in 2012 when she was the CEO of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council. She lived down the street, she told SD News.
Now What?
When it closes next month, what’s going to happen to the space? Will it become an eyesore again? So many questions.
I saw a lot of chatter online about the news.
Some residents speculated that the store closed because of the homeless San Diegans in the area. The store keeps hygiene, medicine and makeup items locked up. But the company didn’t say theft was a reason for shutting its doors.
Here’s what some residents had to say:
“It was so convenient for everyone in the neighborhood just to walk over to Walmart and get better prices on groceries and having a pharmacy too. That’s so sad that it’s closing,” one person said.
“Shelter for the homeless?” another asked.
“Bring back the farmers bazaar!” one said and “Doubt they’ll even consider it due to high theft,” someone responded.
“It will now become either a community eyesore for years or a homeless service provider will lease it out compounding the issues we already have here,” one said.
Love it or hate it, it’s one of a few grocery stores in the area. Not having a grocery store there will definitely suck. What are your thoughts? Send me a note at andrea.lopez@voiceofsandiego.org.
The Sacramento Report Is Back, Baby!
San Diegans used to keep up with their state representatives and legislation thanks to the hard work local reporters did to cover state beats. As our local outlets cut back on their presence in Sacramento, regular reporting on lawmakers who represent San Diego almost disappeared.
That’s why we stepped up and launched the Sacramento Report in 2014. We knew readers still wanted to follow what lawmakers were negotiating, how they were voting and what bills they were trying to advance.
Now, after a brief hiatus, it’s back! We’ve hired longtime San Diego journalist Deborah Sullivan Brennan to write the Sacramento Report. She previously covered politics, environment and education for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Deborah traveled to Sacramento this week to meet with our representatives. She was stoked and full of story ideas. She told me she’s especially excited to follow housing and environment bills in the pipeline.
A special partnership: We teamed up with CalMatters to revive the Sacramento Report. Deborah will write the newsletter for us and she will write a newsletter for CalMatters focused on the Inland Empire. (As a girly from the IE, this is very exciting.)
Subscribe to the Sacramento Report here!
More Chisme to Start Your Week
- San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria delivered his annual State of the City address. Here’s what he had to say. And we broke down some of his statements on the VOSD Podcast. Listen to the full episode here.
- Mexico’s military is taking over the construction of a broken sewage plant in Tijuana that’s responsible for San Diego’s summer beach closures. Our MacKenzie Elmer explains what this news means for the project in a new story.
- Our Jakob McWhinney reports that even though Lincoln High School’s test scores have dropped, graduation rates went up. He explores the scores and spoke with school officials. Read the story here.
You have few readers, and fewer Spanish speaking readers. I understand you have an ax to grind but I bet you cringe looking back on it later in life.