Surprisingly, 'Neighborhood Walmart' Not an Oxymoron

COMMENTARY | Quietly and seemingly overnight, Walmart opened an Express Store in my neighborhood, according to a Fox affiliate story. I had to check it out.

I'm no fan of Walmart. Its questionable business practices and treatment of employees, notable enough to spur a documentary about the company, have kept me from its stores for years.

While Chicago is infamous for food deserts, I don't live in one; my oasis of a neighborhood offers three - now four - major chains within pedestrian reach, and more within a short drive or bus ride. What would Walmart have that the others didn't?

I ditched my coffee early to find out. No fewer than five employees welcomed me, and the store, in the midst of its inaugural morning, was more staff than customers. I strolled around.

Like most urban grocery stores, it was small and packed with a moderate variety of merchandise. Every turn brought me face-to-face with an employee, each of whom brightly bid "Good morning." Down at the far end, near the detergents, a woman on her radio told someone that there were customers, but not enough employees, and suddenly my perspective on the new store shifted. I bought a notebook ($0.97).

As I checked out, the young woman behind the counter gave me an excited smile.

"Is this your first job with Walmart?" I asked her.

"Yes," she said, misunderstanding me. "This is our first job."

"No," I said, "I meant you."

"Oh, yes," she said.

"Was it difficult to find a job?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "And it's great because it's in the neighborhood."

I paused for a moment. "You live in the neighborhood?"

"Yes," she told me, "a lot of us do."

Another employee nodded her agreement. New notebook in hand, I followed as she took me to the store's manager, Guy Lambesis, and a member of the media team, Jack Williams. They told me that the store employs 49 people, 75 percent of whom live in the neighborhood, and partnered with neighborhood non-profits to fill the jobs.

The store appeared without much fuss or fanfare, and as far as grocery stores go, it's not remarkable. But 49 people now have regular jobs, and about 36 live in the area where they work. Yes, Walmart should do more to bring stores like this one to those vast stretches of Chicago without any supermarkets, as opposed to bountiful areas, but that young cashier, joyful to have her job, may disagree.

This economy is complicated, and at a time where many can't find work, no company paying a salary can be all evil. That small store created 49 new jobs, most of them going to my neighbors, all of whom looked thrilled to be there. It may not be where I choose to shop, but I don't begrudge it its unused space in my neighborhood, not the way I thought I would, not after I saw what this unobtrusive store means for the people who work there.