Police say the Brooklyn Center Walmart off Shingle Creek Crossing has seen thousands of police responses over the past five years. The big box store announced that it plans to close its doors on April 21st.
RELATED: Brooklyn Center Walmart is closing permanently on April 21st
In a statement to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, the company said the move was due to a failure to reach “financial projections.”
Since Brooklyn Center Walmart opened in 2012, it has been a hot spot for crime. Customers say that because crime has increased, they weren’t surprised by the closure.
“Every day we run in here and grab something and there’s a fight outside or you see someone running out with merchandise,” Lauren Cole said.
Brooklyn Center Police said Walmart made 6,177 calls for services in the past five years. That’s twice the number of calls compared to surrounding businesses like Super 8 and Cub Foods with 3,270 and 3,038 calls, respectively. All three companies lead the city’s list for service calls.
For more context, police say that just six miles away, the Walmart in Brooklyn Park has received 1,679 calls for services in the past five years.
In the past, state lawmakers have shared concerns that Wal-Mart was a drain on public resources.
In 2017, the supermarket agreed to pay an off-duty officer to patrol the Brooklyn Center store four days a week.
After 10 years as a staple store in the area, customers tell 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS they hope the closing will be a wake-up call.
“Let’s take care of our neighborhood and keep the nice stuff here so that it can help other unfortunate people who can’t travel to shop elsewhere, so they can have a place to shop here,” Jason Cole said.
The store has 350 employees and told city officials that they are working to place those employees at other locations.
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