[omegaworks]

You are ascribing zero agency to multibillion dollar corporations. They are deliberately closing stores in vulnerable neighborhoods to maximize the political blowback against labor gains. Chicago just elected a union leader mayor, who committed to a program to address crime's root causes. He dared to mention poverty and inequality in his campaign.

Walmart doesn't want this. Walmart thrives on the price-sensitivity of the impoverished and deliberately undercuts local businesses to funnel every cent of profit to the Walton family. They are playing the long-game here: demolish Brandon Johnson's appeal by depriving the neighborhoods that voted for him access to groceries, and keep their chokehold on their non-union workforce in an era of rising living costs.