Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) recently addressed the House Speaker on Walgreens’ decision to close a store in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, citing that the store’s closure was an act “of racial and economic discrimination.”
.@Walgreens' closure of their Warren St. location in Roxbury is a disruptive, life-threatening act of racial and economic discrimination.
As a multi-billion-dollar corporation, they should put their money where their mouth is and stop divesting from Black and brown communities. pic.twitter.com/FziF9ZbHvb
— Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (@RepPressley) January 31, 2024
Pressley is part of the infamous “Squad” of congress, a group of young far-left members of the House of Representatives. Pressley represents Massachusetts’ 7th Congressional District, which is located in Boston.
The Roxbury neighborhood, located within Pressley’s district, has incredibly high rates of crime. This was likely a large factor in Walgreens’ decision.
“Why was there no community input? No adequate notice to customers? And no transition resources to prevent gaps in health care? Shame on you, Walgreens,” Pressley said on the house floor.
While there was public outcry about the decision to close the store, the store’s closure was actually postponed to give the community more notice. All patient records are available at any Walgreens, with the nearest only a mile away.
Shoplifting has been on the rise in recent years, with many stores across the country closing or locking up products to combat crime and reduce losses. Unfortunately, high crime rates seem to be bringing an end to the era of boundless convenience.
It can be difficult for stores to stay open in high-crime areas, especially those with lower income. High rates of shoplifting cause losses for stores, who often have to raise prices to compensate. When prices increase, lower income customers tend to either turn to other stores, or in extreme cases, become shoplifters themselves, exacerbating the problem.
It’s a difficult thing for low-income communities to lose stores, as jobs often go with them. Luckily, walkable urban areas can recover quite well thanks to the high concentration of businesses and the ease of travel within cities.
With more important factors like crime and shopping trends to consider, it would be frankly silly for corporations like Walgreens to make these decisions based on race, as Pressley suggests they do. Stores are not charities, and it seems like Pressley has some deeper issues to resolve in her district if it’s losing businesses at such an alarming rate.
