Business & Tech

Is Walmart Looking at Elmwood Park and/or Mount Pleasant?

It's unofficial, but Elmwood Park authorities report Walmart will submit a site plan for the old Kohl's store at Durand and Lathrop.

Whether or not Walmart is looking to Elmwood Park as an alternative or as an addition to its proposed site in Mount Pleasant is unclear.

While The Journal Times reports that Elmwood Park President Audrey Viau, and possibly that village's attorney, have been in contact with Walmart officials about the retail giant taking up residence in the old Kohl's space at the corner of Lathrop and Durand Avenues, Walmart representatives were not at that village's March 8 Board meeting.

Patch tried to ask Walmart attorney Debbie Tomczyk about a move to Elmwood Park and was directed to Lisa Nelson in Walmart's public relations office. An email to Nelson has not yet been returned.

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The proposed Mount Pleasant site would house a 40,000 square foot Neighborhood Market across the street from , just west of the intersection of Highways 20 and 31. Neighborhood Markets are primarily grocery stores, similar to other grocers in the area like Sentry, Piggly Wiggly and Pick-n-Save.

Ralph Malicki, owner of the , said whether a Walmart Neighborhood Market is placed in Mount Pleasant or in Elmwood Park makes little difference because each site negatively impacts another grocer. In both cases, those grocers happen include Piggly Wiggly stores.

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"If Walmart moves into the area formerly occupied by Kohl's it will make the market that much tighter and tougher on all of us," he noted.

Malicki and Greg Schilz, along with other local business owners, oppose the Mount Pleasant location because the Neighborhood Market would essentially be a fourth store on the fourth corner of the same intersection.

Officials in Mount Pleasant have put any site plan approval on hold until a true independent market study can be conducted to weigh how Walmart will effect area retailers. After the Planning Commission Walmart with just about everything but a market study. Then, Malicki and Schilz that said Walmart moving into the area would almost certainly result in both Sentry and Piggly Wiggly closing their doors.

Mount Pleasant Trustee Jerry Garski said he's heard "through the grapevine" that Walmart may be interested in as many as two or three locations for their Neighborhood Market store concept.

"I don't know what they're trying to do, but there are a few other sites that are perfect for a Neighborhood Market and across the street from Sentry is not it," he said. "Just look at what they're trying to do in Kenosha."

According to a story that ran on kenowi.com last August about an open house to discuss plans for a 42,000 square foot store just a couple of miles from the new supercenter on Green Bay Road and another couple of miles from a second store similar to the smaller concept. Also, Walmart reportedly plans to build some 22 stores in the region.

Mount Pleasant trustees will be asked to fund the independent study, but if they vote against doing so, the responsibility returns to Walmart. In any case, after the market analysis is returned, the Planning Commission will have 30 days to review the information. A discussion about the study does not appear on the March 12 Board meeting agenda.

Where should Walmart look to build one or more Neighborhood Markets?


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