Bright lights, smiling faces, stocked shelves and a general sense of excitement all welcome customers as they enter the latest stop right off the Bishop Ford Freeway.
Tuesday, Sept. 10 marked the grand opening ceremony for Chicago’s newest Walmart Supercenter, located in the Pullman neighborhood.
The opening of the supercenter, on 10900 S. Doty Ave., has created more than 400 jobs, according to the Mayor’s office. Present at the ceremony were Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Alderman Anthony Beale, Wal-Mart employees and several community workers and residents. The supercenter is open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and includes a pharmacy, vision center, garden center, photo center as well as classic Walmart amenities.
“I am extremely excited,” Beale said. “Today is another great day in the ninth ward. We always see things on the news that are negative but this is the most positive thing going on in the city of Chicago today.”
Rachelle Capitaine, a South Side resident and student at Olive-Harvey College, is excited about the new addition to the neighborhood.
“It’s down the street from my school so it’s useful if I need anything,” Capitaine said. “Now I don’t have to beg people to take me anymore. No more going to Calumet City and wasting gas.”
Before, Capitaine and many others had to travel to a Wal- Mart in either Evergreen Plaza or Calumet City, which are nine and 16 miles away from the new building, respectively. However, even Calumet City resident Claudine Theodule, who comes to the city on almost a daily basis, is excited about the opening of the supercenter.
“Absolutely,” Theodule exclaimed when asked if she would visit the new supercenter over her current Walmart. “Right now, people drive all the way to Halsted Street for Super Kmart [in Homewood]. They don’t have much in the black neighborhoods. It’s a couple of miles to the store.”
“It has everything that we need,” Theodule said. “People can come here for their daily needs and the elderly don’t have to go so far away because everything is here.”
The supercenter brings about desperately needed change. Named after sleeping car creator George Pullman, the neighborhood was a vibrant industrial community in the late 1800s and early 1900s and its model community was even voted one of the healthiest places in the world. With the decline of the industry, many jobs were lost and the community struggled to recover. After decades, Pullman is finally home to a big box store.
Beale spoke to the audience, outlining the meaning of the new infrastructure to Pullman, including being one step closer to no longer being a food desert.
Beale fought, with eventual success, for the expansion of CTA service to the new center as the previous line dropped riders six blocks away from the store.
After beginning to renege on an initial promise of bus service, the CTA have begun to put up signs. There is a temporary service offered, the 111A Pullman shuttle, while plans to extend the No. 106 E. 103rd and No. 111 111th/King Drive bus routes are discussed.