Walmart Coming to Downtown L.A.

Walmart is coming to downtown Los Angeles. The big box retail giant plans to open a grocery store on the northern edge of downtown L.A., reports the Los Angeles Business Journal. The 33,000-square-foot market will be located at the northwest corner of Cesar Chavez and Grand avenues inside the ground floor of a residential complex for seniors.

The proposed DTLA store, which is part of the chain's strategy to open smaller stores in urban environments, is far from a done deal. Although the Arkansas-based company has signed a lease on the space at 701 W. Cesar Chavez Ave., labor activists are already crying foul.

There are already 28 Walmart stores in Los Angeles County (five of which are in the city of Los Angeles), but some of those have faced fierce opposition.

Days ago, the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770, which represents supermarket workers, held a rally to oppose approval of a Walmart store in Burbank, reports the Los Angeles Times. Walmart is not unionized.

In 2004, when Walmart wanted to build a superstore in Inglewood, it met stiff resistance from local officials. The company took its case directly to voters, who rejected a store-sponsored ballot initiative that would have waived various zoning and environmental restrictions for the company.

Walmart hopes it will fare better with smaller stores and plans to begin construction this summer at the DTLA location. We'll see.

Walmart checkout; Credit: Walmart Stores / Flickr

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