Back in late September, the Walmart location in the City of Prince Rupert permanently shut it’s doors.
The store initially was closed down temporarily back in July due to what Walmart said was concerns for the safety of their associates and customers and it was only a couple months after the sidewalk alongside the Rupert Square Mall partially collapsed.
But Walmart next stated that they then conducted a larger review of that location and they concluded that the best course of action was to completely cease operations.
And questions remain about what kind of effect this closure will have on Prince Rupert and it’s surrounding area.
Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond pointed out how disappointing it is to lose a major store like Walmart, but he remained optimistic about the city’s future and ability to adapt;
“Losing a major employer and retailer like Walmart is certainly a setback. We’ve been taking some great steps forward and it’s always frustrating when you take two steps forward and you end up with one back, but that’s all it is. Walmart played an important role in the community, someone will fill that gap. And we’re working with a number of possible retailers that we think might fit the bill.”
As for what some local citizens thought, one person was not happy with the closure and had some ideas on what should’ve happened instead;
“It’s not alright because Walmart should’ve been expanded, it should’ve been bigger. Where they built Walmart, it used to be a big garden and now that we see it’s fallen down, that’s sad.”
But another one believed that there might be some good to come out of the closure as well;
“Initially, a lot of people are going to miss their low prices, but I believe that a lot of low prices in the other stores will come back because the Walmart actually drains a lot of that. They do a lot of purchase and then nobody else can have any.”
Although now, anyone from Prince Rupert looking to specifically go to Walmart will have a harder time getting to a location since the next closest store is in Terrace, which is about an hour and a half away by vehicle.
And since not everyone has the means to get there, Mayor Pond also brought up some other closer by options that Prince Rupert residents might turn to in order to get their shopping done;
“There’s a lot of choices in town still. Places like the Bargain Shop, Shoppers Drug Mart carries groceries, there’s some good pricing on those things. If you go down to Home Hardware, you’ll find that they carry a number of household items that I think people might not expect to be there if they haven’t been in Home Hardware for a long time. There’s a lot of great small retailers as well.”