Politics & Government

Lynwood Officials Contemplate Spillover Effects of South Gate Walmart

The presence of such a large retail store is expected to have some impact on Lynwood.

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Retail giant The closeness of this store to Lynwood is expected to have some impact on this municipality’s economy.

The degree of influence is unknown, but Lynwood officials have already begun to ponder.

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“It will be negative,” said councilmember Ramon Rodriguez. “Most of our commerce here in Lynwood is done by 'mom and pop' shops.”

According to Rodriguez, Lynwood’s proximity to South Gate coupled with Walmart’s low prices and diverse inventory, will make things difficult for small Lynwood businesses.

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“When a big box tenant like Walmart comes into an area they also attract business from a radius of 5 miles so it will definitely affect most of our small businesses,” said Rodriguez.

The reality of having non-residents residents shop at Walmart was a benefit recognized by South Gate Vice-Mayor Gil Hurtado. This is because it will most likely result in more sales tax revenue for South Gate.

Lynwood currently has a sales tax of 8.75 percent, which is one percent lower than that of South Gate. This is a factor that some believe might keep Lynwood residents from shopping within the borders of their northern neighbor.

“South Gate has one of the highest sales taxes,” said Edwin Hernandez, Lynwood’s city treasurer. “It is higher then Lynwood’s and when people realize the taxes they will buy local.”

However, the announcement of a Walmart in South Gate has also reminded some Lynwood officials about the monetary benefits of having a large national discount retail operation within their city.

“Communities need some kind of a big box because they can raise a million dollars in additional sales tax a year,” said Lynwood Mayor Jim Morton. ”Half of it would go to the to the city and the other to [the Lynwood Unified School District] so this would be a tremendous help for our citizens.”

Lynwood has so far not been able to attract any of the national big box discount retail giants that is currently having discussions with, such as Target and Costco.

Councilmember Aide Castro concurred with the analysis that a Walmart would have some sort of an impact on Lynwood. However, she was confident that most of Lynwood's small businesses would survive.

“I do feel that [Walmart] is going to affect the businesses in the city of Lynwood,” said Castro. “But I am confident that the services Walmart offers don’t encompass everything that the small businesses offer.”

Coincidentally, the Greater Lynwood Chamber of Commerce has plans to spearhead a campaign that will champion residents to shop locally.

“Our goal is to motivate people to buy in the city,” said Hernandez, who is also the treasurer for the chamber of commerce. “Once we start this campaign a lot of businesses will benefit from it.”

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