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The Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza Walmart celebrated a 5-month-long renovation this morning with a ribbon cutting, messages from community leaders and special reopening-day deals.

Clad in Walmart-blue uniforms more than 100 Walmart employees heard from company executives and community leaders.

“When the Walmart organization selected Baldwin Hills and the Crenshaw area as a location for its store,” said Bishop Charles E. Blake of the West Angeles Church in Crenshaw. “It was a significant turning point for our community an a significant investment.”

Walmart continued its legacy of investing in the community with a $50,000 grant given to Friends of the Expo Center — a nonprofit that serves the Exposition Park community.

The renovation included a new produce section, a sewing and crafts department, home furnishings and a redesigned floor plan for more convenient shopping. It’s part of a larger remodel of the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza. Capri Urban Baldwin, the company that manages the mall, has invested more than $35 million to transform the plaza.

The project has paid for a myriad of projects including new restaurants, such as Post and Beam, the new Rave Cinemas movie theater, a new children’s play area and family restrooms.

One of the most significant changes to the Walmart is the addition of a fresh produce section that community leaders said will lead to better health and longevity in the community. The area lacks adequate access to fresh fruits and vegetables, according to the CDC.

Shopper Teresa Worrell said the Walmart will help her get healthy food to feed her daughter, who attends elementary school in the area. “We had limited fruits in the store for years in Walmart,” said Teresa Worrell, a Crenshaw resident who was shopping for yogurt and milk in the new dairy section. “This is very, very helpful you know financial and health-wise.”

“We are excited to welcome our neighbors and community members back to our newly remodeled store,” said store manager Synetria Peterson. “It will be a brand new shopping experience for the community, and one we are thrilled about. We look forward to serving our customers by focusing on what is important to them.”

But not everyone believes in Walmart’s mission. Several groups have protested Walmart’s presence in Crenshaw. “Walmart is anti-union, it pays low wages, in fact it doesn’t even pay living wages,” said Najee Ali, the founder of Project Islamic H.O.P.E. “And certainly Walmart employees can’t afford to buy into medical or dental insurance.”

Similarly, numerous groups are fighting a Walmart that is going to be built in Chinatown. “What we call mom and pop businesses are essentially put out of business because the Walmart prices are lower than the smaller businesses in the community,” Ali said.

But Councilman Bernard Parks, who attended the ribbon cutting ceremony, said that type of thinking is flawed. “The grocery industry has not invested in our community,” Parks said. “The mom
and pop stores cannot carry the burden of the needs in the community and if you look at the crowd here today they look like the community.”

Local business owners weren’t as concerned about the Walmart as they were with the fact that people just aren’t buying groceries as much as they are eating out.

The Walmart, which opened in 2003, was one of the first businesses to open in the Crenshaw district after the 1992 LA Riots that devastated the area. Parks credits the store for major economic development. “They stepped in and hired locally from the community,” Parks said. “They also stepped in and began to be a part of the community because of their investment in the community.”