That is a nasty game Walmart plays...financially nasty, not concentration camp nasty.

They build in places where they can get huge tax breaks from cities and towns. A lot of municipalities will put an end date on those tax incentives. If the incentives aren’t extended, most times Walmart will just pull up their stakes and move over to the next town. Some times, the new stores aren’t even a mile or two from the old ones. Greedy lawmakers can tout ‘jobs’ to their constituents (forget the dozens of local businesses that die out when Walmart comes to town) and developers can make some great coin (even WITH political kickbacks and payoffs) throwing up plazas.

In the meantime, the old stores are left rotting and vacant...killing off the satellite shops and restaurants that were built in its orbit. Walmart may hold the lease for awhile to prevent anyone moving into the space. In the meantime, that much square footage is hard, if not impossible, to fill. As this fact is established, Walmart can hold jurisdictions hostage for continued tax incentives, citing what will happen if they leave.

It’s an ugly business practice, and one Walmart has been very successful at pulling off.