South Suburban Mayors Rolling Out The Welcome Mat For Amazon, Despite The Costs
When Sheila Chalmers-Currin became mayor of south suburban Matteson in 2017, she had to govern a village that had seen a portion of its economy gutted. The spread of e-commerce contributed to a steep decline of the retail sector, especially among big-box stores. That hit Matteson especially hard. The village eventually lost its Target store, Sam’s Club, a Toys R Us and others. It even lost its only full-service grocery store when Dominick’s closed in 2013.
It was clear Matteson, like many towns dependent on brick-and-mortar shopping districts, needed a new strategy, according to Chalmers-Currin.