Brooklyn Center police responded to over 6,000 calls at Shingle Creek Walmart in last 5 years

Police say Brooklyn Center Walmart off Shingle Creek Crossing has seen thousands of police responses within the last five years. The big box store announced it is planning to shut its doors on April 21.

RELATED: Brooklyn Center Walmart permanently closing April 21

In a statement to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, the company said the move was due to failures to reach “financial expectations.”

Since the Brooklyn Center Walmart opened in 2012, it’s been a hot spot for crime. Customers say due to increasing crime, they are not surprised by the closure.

“Every other day we run in here and grab something and there’s a fight outside or you see someone running out with merchandise,” said Lauren Cole.

Brooklyn Center police said Walmart made 6,177 calls for services in the last five years. That’s double the number of calls compared to surrounding businesses like Super 8 and Cub Foods with 3,270 and 3,038 calls, respectively. All three businesses top the city’s list for calls for services.

For further context, police say just six miles away, the Walmart in Brooklyn Park had 1,679 calls for services in the last five years.

In the past, state lawmakers shared concerns that Walmart was draining public resources.

In 2017, the big box store agreed to pay for an off-duty officer to patrol the Brooklyn Center store four days a week.

After 10 years of being an anchor store in the area, customers told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS they hope the closure is a wakeup call.

“Let’s take care of our neighborhood and keep nice things around here so it can help other people that’s unfortunate that can’t travel out to shop at other places, so they can have a place to shop here,” said Jason Cole.

The store has 350 employees and told city officials they are working to place those staff at other locations.