Speculation Walmart coming to Israel causes local supermarket shares to dip
Mystery over retail giant’s plans deepen after it posts job wanted ads for Jerusalem, Israel, but later says they were for the nonexistent Jerusalem, Illinois
Speculation surged Sunday that US retail giant Walmart would be making an entry into the local market, causing the stock of major Israeli supermarkets, including Shufersal and Rami Levi, to dip.
The news was fueled by Walmart posting on LinkedIn for jobs based in Jerusalem, including cashiers, pharmacists and warehouse workers.
But Walmart denied it was coming to Israel, telling the Calcalist website that the jobs were actually for Jerusalem, Illinois. However, there doesn’t seem to be such a city.
According to the United States Board on Geographic Names, there are 18 entries with the name Jerusalem in Illinois, all of them churches, schools and one cemetery.
In a later email to Calcalist, Walmart’s spokesman suggested that the several dozen Linkedin listings, which appeared to specifically target Israeli users, were in fact for jobs in the Illinois towns of Zion and Salem.
“We are working to clarify the discrepancy,” the spokesman said.
Calcalist reported last year that representatives of Walmart visited Israel to look into the possibility of opening a branch in the country.
Online retail giant Amazon recently entered the Israeli market.
