The other 115 stores are in Latin America, including 60 in Brazil.
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Rank, who now leads dairy company Grupo Lala, led Walmex at the time of a 2012 New York Times report that alleged the retailer bribed local officials to open stores faster.
Wal-Mart will close 269 stores globally-154 in the U.
Walmart operates over 4,500 stores in the USA and has a global workforce of more than 2.2 million with over 1.4 million just in the U.S.
It was unclear how many workers might lose their jobs, but Walmart said they hoped to find the employees new positions in nearby company locations.
The closures include 154 US locations, encompassing Walmart’s entire fleet of 102 “Express” format stores, its smallest stores that have been in pilot testing since 2011.
The company plans to open 50 to 60 Supercenters, 85 to 95 Neighborhood Markets and 10 Sam’s Club locations in the USA beginning February 1.
The store closures affect approximately 16,000 employees, but more than 95 percent of the closed stores in the USA are within an average of 10 miles from another Walmart.
‘The decision to close stores is hard and we care about the associates who will be impacted, ‘ CEO Doug McMillon said in a statement.
United States retail giant Walmart, the world’s largest company by revenue, will close hundreds of stores around the world and layoff thousands of employees. The 60 stores already being shut are all loss-making and represent only five percent of the company’s Brazil sales.
Wal-Mart has Lehigh Valley area stores in Pohatcong Township, Lower Nazareth Township, Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania; Hackettstown, Lower Macungie Township, the Clinton area, Readington Township and Whitehall Township.
The stores are about 12,000 square feet and sell essentials like toothpaste.
The closures will reduce earnings from continuing operations by about 20 cents to 22 cents a share, with as much as 20 cents of that coming in the fourth quarter, Walmart said.
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Walmart said it plans to open more than 300 stores worldwide later this year. Analysts have pegged fourth-quarter earnings at $1.46 per share and full-year earnings at $4.56 per share.
