In the past year, Wal-Mart has opened two Supercenters – on Joe B. Jackson Parkway and Memorial Boulevard – and planned three new stores – two Neighborhood Markets in Murfreesboro and one Supercenter in La Vergne. “Closing stores is never an easy decision”.
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“We appreciate your business and would be happy to serve your shopping needs through other locations and online at www.walmart.com”, the store said in a status update. As of late Friday morning, the firm had not specified which stores would close. The closures are a result of the company’s long-term strategy to grow its ecommerce business and to expand its pick-up service for customers.
“Actively managing our portfolio of assets is essential to maintaining a healthy business”, Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon said in a news release Friday. Wal-Mart Express stores are typically 11,000 to 13,000 square feet in size.
More than 16,000 employees will get impacted, tens of thousands of which work in American stores, Fox News noted.
The announcement comes three months after Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
More than 95 percent of the stores set to be closed in the US are within 10 miles of another Wal-Mart.
The retail giant’s mass shuttering of stores marks the biggest move of this kind in at least 20 years. The 52 remaining closures will include a mixture of its Neighborhood Market stores, Supercenters and Sam’s Club outlets.
“I’ve always wondered why it’s taken so long to cull the USA store base because they really haven’t done much of it over the past several years”, O’Shea said.
The store closures are expected to affect about 10,000 U.S. Walmart workers. “Clearly, the livelihoods of all Walmart employees depend on it”.
The Bentonville, Arkansas, company said it is working to ensure that workers are placed in nearby stores.
Where that is not possible, the company stated it will provide those associates with 60 days of pay and, if they are eligible, severance pay, as well as resume and interview skills training.
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In announcing the closings, the company stated that 95 the stores being closed are within 10 miles of another Walmart. “The decision to close stores is hard, and we care about the associates who will be impacted…We invested considerable time assessing our stores and clubs and don’t take this lightly”.
