RETAIL - Walmart Closes 269 Stores Globally, Sharpens Retail Focus

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Today is the last day of public access for 269 Walmart stores.

Walmart announced earlier this month that it is sharpening retail focus and will close several hundred stores. The closing are expected to affect approximately 16,000 associates. About 10,000 associates are in the U.S. where 95 percent of the closed stores in the U.S. are within 10 miles of another Walmart. The hope is that these associates will be placed in nearby locations. Where that isn’t possible, the company will provide 60 days of pay and resume and interview skills training in keeping with the Walmart objective to help all associates find their next job opportunity.

Today’s action follows a thorough review of Walmart’s nearly 11,600 worldwide stores that took into account a number of factors, including financial performance as well as strategic alignment with long-term plans. In total, the impacted stores represent less than 1 percent of both global square footage and revenue.

“Actively managing our portfolio of assets is essential to maintaining a healthy business,” said Doug McMillon, president and CEO, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. “Closing stores is never an easy decision, but it is necessary to keep the company strong and positioned for the future. It’s important to remember that we’ll open more than 300 stores around the world next year. So we are committed to growing, but we are being disciplined about it.”

Walmart will close 154 locations in the U.S., including the company’s 102 smallest format stores, Walmart Express, which had been in pilot since 2011. Walmart instead will focus on strengthening Supercenters, optimizing Neighborhood Markets, growing the e-commerce business and expanding Pickup services for customers. Also covered in the closures are 23 Neighborhood Markets, 12 Supercenters, seven stores in Puerto Rico, six discount centers, and four Sam’s Clubs.

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