Last week, the supermarket chain Walmart made an announcement that disappointed thousands of customers: several stores will close their doors forever. But the problem is not only this retailer is having: other companies such as Bed, Bath & Beyond, Walgreens, and Best Buy are also closing stores. Luckily for Walmart, the impact is not as strong in its competitors, and it will close fewer locations than them. After conducting a “thorough review process.”, they will be closing a bunch of underperforming stores, including its last two locations with a pick-up and delivery concept that did not work as expected, regarding incomes and achievements.
According to American Retailer, the stores are located in four states and did not meet financial expectations. “While our underlying business is strong, these specific stores haven’t performed as well as we hoped,” the company said in a statement. “There is no single cause for why a store closes — our decision is based on several factors, including historical and current financial performance, and is in line with the threshold that guides our strategy to close underperforming locations.” Having said this, Walmart will still remain being America’s largest retailer, followed by Amazon, Costco and Walgreens.
The Walmart Stores to Be Closing Soon – Is Your Nearest in the List?
The first Walmart location to be shut down is in Illinois, specifically a pickup location at 6840N McCormick Boulevard in Lincoln wood, Illinois. This one will be closed after February 17. “This decision was not made lightly and was reached only after a thorough review process,” the spokesperson said to CBS. “As this is a pickup and delivery only location, we have taken what we learned from this location and made it part of how we operate Pick-up and Delivery from our surrounding stores.”
The other pickup location is in Bentonville, Arkansas, closing the same date. It’s located close to the Walmart headquarters, operating mostly as a warehouse facility since 2014.
The complete list Walmart Locations Closing in March 2023
New Mexico:
- 301 San Mateo Blvd. SE, Albuquerque: Albuquerque, New Mexico, will be seeing the curtain been pulled down and the doors being locked forever. The Walmart Supercenter saying goodbye is the one operating (so far) at301 San Mateo Boulevard SE. Once again, this location has an expiration date of March 10.
Florida:
- 6900 US Highway 19 North, Pinellas Park: Now, going southernmost, we travel to Pinellas Park, Florida. Down there, the Walmart Neighborhood Market located at 6900 US Highway 19 N will disappear, that didn’t meet their financial expectations. And it’s also set to shutter before that March 10 date.
Illinois:
- 17550 South Halsted St, Homewood
- 12690 S. Route 59, Plainfield
- 840 N. McCormick Blvd, Lincolnwood
Arkansas:
- 3701 SE Dodson Road, Bentonville
Wisconsin:
- 10330 W. Silver Spring Dr, Milwaukee
Oregon:
- 4200 82nd Ave. SE, Portland
- 1123 N Hayden Meadows Dr., Portland
The Chicago area is being hit hard in terms of Walmart closures, because it will lose the Walmart Supercenter in Homewood, at 17550 S. Halstead Street location. According to local news channels, the costumers were surprised because, until now, it looked totally normal. In the surroundings of Chicagoland Area, the store at 12690 S. Route 59 was badly underperforming, so is not as profitable as Walmart wanted it to be.
In Milwaukee, the store is currently situated in Timmerman Plaza, is set for closure also in March, and is the last on the list. The next closest grocery store is approximately 3.5 miles away, so people will have to find for their new favorite groceries store.
Costumers are raging about the closures, claiming that a Fortune 100 company can manage to keep seven stores open, for the good of the neighborhoods. But, at the end, it’s all about money and business and, when those factors are not working, stores will not be maintained open. Most employees will be eligible to be transferred to some other Walmart locations, so they will not lose their jobs.