Walmart Closing 269 Stores Globally, 16,000 Employees Affected
Walmart announced today that it plans to close 269 stores following a review of its entire portfolio of nearly 11,600 stores worldwide. The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer says it intends to focus on strengthening Supercenters, optimizing Neighborhood Markets, growing the e-commerce business, while expanding pickup services for customers.
The company’s strategic footprint reductions involve 154 locations in the U.S., affecting 16,000 associates globally, including about 10,000 in the U.S. The vast majority of store closings are tied to its Walmart Express format, encompassing 102 locations. Nine stores are slated for closure in California. Walmart plans to open more than 300 stores globally next year.
Doug McMillon, president and CEO, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. says “Actively managing our portfolio of assets is essential to maintaining a healthy business. Closing stores is never an easy decision, but it is necessary to keep the company strong and positioned for the future.”
Managing Director of BRC Advisors Sean O’Shea shared with Connect Media, “While individual corporations make decisions based on their own capital structure and internal metrics, we view the proposed closings as somewhat of a trend. We expect that there will be closings and repositioning in the drugstore sector as well (with Walgreens and Rite Aid). So, this is a time to be very vigilant.”
