Walmart has released a list of the stores being closed. The list includes: Walmart, Super Centers, Neighborhood Markets, Amigo, and Sams Club stores. The list can be accessed by going to the Walmart News site.
Of the 269 stores being shuttered, more than half of them, 154, are in the United States, and another 115 outside the U.S., including the 60 recently-closed, loss-making stores in Brazil. The remaining 55 stores are primarily small, loss-making stores in other Latin American markets, according to Walmart News.
Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart said the stores being closed account for a fraction of the company’s 11,000 stores globally and less than one percent of its global revenues. Walmart also points out that 95 percent of the stores being closed in the U.S. are within 10 miles of another Walmart store.
The closing will begin at the end of the month. Walmart will publish a list of the affected stores later on Friday. The company will also work to assure employees are placed in nearby locations. The closings will affect about 10,000 associates in the U.S.
Today’s announcement comes three months after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. CEO Doug McMillon told investors the company would begin a review of its fleet of stores with the objective of becoming more “nimble in the face of increased competition from all fronts,” according to CBS News.
“No doubt our business has become both large and broad,” McMillon told analysts in October, reports CBS News. “It is more important now than ever that we evaluate our portfolio.”
Walmart has 4,500 stores in the U.S., employing 1.4 million people. Globally, the company’s workforce is 2.2 million. Walmart had already warned that its earnings for the fiscal year starting next month would be down as much as 12 percent as it pours more money into online operations and improving customers’ experiences.
According to CTV News Canada, shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. fell $1.12, or 1.7 per cent, to 61.94 in morning trading.
