Walmart is closing seven underperforming stores, including its last two pickup and delivery concept locations, after conducting a “thorough review process.”
According to the retailer, these stores — which are located in New Mexico, Illinois, Wisconsin and Florida — did not meet its financial expectations. “While our underlying business is strong, these specific stores haven’t performed as well as we hoped,” the company states. “There is no single cause for why a store closes — our decision is based on several factors, including historic and current financial performance, and is in line with the threshold that guides our strategy to close underperforming locations.”
As for the two pickup and delivery-only locations, Walmart said that it has taken what it has learned from these locations and made it part of how it operates pickup and delivery in the surrounding stores.
The company added that employees at the affected stores are eligible for transfer to other locations.
“We are grateful to the customers who have given us the privilege of serving them,” Felicia McCranie, director of global communications at Walmart, said in a statement sent to FN. “We look forward to serving them at our other stores in the surrounding communities and on walmart.com.”
The five mainline Walmart stores closing on Friday, March 10, include:
17550 South Halsted St. in Homewood, Ill.
12690 S. Route 59 in Plainfield, Ill.
10330 W. Silver Spring Dr. in Milwaukee, Wis.
301 San Mateo Blvd. SE in Albuquerque, N.M.
6900 US Highway 19 North in Pinellas Park, Fla.
The two pickup-only stores closing on Friday, Feb. 17, include:
6840 N. McCormick Blvd. in Lincolnwood, Ill.
3701 SE Dodson Road in Bentonville, Ill.
This news comes a few months after the big-box retailer boosted its full-year guidance after a positive third quarter. In November, Walmart reported total revenue in the third quarter of $152.8 billion, up 8.7% from the same time last year. The retailer credits most of this growth to its Walmart U.S. and Sam’s Club U.S. businesses driven by gaining market share in grocery sales as many shoppers have turned to the company as inflation mounts.
Following these gains, Walmart raised its full-year guidance, and now expects consolidated net sales growth of about 5.5%, including comp sales growth of 5.5% for Walmart U.S.
