Are you worried and finding the list of Walmart stores closing in 2023? Walmart remains one of the most successful businesses in the world. It has more than 10,500 locations spread across 24 nations. However, not all of its stores have fulfilled the company’s objectives despite its dominant position in the retail sector.
The Arkansas-based superstore chain revealed that it would close 12 locations in four states last week. Also, the first closure is scheduled for the coming week. Compared to their previous plan of opening new places every few weeks, this move is a major turnaround. But why is Walmart suddenly shutting down its stores? Are they discontinuing operations? Let us view this issue in detail in this article.
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Walmart stores closed in 2022
Walmart is the biggest brick-and-mortar retailer in the world. Sam Walton established it in 1962. The company’s “everyday low pricing” policy is done to transform the retail sector. It operates 10,500 locations under 46 different banners in 24 other countries. Globally, the business employs 2.3 million employees, of whom 1.6 million work in the United States.
Along with its physical Walmart stores, the company also operates Sam’s Club in the United States, Flipkart in India, and Massmart in Africa. Walmart began selling online to compete with Amazon. As a result, it has grown to become the second-largest e-commerce corporation in the United States.
Walmart is a popular place for people to do their weekly grocery shopping. A single Walmart store in the United States handles an average of 10,000 consumers daily. The store is a landmark in the community. Because of its consistently low prices, it is a go-to place to reduce the impact of inflation. But does our neighborhood Walmart still have it in stock? The business just disclosed that it would close several locations beginning on February 17.
In 2022, the business closed a few physical locations. The first assumption is that the firm is altering its business model to attract more online consumers. Online shopping is more popular than ever. This illustrates why the business is turning its attention to the virtual world.
The company plans to invest the money in improving its website and mobile app, among other things. This was planned to offer a quick, effective service that satisfies the demands of these new customers.
In April 2022, Walmart closed some of its stores. This includes Louisville, Kentucky; Forest Park, Ohio; and Bellevue, Washington. Customers’ increasing demands for online shopping and the expansion of online giants like Amazon are reshaping the retail industry. By ensuring that its services continue to be effective, quick, and consistent, Walmart is doing what it needs to do to sustain itself in such an industry change! But that isn’t the only reason for the retailer’s abrupt plan change.
Reasons for Walmart closing stores
In February 2022, the business announced that an “underperforming” Walmart Neighborhood Store in Garden Grove would close on March 25, 2022. The 114 employees at the supermarket at Katella Avenue had the option to move to other Walmart stores and markets.
The firm stated that this decision was based on several reasons. This includes previous and present financial performance. It is the threshold that drives its policy to close failing sites.
Walmart highlighted that the shop employees were not affected by this closure decision. The move was taken following “a careful and deliberate assessment process.” The business stated in 2016 that it would concentrate on its new neighborhood market format. This was planned to compete with other stores that used the same concept. This more compact location was chosen because it is close by and convenient for the customers.
However, in late 2017, it closed all the new locations. This happened due to a lack of popularity, a loss in market share, and low performance rather than establishing its new business. Initially, they said they would concentrate on other brand improvements. But they should have clarified what separates a store that performs badly from one that succeeds well enough to remain open.
The company is well-known as a retail giant. But their competitive image is exactly what stops them from continuing to be successful. In reality, they’ve had a lot of brand identification issues lately. The people associate them with cheap goods, bad customer service, poorly trained staff, and a difficult-to-navigate store.
These are just a few things customers believe this cheap retailer to be. Hence, why would somebody pick a location with such a bad reputation?
Moreover, everyone who has recently visited their store felt that the inventory needed to be increased to meet the customer’s demand. This was due to a few factors. Some analysts claim that the business still needs to decide how many of each item to keep on hand. Hence, we might need to place a special order or look for an item from another retailer.
The business advertised in public about its holiday items. But their everyday goods either needed to be more prominent in their stores. Later, customers started realizing they couldn’t find what they needed. As a result, they determined that they would only be able to continue purchasing here if so many other options were available.
In 2018, U.S. government officials imposed new tariffs on imported items from China. This requires the business to pay 25% in charges on the majority of incoming products. Across the nation, this duty has already terribly affected hundreds of companies. It made others wonder if the business could keep the label “discount superstore.”
The closing of physical stores is a bad thing. But the retailer tries to make up for it with online shopping techniques that promote effective, quick, and dependable service. On Walmart.com, customers may always enjoy the same wonderful shopping experience.
What locations is Walmart closing in 2023?
The pickup-only Walmart site in Lincolnwood, Illinois, will close its doors on February 17, 2023. According to the company’s statement, “the decision was not taken lightly.” Thus it was decided only after a complete evaluation process.
Because this site only offers pickup and delivery services, the company stated: “It had integrated the lessons it had learned into the way pickup and delivery are handled at its nearby stores.”
After the Lincolnwood location, Walmart will close two more stores in the Chicago area. There is one in Homewood and another in Plainfield. The stores’ closure is scheduled for March 10 because they failed to meet the company’s financial projections. “There is no single cause for the shop closure, and our decision is based on several reasons,” the statement reads. Due to Walmart’s low prices, one customer said that the move is a “huge hit to the neighborhood,” although other customers said the store is “always crowded.”
“We have approximately 5,000 stores in the United States, but sadly, some fall short of our financial goals.” Walmart told CBS that although “our core business is healthy,” these particular stores “haven’t done as well as we expected.” Thus, the Homewood and Plainfield sites will both close on March 10. This was according to the retailer. The staff members will be allowed to relocate to other Walmart locations.
Rich Hofeld, the mayor of Homewood, also spoke out against the closure. He said, “The Village was shocked by this announcement.” Also, they are working with the landowner to occupy the space after closure as soon as possible.
The Walmart stores in San Mateo in Albuquerque, New Mexico, will close on March 10. According to a spokesman for Walmart, Lauren Willis, the firm has no plans to close any other locations in Albuquerque. This was said in response, as reported by the Albuquerque Journal. The Walmart closure is obvious to the community, as are concerned in Chicago and Albuquerque.
Alderman Mark Chambers Jr. of Milwaukee said, “It’s upsetting that such a huge, resource-rich, and wealthy Fortune 100 firm as Walmart could not keep such an important location operating.” “The move not only has a bad impact on customers, patients at the pharmacy, and store employees, but I believe it will simply worsen the food desert problems we are already experiencing in that region.”
Many people are concerned that Walmart’s departure will turn the area into a food desert, similar to what happened in Chicago. According to Pat Davis, an Albuquerque City Councilor, “it removes the final choice for fresh food and grocery shops for a large stretch of East Central.” As a result, he added, it effectively creates the food desert they have been concerned about for years.
Customers stressed that Walmart is the only grocery store within walking distance for low-income households in the region. Also, the adjacent shops need a variety of wholesome foods. The Albuquerque Journal was informed by regular customer Marcelina Romero that “there are no additional grocery stores around, just junk food.”
According to the Milwaukee Business Journal, a Walmart location on West Silver Spring Drive in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will close on March 10 as well. A Walmart spokeswoman offered similar reasons for the closure. He added that the company is “grateful to the consumers who have given us the opportunity to serve them at our West Silver Spring Drive store.” Thus, the shutdown is the result of a review process.
Milwaukee Alderman Mark Chambers Jr. issued a press release in response to the upcoming closures of both locations. He told customers that they have “already begun working with the Department of City Development to investigate prospective alternative options.”
A Walmart Neighborhood Market in Pinellas Park, Florida, close to Tampa, is also scheduled for closure. Like most of the places indicated above, that store will close on March 10. Walmart stated that the closure was unavoidable because the store did not fulfill the company’s financial goals. Brian Little, Walmart’s director of communications, added that no other store closings are scheduled in the Tampa Bay region.
Is Walmart shutting down in 2023?
Despite the government’s large stimulus plan, the COVID-19 outbreak was a death blow for many U.S. companies. As we know, Walmart, a major retailer, has started closing some of its locations. This caused some customers to wonder if the company would stop operating.
Numerous people have passed away due to the COVID-19 outbreak over the past few years. However, a lot of supermarkets ensure that their clients can shop safely. They did it by offering security measures that let people buy goods in a secure and hygienic setting.
Some other grocery stores would close at night, do their cleanup, and then resume early the next morning during the pandemic. However, this retailer went above and beyond by closing numerous locations for approximately 40 hours to sterilize them completely.
More businesses around the United States closed in 2021. This happened due to growing worries arising from local outbreaks, despite increased attempts to fight the virus and other safety regulations being relaxed. Some businesses reopened in 2022, while others are still closed for extensive cleanings.
Walmart’s online sales in fiscal 2022, which concluded on January 20, 2022, comprised about 13% of the company’s total sales. In 2020, the company’s revenues increased by a double-digit rate, helped by the COVID-19 pandemic’s growth in e-commerce.
Due to COVID-19 lockdowns, Walmart has had to close some of its locations temporarily. Some customers were even concerned that these restrictions would be permanent. Additionally, the business has said it will close two locations in Kentucky and Ohio in April 2022. It stated that poor performance was why the stores shut down.
However, Walmart has also been closing several shops and shifting its focus to online sales. This suggests that it might be going to a hybrid retail strategy. Though more quickly, the gaming retailer GameStop has undergone a similar change. Walmart’s stores serve as major delivery locations for its digital strategy so it would adopt a more lenient approach.
Additionally, as part of its shift, Walmart sold its controlling shares in the British grocery chain Asda and the Japanese grocery chain Seiyu. The company discontinued its operations in Brazil. Also, it sold its Argentinian operations to Grupo de Narvaez and shut down the $3 billion e-commerce portal Jet.com.
However, these actions don’t indicate that Walmart has given up doing business abroad. The company’s largest acquisition to date was a controlling stake in Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart for $16 billion. This was made in 2018.
Is Walmart out of business in the U.S.?
Walmart is making a few changes to its physical store network. This is ahead of the release of its fiscal fourth quarter and annual results reported on February 21, 2022. Also, following a third quarter that showed an 8.7% increase in total revenue, As mentioned earlier, the business announced store closings around the nation.
Walmart has dealt with many difficulties at some sites. This was in addition to dealing with more general problems like inflation and robbery at physical stores. In 2022, a store in Atlanta was temporarily closed due to suspected arson. The stores in Webster, New York; Colorado Springs; Selma, Alabama; and Barnwell, South Carolina, were all affected by smoke and small fires.
Although some Walmart locations are closing, others are getting updates. This includes recent upgrades in Teterboro and North Bergen, New Jersey; Yaphank, New York; Hodgkins, Illinois; and Quakertown, Pennsylvania, among many others.
The company also keeps expanding its omnichannel operation and investing in new technology. The new technologies, such as the just-launched Text to Shop feature and its extended drone delivery service in 36 shops and seven states, are remarkable.
Around 230 million customers and members visit Walmart’s more than 10,500 shops weekly. In addition to the multiple e-commerce websites, it operates under 46 banners across 24 nations. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based business has 2.3 million employees worldwide. Walmart U.S. is ranked first on the PG 100. It ranks the top food and consumables businesses in North America for 2022, compiled by Progressive Grocer.
List of Walmart stores closing in 2023
Walmart has disclosed that over 160 stores had been closed in 27 states over the past three years as of December 2022. This affected over 10,000 workers.
The three states that have been impacted the most in recent years are Texas, North Carolina, and Arkansas. It will be exciting to see what occurs in the regions where Walmart will be leaving. Will brand-new local businesses arise to fill in the gap? Time will tell whether the Targets and Amazons of the globe will simply sweep in and eat their competitors alive.
A list of every Walmart location that has recently closed or will soon close, sorted by state, is mentioned below.
- ALABAMA: Selma, 36703 1501 Al Highway 14 East (temporarily closed due to a fire on November 7, 2022)
- CONNECTICUT: Guilford, 900 Boston Post Road (closed in May 2022)
- KENTUCKY: Louisville, 7100 Raggard Road (closed in April 2022).
- OHIO: Cobblewood Plaza Shopping Center, 1143 Smiley Ave, Cincinnati, OH (closed in April 2022) and 6594 Mayfield Rd, Mayfield Heights, OH (completed in May 2022)
- PENNSYLVANIA: Pittsburgh,877 Freeport Road, Waterworks Shopping Center (permanently closed on November 11, 2022)
- WASHINGTON: Bellevue, 4055 Factoria Boulevard Southeast (closed in April 2022)
The list of shops that have already shuttered their doors includes:
- Atlanta, Georgia, is located on Howell Mill Road.
- Lincolnwood, Chicago, Illinois
- Chicago, Illinois’s Plainfield location
On March 10, the Homewood store in Chicago, Illinois, and the San Mateo Boulevard S.E. store in Albuquerque, New Mexico, will close.
Conclusion
For such a large firm as Walmart, closing stores is an unusual decision. Many business analysts were shocked to hear this information because they had assumed the business would add more locations soon. We hope that people can learn more about why Walmart is closing shops now. Also, shortly, they can begin to use this information and take it into account when making their shopping decisions.