Walmart, one of the largest global retailers, has announced closing down of 269 stores globally, including, 154 in United States. The closure decision came based on financial performance. The company has planned to close 154 stores in US, including the entire fleet of 102 “Express” format stores.
Walmart has been reviewing its stores performance in a web-centric market. This is part of bigger plans by the retailer to focus on its supercenters and e-commerce business. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said, “No doubt our business has become both large and broad. It is more important now than ever that we evaluate our portfolio,” he said. “We have closed stores across several markets, and we will continue reviewing our fleet in a disciplined way.”
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The company is planning to scale up, and according to Brian Yarbrough, consumer staples analyst with Edward Jones, the store closures in not likely to have huge impact on the business. According to the company’s statement, 16,000 stores associates are likely to get affected by the closure, with about 10,000 in the US alone. Some of them will be relocated to other stores while the rest will receive 60 days pay.
Walmart is concentrating and working aggressively on its e-commerce presence and strives to give customer more pleasant experience by upgrading the stores. In this regard,the company has also planned to increase wages and impart training to the employees,an effort that’s costing more than $1 billion.
The news has come as many retailers are evaluating their performance in the changing retail landscape as customers are drifting towards e-commerce for shopping as it has become more convenient space. In this regard, many retailers like Finish Line, Macy’s have also planned closure of their stores worldwide.
