Walmart is closing more underperforming stores this month.
In an announcement on Tuesday, Walmart said it will close four Chicago area stores to the public by Sunday, April 16, while the pharmacies at these locations will remain open to serve patients for up to 30 days.
In a statement, the big-box chain said its Chicago stores have not been profitable since the company opened the first one nearly 17 years ago. “These stores lose tens of millions of dollars a year, and their annual losses nearly doubled in just the last five years,” Walmart said. “The remaining four Chicago stores continue to face the same business difficulties, but we think this decision gives us the best chance to help keep them open and serving the community.”
The company added that it has tried “many different strategies” to improve the business performance of these locations over the years, including building smaller stores, localizing product assortment and offering services beyond traditional retail. “We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the city, including $70 million in the last couple years to upgrade our stores and build two new Walmart Health facilities and a Walmart Academy training center,” Walmart added.
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The four Walmart stores closing on Sunday, April 16, include:
8431 S. Stewart Ave.
4720 S. Cottage Grove Ave.
2844 N. Broadway St.
2551 W. Cermak Road
What we originally reported on February 13, 2023.
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.
