Walmart Announces Multiple Store Closures, Cite Losses in the “Tens of Millions a Year”

Walmart announced Tuesday that it’s closing four of its Chicago locations, citing a massive loss of profits in the years they’ve been in operation.

“The simplest explanation is that collectively our Chicago stores have not been profitable since we opened the first one nearly 17 years ago – these stores lose tens of millions of dollars a year,” Walmart said in a statement.

The closures go into effect April 16th.

WATCH:

Walmart closing 4 stores in Chicago. More retailers are sure to follow with the weak liberal policies towards smash and grabs pic.twitter.com/qxvyXmyFLP

— • ᗰISᑕᕼIᗴᖴ ™ • (@4Mischief) April 12, 2023

The Chicago locations closing to the public include:

• #5781 Chatham Supercenter, the Walmart Health center, and the Walmart Academy, 8431 S. Stewart Ave.
• #3166 Kenwood Neighborhood Market, 4720 S. Cottage Grove Ave.
• #5645 Lakeview Neighborhood Market, 2844 N. Broadway St.
• #5646 Little Village Neighborhood Market, 2551 W. Cermak Road

From Walmart:

The simplest explanation is that collectively our Chicago stores have not been profitable since we 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. 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.

Over the years, we have tried many different strategies to improve the business performance of these locations, 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.

It was hoped that these investments would help improve our stores’ performance. Unfortunately, these efforts have not materially improved the fundamental business challenges our stores are facing.

Community and city leaders have been open and supportive as we met with them over the years to share these challenges. As we looked for solutions, it became even more clear that for these stores, there was nothing leaders could do to help get us to the point where they would be profitable.

With that in mind, we have made the difficult decision to close these underperforming stores in Chicago.

The pharmacies at the closing locations will remain open to serve patients for up to 30 days.

The associates at these stores “will be paid until Aug. 11, 2023, unless they transfer to another location during that time,” the statement read.

“All associates are eligible to transfer to any other Walmart or Sam’s Club facility,” the statement added.

“After Aug. 11, if they do not transfer, eligible associates will receive severance benefits,” the statement continued.

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Chicago is the latest city which Walmart is making an exodus.

Walmart announced the closure of its last two Portland, Oregon locations earlier this year.

From the New York Post:

Walmart will close its last two stores in crime-plagued Portland, Ore., as the city contends with a relentless wave of shoplifting that has hammered retailers.

The closures, set for March 24, come months after CEO Doug McMillon warned the discount retailer was seeing a spike in “shrink” — a term the retail industry uses to address losses related to in-store theft or fraud.

“Theft is an issue. It’s higher than what it has historically been,” McMillon said during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” in December. “I think local law enforcement being staffed and being a good partner is part of that equation. … If that’s not corrected over time, prices will be higher, and/or stores will close.”

The company did not say whether retail theft was a factor in shuttering the Walmart locations in the North and Southeastern sections of the Rose City.