Walmart is quietly closing stores -- here's the full list

[kentuck]

Could it be an indicator of something bigger going on in our economy? Could the giant, Walmart, be the small canary in the coal mine?
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https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-stores-closing-list-2019-3

<snip>

Walmart is closing or has already closed at least 17 stores across 11 US states and Canada.

The stores include Walmart Supercenters and Neighborhood Market stores in Texas, Louisiana, Indiana, Arizona, California, Kansas, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington.

The closing date for most of the affected stores was April 19, according to employees of those stores, who confirmed the closings to Business Insider. A store in Bedford, New Hampshire, is expected to close in June, and another in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, is expected to close in July.

Walmart representatives confirmed the closings to various local media outlets.

...more at link

[MineralMan]

1. Depends on the exact locations of those stores.

I'm sure Walmart has poorly performing store in some places, for whatever reason.

Most likely, that's the reason for the closures.

[Hortensis]

11. Late Sunday night, a badly rundown Walmart was packed with Hispanic shoppers,

creating long lines. We were traveling and this our first and only time here, so we asked if this was normal. The checker said not at all but seemed otherwise clueless. It was obvious to us, though, that the shoppers were stocking up to hide from ICE, same as in California where our friends are seeing it, and no doubt across the nation. This small city isn't on the list to be first hit, but of course who'd trust ICE, or anyone else at this point?

Regarding the OP, though, this may well be the last hurrah for this store, the biggest Walmart we've ever seen. Serious wear and tear everywhere, unrepaired smashed tile in the entrance to a bathroom, sullen workers. Clearly overdue for closure.

[matt819]

2. Big, empty boxes

What have cities around the country done with these big, empty boxes?

Apart from commercial use, what about:
government offices
homeless shelters
community centers, food kitchens
schools, after-school centers
community athletic facilities
medical facilities

These buildings, as well as empty malls, are blights.

[napi21]

26. I don't know about Walmart, but in Pa. theey jave converted abandoned hotels into Senior

citizen assisted living. A friend of mine just had his mom & dad move into one & it's very nice. Has options of single, & double living spaces and they seem very happy there.

Although a former hotel might be a better building layout for that purpose, an old WM with that sq. footage could be great and have no stairs or elevators to deal with.

[Captain Zero]

29. Sometimes churches buy them and refurbish them

with a cross up on top. One town I know of the First Baptist Church bought it after Walmart moved down the state highway to be closer to the interstate exchange. Which meant the First Baptist traditional church was abandoned along one of the city's old downtown streets and looks like hell today.

[TreasonousBastard]

35. It's not as easy as that...

My town was given a National Guard facility for $1 and the promise to open a certain type of facility.

It's been years now, and we haven't found anything that would work. And don't accuse us of not trying-- we've had some very good people working on this and nothing so far would make economic sense or fit the agreement. Some that would fit the agreement would would cost millions more than building new. Old Guard buildings do not meet modern safety, etc, standards (lead pipes, asbestos, fire exits, handicapped access...) and/or need other expensive repairs or modifications.

We were also essentially given the Grumman research and factory facility when they moved to Texas-- including the airfield. Sounds great, except for even more problems getting something off the ground.

We have a number of old stores begging for new owners, and a bank HQ left empty when the bank moved out-- so far no takers. But that hasn't stopped developers from building new stuff down the road.

We need expanded court and police space, modernized school facilities, low income and emergency housing, and a bunch of other stuff, but there's always something stopping it.

We do have a large number of walk-in medical facilities opening up, and with a major regional hospital expansion we have specialty medical operations opening all over, but still plenty of empty stores.

This plays into the argument that we need private capital to actually fill the empty shops. But, around here, private capital prefers to build new rather than renovate.

And, WalMart be damned-- whatabout Amazon reducing floor traffic everywhere/

[onetexan]

3. China tariff war hurting its profits maybe?

[spinbaby]

4. They've over saturated their market

I have five or six Walmarts within a half hour drive. In Morgantown WV, there are actually two Walmarts within sight of each other.

[TheBlackAdder]

13. In my area, I would probablt hit each one with mo more than a 10 minute drive between them.

[Blue_true]

18. I will check the article for closure locations. But my guess?

Likely smallish rural towns or cities that have limited to no economic diversity. I have gone to both several time with a relative or on his behalf, both Walnarts that I visited were busy as hell, like weaving a shopping cart around to avoid running into other people. As best I could tell when I was there, they had 8-10 checkout lines open and the self-check stuff. In the parking lot I saw everything from beatup vehicles to brand new top of the line Mercedes. The Publix market that I shop at is far less crowded, the healthfood store that I frequent is even less crowded.

[walton19]

23. Agree

I completely agree with this and they have recently moved to onewalmart which is a new portal for it employee. They are doing it really well and they have plans to acquire some other stores soon.

[gopiscrap]

24. welcome to DU

[DeminPennswoods]

22. There are 3 within about 10 miles

of each other where I live.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. 17, out of over 11,000? That's worldwide, but most are in North America...

Anyway, every retailer closes down low performing stores on a regular basis.

[yellowdogintexas]

31. Once WalMart has diminished the number of grocery stores

they will open a superWalmart. This alone could cause 2 smaller stores to close within a 15 to 20 mile radius.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. "Could it be an indicator of something bigger going on in our economy?" Retail has lost almost 200K

jobs since January 2017.

[Sherman A1]

9. and many more jobs will be lost

due to consolidation, closings and the advancement of AI in the Retail Sector.

[Runningdawg]

7. The close smaller stores to make room for the giant ones in places that will support it

In the smaller towns, they have ran out of rubes who will work for them. I know, I hear parents complaining about how their children want to leave towns of 2500 people to find a real job. Out here in OK, the best jobs for unskilled workers are at casinos. Sure they hire Natives first, but they also offer plenty of entry level jobs with better pay/hours/benefits/advancement than Walmart.

[Blue_true]

19. Your guess is the same as mine. Small city Walmarts

in places that don't have economic diversity.

[BBG]

34. ironically, Walmart diminishes economic diversity

The small town business climate has long been known to suffer with the introduction of Walmart on the scene. Small businesses cannot compete with the monster that undercuts prices offered and wages paid (on a per dollar of goods sold) basis.

[Sherman A1]

8. A very small number of stores for this to even be news

Chains are always making adjustments and this comes across as just more of the same. Some open, some are remodeled and some close. It's the nature of things.

The bigger story buried in the article was the small number of projected openings for this year.

[FBaggins]

10. Leaves the reader with an incorrect impression

Wal-Mart hasn't reduced the total number of locations - which has increased every year for at least a decade (though the last five years have been comparatively small).

The "something larger" is hardly hidden. If anything, Wal-Mart is the exception to the dying retailer rule that has been going on for years now as online shopping continues to grow.

[TheBlackAdder]

12. And they will be leaving behind husks of communities, after businesses were decimated by them.

[Blue_true]

20. Yes. nt

[maxsolomon]

14. 1. Destroy entire small-town business districts in Rural America.

2. Drive down wages.
3. Close store when profits drop.
4. Force rural shoppers to drive an extra half hour, or an hour to next nearest Walmart.
5. Blame Democrats.

[in2herbs]

15. I NEVER shop at WM and I think anyone who thinks they have low prices is stupid. Everyone

pays additional taxes on goods and services because WM is not forced to pay a living wage.

[WillowTree]

16. "Quietly"? Implies something rather conspiratorial.

They're closing of a miniscule percentage of their (almost certainly underperforming) stores and there's really no indication that they're trying to hide it. It's just part of doing business.

[Blue_true]

21. I would guess the stores are in small rural cities.

In the case of those places the closures are huge for both shopping and jobs. In my city near where I live, I have a choice of two Publix Markets, two Walmarts, tailors and Persian rug and jewelry sellers - unfortunately it is such places that retailers are opening up "new" stores while closing the only store in some towns.

[Traffic Interruptus]

17. Turn them into immigration detention centers?

[Aquaria]

33. I live close to two Wal-Marts, only a few miles apart.

One of them is a SuperCenter. The other is one of the Neighborhood Markets which should be on the shutdown list. The parking lot is mostly empty, no matter when I drive by there. I don't know why it was built where it was, which is smack dab in one of the wealthier areas of San Antonio. Why shop there, when a monster Wal-Mart SuperCenter is right down the road, and a good HEB is even closer than that?

I can count on my hand the number of times in the past ten years that I've gone into a Wal-Mart, but recently I needed some storage containers for my ink collection that only they had in the size I needed. It was convenient to have the order sent to the Neighborhood Market, rather than to the SuperCenter for free pickup. So there's that.

Other than that, I have no use for Wal-Mart.

[Wellstone ruled]

27. WalMart has been

thinning out the herd for quite some time. With their new CEO the focus in on Internet Sales with home delivery and or Store pick up.

In urban areas they are going with fewer stores covering a greater area of service. If stores are not producing a certain dollar sales per linear foot of shelf ,they shut it down. Have seen whole Stores cleaned out over night and the Signage gone by daylight.

Just one big Tax write Off.

[JT45242]

28. Tax abatement scam

These are likely stores that have tax abatement contracts expiring. Standard operating procedure for Walmart is to shake down a community demanding new access roads, sewer, etc. In order to put in a new store.

They also require a tax abatement, fairly standard to be given for twenty years. At about year 18 they plan to close the store and move to a new location with a new 20 year tax free scam.

Corporate welfare at its finest. With the added bonus of driving local businesses out in the first few years by having extra lie prices, then raising the prices when all legitimate competition has closed.

I wouldn't read macro econ into it...this is the Walmart business model

[Captain Zero]

30. 20 years, that's it.

Wasn't there a Walmart exec who recently stated that the construction of the stores is done cheaply and only expected to last for 20 years, interesting how that coincides with the usual tax abatements they are granted.

[KT2000]

32. they do this every year

they get rid of their lowest performing stores.
Wish they would get rid of one of the two that are dominating the communities where I live.