Walmart Is Closing Even More Locations on April 21
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Even if you don’t shop at Walmart every day, there’s a good chance you’ve had to rely on your local store occasionally for some last-minute purchases. The mega-retailer can be a convenient one-stop shopping option for everything from everyday essentials and groceries to electronics and home goods. But while the chain has become well known for its “rollbacks” on prices, it’s also been recently forced to roll back the number of stores it operates. And now, Walmart will be closing even more locations across the U.S. on April 21. Read on to see if your store will be affected by the changes.
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A Walmart store in South Bend, Indiana , will close its doors for good on April 21, the South Bend Tribune reports. The location at 3701 Portage Road will also lose its pharmacy on the same day, with staff working with customers to help transfer their prescriptions to other locations, a spokesperson for the company confirmed to Best Life in an email.
While the company didn’t specify a reason for the closure, a Walmart spokesperson said it only decided to shutter the locations after a difficult review process that takes the company’s financial expectations into consideration. Shoppers at the location said that the South Bend store appeared to experience a drop in quality over the last few years, citing dirtier aisles and longer waits.
“We waited a half hour to check out,” Gregory Runnels , a customer at the store, told the South Bend Tribune .
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A spokesperson for Walmart confirmed the store was also cited for closure after a review process, which considers a location’s historic and current financial performance. But local officials are concerned that losing the store will have some immediate negative consequences for the area.
“This is devasting and a major economic loss to our region because Walmart has served the Brooklyn Center community since 2012,” City Manager Reginald Edwards , EdD, said in a press release, per KARE 11. “Our residents have relied on the convenience of the location. While this presents a significant challenge to the city, we are committed to rebounding and building a stronger local economy.”
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A company spokesperson confirmed to Best Life that employees at all four closing locations are eligible to transfer to other stores. In addition, they clarified that the decision to shutter the stores was not a reflection of their hard work or customer service.
“We are grateful to the customers who have given us the privilege of serving them at these locations,” Felicia McCranie , communications director for Walmart in the North and East, told Best Life in an email when reached for comment on the four closures. “We look forward to serving them at our other stores in the surrounding communities and on walmart.com.”
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The latest closure announcement comes just weeks after Walmart said a few of its other locations would shut down in the coming weeks.
A spokesperson for the company confirmed to Best Life that two locations in Portland, Oregon —one at Hayden Meadows Drive and another at Eastport Plaza—will shutter by March 24. The Walmart source noted that the move was in line with Walmart’s strategic goals and that there was no one reason for the closures.
And on March 31, the Walmart store at 99 H St. NW in Washington, D.C. , will also shut down for business, a Walmart source confirmed to Best Life . The location’s pharmacy was slated to close ahead of the store on March 17, with staff assisting customers in transferring their prescriptions to other nearby locations. The Walmart source said a review process determined that the store was underperforming.
