Walmart Says These Stores Are Closed to Shoppers
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Store closures have been hitting far and wide over the last few years, affecting companies both large and small. Major retailers like CVS and Bed Bath & Beyond have kickstarted ongoing initiatives to shutter hundreds of locations throughout the U.S. But even if plans for a significant downsize aren’t on the table, almost every retailer is losing locations in some way. That includes Walmart, one of the country’s most popular and successful companies. Read on to find out which stores Walmart says are closed to shoppers right now.
READ THIS NEXT: Walmart Is Banning Shoppers From Doing This in 4 States, as of Next Year .
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Walmart has not set into motion any permanent mass closures, unlike many other retailers. But the big-box retailer has dealt with several shutdowns—both temporary and not. In the spring, Walmart closed several “underperforming” stores throughout the U.S. Locations in Louisville, Kentucky; Forest Park, Ohio; and Bellevue, Washington, were shuttered in April, and then in May, the company closed stores in Guilford, Connecticut, and Mayfield Heights, Ohio.
Just last week, Walmart also had to temporarily close over 240 locations. The retailer briefly shut down certain stores in Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia as Hurricane Ian made its way through the East Coast. Most locations affected by the storm appear to have since reopened, but now there are other closed Walmart stores affecting shoppers within the U.S.
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Amid the mass temporary closures during Hurricane Ian, Walmart shared its “Store Status” tool with shoppers. The continuously updated map provides consumers with real-time operation status information about every location in the U.S. As of Oct. 6, there are currently 6 different Walmart stores closed throughout the country. But some closures appear to fluctuate quickly—throughout the day, there were points at which as few as 3 stores and as many as 10 stores were listed as “currently closed,” per Walmart’s map.
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The 6 U.S. locations Walmart says are not open at the moment are spread all over the country. In California, there are two stores listed as currently closed: a Walmart Supercenter in Milpitas and a Neighborhood Market in Clovis.
The other locations include Walmart Supercenters in Yankton, South Dakota; Orem, Utah; Aurora, Ohio; and Peachtree City, Georgia. (The map has two separate listings for Peachtree City, but they both appear to be the same store.)
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According to Fox 5 Atlanta, the fire was started by a 14-year-old girl while she was shopping with her mother. In early September, Walmart opened a mobile pharmacy in the store’s parking lot to help serve customers’ pharmacy and vision needs. But the main store is still being rebuilt as of October.
“The fire caused extensive damage, and we are still assessing losses and developing a timeline for reopening,” Ashley Nolan , a spokesperson for the store, told the news outlet. “This will obviously take time, but we are making progress daily.”
Walmart Is Banning Shoppers From Doing This in 4 States, as of Next Year
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The shopping experience at Walmart is nothing if not consistent. The megaretailer has changed with the times to keep giving customers what they want, from a convenient shopping experience to maintaining their low prices despite soaring inflation. Typically, this involves adding features or perks that endear fans to the store even more. But even as the world’s second-largest retailer, some changes are inevitable for the company—including ones that could affect the shopping experience. Read on to see what Walmart is banning shoppers from doing in four states as of next year.
READ THIS NEXT: Walmart Shoppers Can Now Buy This “Award-Winning” Product in Stores .
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There’s no question that the pace of change in the retail industry has quickened in recent years. But unlike some other once-iconic stores that have all but disappeared , Walmart has managed to keep customers coming back by embracing new technology and fine-tuning its customer experience.
In July, the store unveiled a new augmented reality (AR) feature built into its app that allows customers to see how a piece of furniture or décor will look in their home before they decide to buy it. The company also announced it had updated its website to optimize the experience for Spanish speakers shopping on its website. And the retailer also kicked off a partnership with streaming platform Roku that allows customers to shop for items using their TVs.
Devoted Walmart customers have also likely found more reasons to return to the store lately. Earlier this summer, the retailer announced that it was updating its Walmart+ subscription service, allowing members to bundle their package with InHome Delivery for an extra $40 annually. The service provides customers with the convenience of having the items they ordered brought straight to their doorstep, garage, or fridge. But despite these recent additions, there’s one thing Walmart shoppers in some areas won’t see in stores for much longer.
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Originally, signage had announced that the changes would take effect beginning Sept. 15. However, those notices have since been removed from the store, with representatives telling KRDO that the new policy will go into effect at a later date in the coming months.
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News of the major change comes after the state government passed Colorado House Bill 1162 last year, KRDO reports. Even though the new legislation will ban stores and restaurants from giving out single-use plastics such as shopping bags beginning in 2024, the company said it would be getting a head start on the changes—and has even instituted similar policies in other states.
“Walmart has been exploring alternatives to single-use carryout bags from our stores since 2021 while prioritizing our customers’ convenience and product safety, including through the Beyond the Bag Consortium. In the U.S., we have transitioned from plastic bags in Vermont, Maine, and New Jersey, and, starting early 2023, we expect to eliminate single-use carryout bags in Colorado as well—with reusable bags available for purchase at multiple prices,” a corporate spokesperson for Walmart told KRDO in a statement.
“For in-store and curbside delivery, we will continue to encourage our customers to bring their own bags and/or purchase reusable bags and will be switching to reusable paper bags for delivery. Walmart remains committed to identifying solutions that are scalable, convenient, and sustainable,” the representative explained.
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Despite how convenient they may seem, plastic bags have become a major ecological issue , with less than 10 percent of those put into use ending up recycled, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As a result, state and municipal governments around the U.S. have begun to institute their own local ordinances similar to Colorado’s that limit or outright ban retailers and other businesses from furnishing plastic bags. As of February 2021, eight states had enacted bans on single-use plastic bags , including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon, and Vermont, per the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). Other areas, such as Montgomery County, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., have also required businesses to charge a five or 10-cent fee per bag used by a customer.
But it’s not just plastic bags: Walmart’s latest decision aligns with the company’s commitment to becoming a zero waste operation in the U.S. in Canada by 2025. After announcing the initiative last year, the retailer says it aims to switch to “100 percent recyclable, reusable, or industrially compostable packaging” for its own brands by 2025 while also “aiming to label 100 percent of that packaging with recycling instructions to educate our customers and eliminate non-recyclable packaging by the same time frame.”
