BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Wal-Mart has just announced it will close 269 stores worldwide, including 154 in the U.S. The company appears to be backing off from its small-store strategy, as 102 of those U.S. stores are its Walmart Express convenience format, which it’s been testing since 2011. Internationally, Wal-Mart is closing 115 stores outside the United States, but most of them are in Latin American markets.
As of press time, HARDLINES cannot confirm any Canadian closings. Confirmed closings include 60 recently-closed, loss-making stores in Brazil and another 55 stores, primarily small, loss-making stores in other Latin American markets.
Also covered in the closures are 23 Neighborhood Markets, 12 Supercenters, seven stores in Puerto Rico, six discount centers, and four Sam’s Clubs.
Wal-Mart says it will focus on strengthening its Supercenters, optimizing Neighborhood Markets, growing the e-commerce business, and expanding Pickup services for customers. Today’s action, the company says, “follows a thorough review of Walmart’s nearly 11,600 worldwide stores that took into account a number of factors, including financial performance as well as strategic alignment with long-term plans.”
In total, the impacted stores represent less than one percent of Wal-Mart’s global square footage and revenue, the company adds.
