Several area Walmart stores will soon close-a little more than a year after they opened-leaving many residents without a nearby grocery store and officals mourning the loss of jobs and sales tax revenue.
Company to shutter 269 locations; 16K employees affected
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Friday that it will close 269 of its stores globally, including 154 in the U.S., as the company looks to reposition itself in a difficult retail climate. The closures include Wal-Mart and Sam's Club locations and will affect 16,000 employees globally, about 10,000 of whom are in the U.S. The Bentonville, Ark., company said more than 95 percent of the affected stores in the U.S. are within 10 miles of another of its stores, and it hopes employees can transfer. The company said it would provide 60 days of pay if employees are unable to be transferred, and severance for those eligible. "The decision to close stores is difficult and we care about the associates who will be impacted," Wal-Mart Chief Executive Doug McMillon said in a statement. "We invested considerable time assessing our stores and clubs and don't take this lightly." In the U.S., the company will shut all 102 Walmart Express locations - a pilot program started in 2011 to appeal to customers who wanted smaller-format stores. Wal-Mart will also close 23 Neighborhood Markets, 12 Supercenters, seven stores in Puerto Rico, six discount centers and four Sam's Clubs. The retailer said it will focus more on e-commerce and expanding pick-up services for customers. Wal-Mart also said it would open 50 to 60 new Supercenters, 85 to 95 new Neighborhood Markets and seven to 10 new Sam's Clubs across the U.S. in fiscal 2017. Analysts said the store closures are a way for the retailer to capitalize on food sales and expand its "multi-channel" strategy by allowing pick-up for online and in-store purchases. "We believe Wal-Mart's announcement of store closings this morning is just a 'pruning' of its voluminous network," said Charlie O'Shea, Moody's lead retail analyst, in a statement. Worker advocates said they fear this could be the beginning of a slew of cuts. "This sends a chilling message to the company's hard-working employees that they could be next," said Jess Levin, communications director for Making Change at Walmart, in a statement. Making Change at Walmart is a coalition anchored by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union that is pushing for better pay and benefits at the retailer. Wal-Mart is just the latest chain to announce store closures after the retail industry struggled through the holiday season. Last week, Macy's said it was closing 40 of its department stores and cutting 4,800 jobs. Two days ago, Sears Holding Corp. said it was closing a number of Kmart stores across the country.Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced on Friday the upcoming closure of locations in Redwater, Naples, DeKalb, Hughes Springs and Lone Star.
"I feel so bad for the citizens (of Redwater). They have no grocery store. This is not a laughing matter," said Kyle DeLaughter, owner of DeLaughter's Grocery Store in Maud, Texas. DeLaughter closed his Redwater location, which had seved the town for 37 years, when he learned Walmart was coming to town.
"We closed the outlet in Redwater because a town of that size can't support two grocery stores. I'm not happy with what happened in Redwater," DeLaughter said. "Closing my store in Redwater was one of the most difficult decisions I've ever made."
When asked if Walmart closing in Redwater has created space for DeLaughter's to return, he said, "I've already sold my building to a local restaurant. I can't afford the likely asking price for the soon-to-be empty Walmart building.
"I wish reopening was that easy, but the economics may be too much at this time. We served that community for 37 years. Same customers every day, twice a day. When Walmart decided they wanted to pursue Redwater, there was nothing I could do about it."
When DeLaughter made Maud its only store, he offered displaced employees a new home in the Maud location. Most of them accepted.
"Maud has been our home for 39 years. They have accepted me and my family. It is a small town, simple, friendly, open and welcoming. There is not a single other place I would want to run a grocery store or any other business," DeLaughter said, "It is an interesting story, my side of it (Walmart). But it is not a happy day for me."
Not all local stores were forced to retreat from the coming of Walmart, however.
Pruett's Food Store in Naples managed to withstand the coming of Walmart.
"Ray Pruett, the owner (of Pruett's Food Store), saw a community that needed a local grocery store and put in the work and built Pruett's," said Christian Smith, manager, pointing out the Naples store was built at the site of an old Rehkoph's Grocery.
Reacting to the news from Walmart, Smith said, "We are very excited. When Walmart opened in Naples, we were concerned about staying open. However, the community rallied around us with a citywide 'Save our Pruett's' campaign. We had announced a closure on Sept. 15, 2015. But the community rallied around us."
"We are going to make changes and take back our business," Smith said.
Hughes Springs City Manager George Fite expressed the concerns of many city leaders affected by Walmart's decision.
"We are going to have people displaced without work. We will have no grocery store available, at least conveniently. Not to mention that this is going to impact local sales taxes," he said.
"We did have a grocery store before, but they closed right after Walmart opened," Fite said. "Right now, we are just taking stock. I think any time you have businesses coming into your community, you are pleased and proud. And now we have to deal with the displacement and disappointment. Hopefully, someone eventually will come to our community of 1,800 people and offer a similar service."
The Walmart stores in DeKalb and Lone Star were the first in the area to open on Jan. 7, 2015, followed by the opening of the Redwater store on Jan. 14, 2015, and Naples in the following months.
"I got a call from (Walmart) corporate this morning about 8:30," Redwater Mayor Robert Lorance said.
He was frustrated and puzzled by Walmart's decision.
"They said it was a national decision and it had nothing to do with Redwater."
The Redwater location was doing great business, Lorance said.
"It was one of the highly frequented businesses in the community. They had no trouble with business at all."
Public Works Director Ross Willingham of DeKalb echoed the hopes of his community, "Everyone thought we would have a better place to buy groceries and gas. They dropped the ball on us."