Walmart plans to shut 6 stores in MS, none on coast

“We invested considerable time assessing our stores and clubs and don’t take this lightly”, said McMillon in a statement.

The Bishops Corner location is scheduled to close January 28.

More than 95 percent of the stores set to be closed in the USA are within ten miles of another Walmart.

The store closures will start at the end of the month, and many closures will be of the company’s Walmart Express stores: all 102 of them (out of the 154 locations to be shuttered in the US).

The other 52 USA stores are a mixture of Supercenters, WalMart’s largest format; discount stores; a grocery format called Neighborhood Market; and outlets in the company’s Sam’s Club bulk-selling wholesale chain.

Walmart will look to build its Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets as well as its e-commerce business.

In total, approximately 16,000 associates will be impacted by the decision, about 10,000 of them in the U.S.

WalMart said it would provide 60 days of pay and severance for eligible workers not placed.

The announced closures will have no effect on Wal-Mart stores that are in the pipeline to be built, company officials said.

The decision to close stores was made after looking at a number of factors, including financial performance as well as strategic alignment with long-term plans.

California Wal-Mart stores to be closed are in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland and San Jose. The remainder of the stores being closed overseas are also located in Latin America and, like the stores being closed in Brazil, are described by the company as losing money.

Wal-Mart launched the Express concept in 2011, promoting the roughly 12,000-square-foot stores as a way to better compete with stores.

In the past year, Wal-Mart has opened two Supercenters – on Joe B. Jackson Parkway and Memorial Boulevard – and planned three new stores – two Neighborhood Markets in Murfreesboro and one Supercenter in La Vergne.

“We are committed to growing, but we are being disciplined about it”, said McMillon.

Worker advocates said they fear this could be the beginning of a slew of cuts.

The stores Walmart will close only represent a small fraction of the more than 11,000 stores the retailer has worldwide and not even 1% of the global revenue generated by the company.