Walmart to close two Acadiana stores

Three of the Walmart stores in the Sarasota area are Neighborhood Markets, and a fourth is slated to open January 27 at 1100 S. Main St.in North Port. The other stores are supercenters. Each of the Georgia stores closing are a part of Walmart’s Express pilot that began in 2011.

The company says it will focus on strengthening Supercenters, optimizing Neighborhood Markets, growing the e-commerce business and expanding pickup services for customers.

The closings, which include 154 stores in the US, are expected to affect as many as 16,000 employees worldwide. Ninety-five percent of those stores, the company said, are within 10 miles of another location.

Garcia said Wal-Mart associates who have been employed for at least a year could qualify for a 60-day severance package.

“Actively managing our portfolio of assets is essential to maintaining a healthy business”, said Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. This wave of store closures includes the retailer’s 102 Wal-Mart Express locations, with locations in Leonard and Whitewright, both of which opened about a year ago.

The company said that decisions for closing stores are never easy.

Wal-Mart operates 4,500 stores in the U.S. Its global workforce is 2.2 million, 1.4 million in the U.S. alone.

While the company is shutting down some stores, another announcement from the retailing giant said that it is planning to open more than 300 stores.

None of the company’s six Walmart and one Sam’s Club stores in the Coachella Valley are on the list of 154 domestic closures.

None of the state’s dozens of Wal-Mart locations will be closed.

The stores being closed account for a fraction of the company’s 11,000 stores worldwide and less than 1 percent of its global revenue, according to the Associated Press.

Walmart noted that the closing of the stores will dilute earnings per share 20-22 cents. Walmart said it would disclose more information about these stores “after completing local associate and community outreach”. The total number of corporate employees laid off increased Friday with 120 let go at Sam’s Club, separate from the store closures.

“Our goal is to help these associates and we will take appropriate steps to ensure they are treated well”, McMillon said.