Closures have been attributed to "several factors," including profitability concerns.
CHICAGO (WGN) — Walmart plans to close four of its stores in Chicago by mid-April, the company announced Tuesday, adding to more than a dozen locations the retailer has already closed this year.
Affected Chicago stores will close on Sunday, April 16. Walmart officials cited profit margins as the reasoning behind the closing.
"The simplest explanation is that collectively our Chicago stores have not been profitable since we opened the first one nearly 17 years ago – these stores lose tens of millions of dollars a year, and their annual losses nearly doubled in just the last five years. The remaining four Chicago stores continue to face the same business difficulties, but we think this decision gives us the best chance to help keep them open and serving the community," a press release stated.
So far this year, Walmart has closed or announced plans to close nearly two dozen locations.
The retailer first confirmed closures in early February, affecting nearly half a dozen locations across three states. A week later, Walmart confirmed two more stores would be closing, one each in Florida and Arkansas. By late February, Walmart had announced the closure or impending closure of nine stores in six states.
The closures were attributed to profitability concerns and “several factors” following “thorough review [processes],” according to statements shared with Nexstar and local affiliates.
Following Tuesday’s announcement, Walmart has now closed or plans to close more than 20 stores across 12 states and Washington, D.C.
Seven of the roughly two dozen store closures by Walmart this year are in or near Chicago. Earlier this year, the retailer closed all of its stores in Portland, Oregon, and its remaining pick-up and delivery locations in Bentonville, Arkansas and Lincolnwood, Illinois.
Walmart began testing these pick-up and delivery locations in 2014, according to Business Insider. The company started with a location in Bentonville before expanding to Metairie, Louisiana, in 2017, and Lincolnwood in 2019. The retail giant appears to be abandoning the model with the closure of the Bentonville and Lincolnwood locations, and last year’s closure of the Metairie location.
According to a company spokesperson, Walmart plans to take what it learned at these pick-up locations and apply it to pick-up and delivery operations at surrounding stores.
Here are the stores that have been closed or are set to close so far this year:
“This decision was not made lightly and was reached only after a thorough review process,” a Walmart spokesperson previously told Nexstar. “We have nearly 5,000 stores across the U.S. and unfortunately some do not meet our financial expectations. While our underlying business is strong, these specific stores haven’t performed as well as we hoped.”
The closures aren’t necessarily uncommon. Walmart has, in recent years, closed a handful of “underperforming” stores across multiple states without many additional details, Insider reports.
Walmart did not immediately disclose whether additional stores are set to close.
