One of the leading retail stores in the United States, Walmart, has announced the closure of some of their stores across the country. Everyone in the U.S. has been hit by the financial crisis due to the rising inflation and Walmart is not spared, hence the closure of these stores.
One of the reasons behind these closures is that the shoppers have reduced their purchases as they now prefer to shop for what is within their financial means and allocate their funds better.
This isn’t the first time that Walmart is closing down their stores. As a matter of fact, this has been going on for the past three years in an attempt to alleviate the financial crisis.
California store closures.
While Walmart is one of the leading retail stores in the United States, the proximity of some of their stores in certain districts have negatively affected the general output. This has not been favorable to the company hence the closures. These closures are to enable them to focus better on bigger locations.
Walmart has confirmed that some stores in California have been marked for closure. The stores affected are located in San Diego, El Cajon, West Covina, Granite Bay and Fremont Bay.
While most of the store closures in the past have been due to a financial crisis, it is not so with the recent closures. However, Walmart’s strategy focuses on restructuring the company.
Reason behind these closures.
While Walmart has confirmed that their closures this year are not as a result of a financial crisis, here are some reasons behind these recent closures.
- Financial Underperformance: some of these stores have not been meeting up with the expectations, financially, hence the prompting of the company to shut them down.
- Market Saturation: some areas have more than the required number of Walmart stores, reducing the general returns of the company in that area due to internal competition. So, the closure is to consolidate the market and get better returns.
According to a Walmart spokesperson, excessive concentration in certain areas can reduce the general performance of that area, so they decided to reduce the number of stores in some locations to increase the overall performance.
“These closures are part of a strategic plan that seeks to strengthen branches with the highest customer traffic,” the retail chain explained, detailing that the main objective is to offer customers a better shopping experience.” the spokesperson said.
It is worthy of note that inflation and increased cost of living had negatively influenced the closure of these stores, and of the most affected states in California.
Walmart new store openings.
Despite all the happenings, Walmart has announced the opening of new stores in different locations throughout 2025.
Walmart says it is set to open up more than 150 stores across the united states in the coming years in an attempt to adapt to the ever changing consumer behaviour. In this context, Walmart’s store closures in California and Georgia seek to redirect resources to more profitable locations and improve operational efficiency.
