Walmart has over 10,500 stores around the world, including at least one location in each U.S. state, but just announced that two of its locations, including one Supercenter, are closing soon while others are shutting down for various reasons.
The company recently said a Supercenter in Southwest Louisville, Ky. that opened its doors in 2008 and another in Cincinnati are closing permanently because of underperformance among other things.
The company gave similar statements to both Louisville local news station WHAS11 and The Cincinnati Enquirer, saying that they "are grateful to the customers who have given us the privilege of serving them" at both locations, and that "we look forward to serving them at our other stores in the surrounding communities and on walmart.com." The two will be closed by April 22.
Other changes are happening at Walmart.
Elsewhere Walmart locations are also seeing disruptions. On March 16 a fire at a 1.2 million square foot distribution center in Indianapolis, Ind. needed almost 200 firefighters to be put out and forced facilities nearby to evacuate, according to local reports. All 1,000 Walmart employees inside were accounted for. Large plumes of smoke could be seen from all over the city as a result. As of March 22 the distribution center is now operating again.
Another Walmart store is closed after a fire devastated the roof and burned a 40-foot hole and produced so much smoke that most of the inventory inside is unsalvageable. The Murphysboro, Ill. location will open in just a few weeks, Mayor Will Stephens said recently after admitting he believed restorations would take a lot longer after the early March fire, according to Benton News.
Despite these closures, Walmart is making big leaps in other areas. Because its online sales have skyrocketed during the pandemic and more shoppers than ever are getting groceries delivered, the company is doubling down on adding more automated fulfillment centers to existing stores. However, orders coming in from overseas may see some delays after COVID-19 on the rise in some areas of China are shutting cities and manufacturing plants down.