Within hours of announcing the brand's move toward a higher hourly wage for its employees, Walmart has also announced, quite suddenly, the closing of 63 Sam's Club warehouse stores in the U.S., moving hundreds into unemployment. According to a few media reports, some Sam's Club locations were closed Thursday, with no advance notice to customers or employees, as the brand went as far to use its Twitter account to break the news.
“After a thorough review of our existing portfolio, we’ve decided to close a series of clubs and better align our locations with our strategy,” the company wrote. “Closing clubs is never easy and we’re committed to working with impacted members and associates through this transition.”
It has been reported that some of the closed locations are being turned into distribution centers as the company also made mention that all affected employees would have the chance to reapply for those jobs. (How sweet of them!)
Sam's Club Tweeted the link to its Store Locator to help consumers who normally shop at affected stores find another location.
As stated above, this announcement comes on the same day that parent company announced higher starting wages for Walmart employees. Walmart said it is raising the hourly pay to $11 an hour, while offering expanded benefits and a cash bonus of up to $1,000.
For your reference, Sam's Club was founded in 1983 and is the second-largest warehouse retailer in the U.S., behind Costco.