On April 13th this year, Walmart decided to shut down five of its Supercenters, literally overnight and to the (bad) surprise of its customers and staff. The stores concerned were Tulsa, Oklahoma, Midland and Livingston, Texas, Pico Rivera, California and Brandon, Florida. A total of 2,200 employees were affected. They were offered a two months paid leave and the possibility to apply for jobs at other locations of the supermarket chain.
Meanwhile, the reasons of these unexpected closures were surrounded with rumors. If the company's official statement involved massive plumbing issues to fix in these five supercenters, various allegations suggested other reasons. For many employees, its a punishment for asking higher wages and being on strike. For some people, the closures are related to Jade Helm 15, a vast military exercise that took place between July 15th and September 15th this year.
Whatever the reasons, the fact is that four of the five stores reopened last week with new layout and reorganised departments. According to Walmart, the fifth location, Brandon, Florida, is due to open in time for the festive season this year.
*Photo: Walmart Wall
News in the same category
American Eagle is a clothing retail store that was founded in 1977 by the Silverman’s brothers; Jerry and Mark Silverman.
Ikea, the world-famous Swedish home goods and furniture retailer has opened a small-format shop in New York’s Upper East Side and has plans to roll out a further 12 similar sized shops nationwide.
Amazon has announced that it will open a branch of its Amazon Go supermarket chain in New York City. This will be the fourth Amazon Go branch, and the first to be opened outside Seattle, Washington.
The fate of the iconic Amoeba Music store in Los Angeles was sealed when the City Council voted through zoning changes which will pave the way for the development of a high-rise building on the current site.
