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
The cosmetics subscription box service Birchbox is now offering its own line of beauty products, under the name LOC, along with the other brand's articles.
Home delivery has become quite common but it's a first in the pet industry. Petco launched PetcoNow, its fast delivery service.
Tampa Bay in Florida is set to benefit from a huge investment by the Walmart chain as they spend an estimated $173m dollars on the opening and remodelling of 34 stores.
Previously Samsung offered pop-up shops around the US that were focused on letting customers experience the brand's products and technology.
