More Walmart locations set to close
Walmart is the latest low-price retailer to announce store closures, according to reports.
Two stores in California and one store in Maryland are closing, according to the Business Insider. The media outlet also is reporting that the retailer has closed three other stores, two in California and one in Ohio.
Walmart’s closure announcement comes just after Dollar Tree announced last week that it will shut the doors of nearly 1,000 of its Family Dollar stores this year.
USA TODAY reached out to Walmart for comment.
Charles Crowson, senior director of global communications and corporate affairs at Walmart, did not confirm or deny the store closures. However, Crowson told USA TODAY the process Walmart uses when determining which stores to close.
“We have more than 5,000 Walmart stores and Neighborhood Markets across the U.S., and unfortunately, some don’t meet our financial expectations, he said. “While our underlying business is strong, these stores haven’t performed as well as we’d hoped.”
Walmart does not close stores at random. Rather, the store goes through several criteria before deciding to shut the doors on any of its retail stores.
“These decisions aren’t made lightly and were reached after a thorough review process,” Crowson said. ”Our decisions to move forward with closures are based on several factors, including historic and current financial performance, and are in line with the threshold guiding our strategy to close underperforming locations.”
Dollar Tree announced its latest round of closures after the stores experienced a significant underperformance in 2023, according to the news release by the company.
A spokesperson for Dollar Tree told USA TODAY that the company conducted “a comprehensive review to identify and address underperforming stores and invest in improved store standards and growth.”