Walmart Announces Another Store Closure – Is Your Local at Risk?

Walmart has revealed it will close one more location, after eight other closures so far this year.

Next on the chopping block is a Neighborhood Market store in Overland Park, Johnson County, Kansas.

The venue, which opened 20 years ago in 2003, will close completely on June 2, but will begin slowing operations from later this month.

The in-store pharmacy will close on May 26 and employees will work with customers to transfer prescriptions.

It comes after the supermarket giant announced at the start of the year that it would close at least 20 of its 5,000 stores across the country after concerns they were “underperforming” and struggling amid an increasing spate of theft.

Next on the chopping block is a Neighborhood Market store in Overland Park, Kansas

Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon, pictured, announced the chain would cut at least 20 of its locations by 2023

Walmart said the decision to close the store was made after a review process that considered store performance.

The Neighborhood Market store – usually smaller than other outlets – is less than half an hour from downtown Kansas City, and there’s also another Walmart less than six minutes away.

A company spokesperson said: “We are grateful to the customers who have given us the privilege of serving them at our Overland Park location at 10303 Metcalf.

“We look forward to serving them in our other stores in surrounding communities and on Walmart.com.”

The supermarket giant is just the latest victim of the retail apocalypse sweeping the country.

Red-hot inflation and an explosion of online shopping have led numerous retailers — such as Bed Bath and Beyond and Target — to close their stores.

More than 850 physical stores will suffer the same fate as major retailers looking to streamline their operations.

Earlier this month, 130-year-old Sears announced it plans to close four of its stores across the country.

The clothing brand was rescued from bankruptcy protection in 2018 and has since seen hundreds of locations disappear.

In 2018, there were 700 Sears outlets nationwide, but after the latest round of closures, only 12 will remain.

Iconic retailer Sears is on the verge of closing four of its stores, years after filing for bankruptcy

Bed Bath and Beyond closed its last 360 stores after it filed for bankruptcy in April

In April, Walmart announced it would close half of its stores in Chicago, where it lost millions each year on theft.

At the time, the company said its four stores in the city had been “unprofitable” since the first one opened some 17 years ago — even after efforts to flip the stores and counter declining profits.

And in March, two Portland stores — located in the Delta Park and Eastport Plaza malls — were also forced to close due to an increase in crime.

A total of 579 employees were affected by the closures in Portland.

Six stores in Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota, Kentucky, Washington and Hawaii also closed this year.

After the Walmart location in South Bend, Indiana, closed on April 21, a company spokeswoman claimed the decision was “not taken lightly.”

Felicia McCranie told the South Bend Tribune, “We have 5,000 stores in the US and unfortunately some of them are not meeting our financial expectations.”

Some employees affected by closed stores may transfer to a nearby location.

The news of the closures comes after it was revealed that President and CEO Doug McMillon earned $25.3 million last year — more than 933 times the median wage of a Walmart employee.