Walmart announces worldwide closings; six in Mississippi

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc announced today that it plans to close 269 stores in the US and around the world.

US closures will total 154 locations, including the company’s new smallest format stores, Walmart Express, which has been in “piloting” stage since 2011.

Mississippi will see six closures according to the Wal-Mart Inc. press release. All six will be closed to the public on 1/28/16.

Closures were announced for these Mississippi stores:

In total, the impacted stores represent less than 1 percent of both global square footage and revenue.

“Actively managing our portfolio of assets is essential to maintaining a healthy business,” said Doug McMillon, president and CEO, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. “Closing stores is never an easy decision, but it is necessary to keep the company strong and positioned for the future. It’s important to remember that we’ll open well more than 300 stores around the world next year. So we are committed to growing, but we are being disciplined about it.”

Domestically, Walmart says it still intends to open 50 to 60 Supercenters and 85 to 95 Neighborhood Markets in Fiscal 2017.

In total, approximately 16,000 associates will be impacted by the decision, about 10,000 of them in the U.S. More than 95 percent of the closed stores in the U.S. are within 10 miles on average of another Walmart, and the hope is that these associates will be placed in nearby locations. Where that isn’t possible, the company will provide 60 days of pay and, if eligible, severance, as well as resume and interview skills training.

For more details and a complete listing of stores closing in the US: http://news.walmart.com/news-archive/2016/01/15/walmart-continues-sharpened-focus-on-portfolio-management#anchor