# Walmart is abruptly closing 63 Sam's Club stores and laying off thousands of workers



## KingsX (Jan 11, 2018)

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*Walmart is abruptly closing 63 Sam's Club stores and laying off thousands of workers*

Jan. 11, 2018, 12:44 PM

 Sam's Club is closing stores.  AP

    * Walmart is abruptly closing 63 Sam's Club locations across the US, the company told Business Insider. Some stores were closed on Thursday. Others will close at a later date.

    * Many employees were not informed of the closures ahead of the time, according to reports.

    * 10 of the closed stores will be turned into ecommerce distribution centers.


"  Several stores were abruptly closed Thursday. In some cases, employees were not informed of the closures prior to showing up to work on Thursday.

Instead, they learned that their store would be closing when they found the store's doors locked and a notice announcing the closure, according to reports.

Ten of the affected stores will be turned into ecommerce distribution centers, and employees of those stores will have the opportunity to reapply for positions at those locations, a Walmart official said. "

more at link

http://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-suddenly-closes-sams-club-stores-2018-1

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## Falcon (Jan 11, 2018)

Meh    Never been to either one of them.


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## KingsX (Jan 11, 2018)

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*Sam's Club's CEO revealed mass stores closures in this company-wide email to employees*

"  The company abruptly shut down some of the affected stores on Thursday. The rest will close within the next couple weeks. 

Sam's Club CEO John Furner notified employees of the closures in a company-wide email sent Thursday. "


CEO's enmail  at link:

http://www.businessinsider.com/sams-clubs-ceo-addresses-email-to-employees-on-store-closures-2018-1


*4 Texas Sam's Clubs, 3 in Houston area, close down suddenly*

http://abc13.com/business/3-houston-area-sams-clubs-suddenly-close-for-good/2929815/


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## Don M. (Jan 11, 2018)

I've never understood the rationale behind Sam's Club and Costco.  I suppose if a person has a huge family, or a business, they might be able to justify buying in bulk to save a bit of money.  One of the daughters has a Sams Club membership, and we've gone with her a couple of times, primarily to "browse", but I haven't found anything worth buying a membership for.  We certainly don't need a 10 or 25 pound box of cereal, and their prices on things like TV's, aren't much, if any, better than the same item at a regular Walmart, or Best Buy store.  

Turning some of those places into a big warehouse to supply online sales, makes more sense.  

Retail...of all types...is going through a major transition, as more and more people find the convenience and savings of online sales.  Personally, I doubt that Sears and Kmart will last more than another couple of years.


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## KingsX (Jan 11, 2018)

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The bigger news here is not just that so  many of Wal-Mart's Sam's stores are closing...
*it's the sudden closing of many of the stores today,  without prior notice to employees*.


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## Don M. (Jan 11, 2018)

These types of layoffs, with little or no warning to the employees, are a fairly common practice....there are several such layoffs virtually every day...albeit few that involve thousands of workers.  Here' a list of recent layoffs.

http://www.dailyjobcuts.com


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## Olivia (Jan 11, 2018)

I wonder if that's how Walmart is affording the raises and bonuses for employees as announced today.
Cynical to ask that? Hard not to be.


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## Marie5656 (Jan 11, 2018)

*DAMN.  We belong to Sam's and they closed both in our area.  We really liked the deals we got there.*


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## KingsX (Jan 11, 2018)

Olivia said:


> I wonder if that's how Walmart is affording the raises and bonuses for employees as announced today.
> Cynical to ask that? Hard not to be.




More than ironic.


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## Marie5656 (Jan 11, 2018)

Don M. said:


> I've never understood the rationale behind Sam's Club and Costco.




My husband and I belong to Sams and it is just the two of us.  Not all quantities are HUGE, but some are manageable.  I can get a 2 lb package of Oscar Meyer Lunch meat for a fair price.  It is two 1 lb packages, so I freeze one.  Hubby brings sandwiches for lunch almost every day.  We buy a lot there


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## NancyNGA (Jan 11, 2018)

Don M. said:


> These types of layoffs, with little or no warning to the employees, are a fairly common practice....there are several such layoffs virtually every day...albeit few that involve thousands of workers.  Here' a list of recent layoffs.
> 
> http://www.dailyjobcuts.com


An interesting one from that link is a nursing home in Minden, NE.

_"The lack of Medicaid expansion in the state (NE) was one reason that Hinterlong and Countryside continued to struggle. Why this is important is because the definition of Medicaid uses for poverty level is currently excluded for many people.
_
_With about 30 residents and 50 employees, 95 percent of the residents have committed to moving to Bethany Home in Minden. That facility also will have 10-12 staff positions open, and they will give priority to Countryside and Hinterlong staff. They do plan to extend the closure date from Feb. 28 to April 30, and they will work with residents to give them as much time as possible to find new residences."_


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## C'est Moi (Jan 11, 2018)

Olivia said:


> I wonder if that's how Walmart is affording the raises and bonuses for employees as announced today.
> Cynical to ask that? Hard not to be.



I'm sure that they took all the business re-organization into consideration.   But they wouldn't close profitable stores just to give other employees a bonus so there were many factors to consider.   

I think re-purposing some of the Sam's Club facilities as eCommerce warehouses is forward thinking on their part.  Online shopping is the wave of the future.


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## Ken N Tx (Jan 11, 2018)

Marie5656 said:


> My husband and I belong to Sams and it is just the two of us.  Not all quantities are HUGE, but some are manageable.  I can get a 2 lb package of Oscar Meyer Lunch meat for a fair price.  It is two 1 lb packages, so I freeze one.  Hubby brings sandwiches for lunch almost every day.  We buy a lot there


Ditto...We buy a lot of meat and divide them up for the freezer..


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## Marie5656 (Jan 11, 2018)

Ken N Tx said:


> Ditto...We buy a lot of meat and divide them up for the freezer..



Right.  I got interrupted by real life as I was typing my response.  We have gotten chicken breasts there.  And some of the boxed shrimp.  We are probably going to go back and re-join BJ's.


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## nvtribefan (Jan 11, 2018)

That's to increase profits after raising their wages to $11.00/hour.


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## nvtribefan (Jan 11, 2018)

Don M. said:


> I've never understood the rationale behind Sam's Club and Costco.
> I suppose if a person has a huge family, or a business, they might be able to justify buying in bulk to save a bit of money. *Just the two of us, but we save big bucks with our Costco membership.*
> We certainly don't need a 10 or 25 pound box of cereal, *I've never seen one of those.*
> and their prices on things like TV's, aren't much, if any, better than the same item at a regular Walmart, or Best Buy store. *The warranties are doubled, and their return policies can't be beat.*



You might want to investigate warehouse clubs, if one is near you.


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## Lethe200 (Jan 11, 2018)

Originally Posted by *Olivia:*_
I wonder if that's how Walmart is affording the raises and bonuses for employees as announced today. __Cynical to ask that? Hard not to be.
_===========

Actually, closing stores is a one-time hit on earnings.

WM can afford to raise wages. Their corporate tax rate is permanently dropped from 35% to 21% under the new tax law, according to one source I read today.


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## SeaBreeze (Jan 11, 2018)

No Sam's closed in our state, but we shop at Costco anyway.  It's only the two of us, but for years we've save by buying many things in "bulk" and storing servings either in the freezer or pantry.  We wouldn't have continued the membership if it wasn't saving us money in areas like food, pet food and supplies, laundry detergent and dish soap, etc.


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## Smiling Jane (Jan 11, 2018)

SeaBreeze said:


> No Sam's closed in our state, but we shop at Costco anyway.  It's only the two of us, but for years we've save by buying many things in "bulk" and storing servings either in the freezer or pantry.  We wouldn't have continued the membership if it wasn't saving us money in areas like food, pet food and supplies, laundry detergent and dish soap, etc.



I agree, and I'm single. I kept track of my Costco purchases over a couple of years and realized I got great prices there that helped me live better.

There are obviously some things I don't need to buy, like mega-sizes of toilet paper, but there are many other things I buy at Costco. Their olive oil is great (and it's genuine olive oil), and so is their organic cane sugar. Their frozen fruits and vegetables are always a good buy, and so is fresh produce.


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