Is your local Walmart closing?
NEW YORK - Walmart (WMT) is closing 269 stores, more than half of them in the U.S. and another big chunk in its challenging Brazilian market.
The stores being shuttered account for a fraction of the company's 11,000 stores worldwide and less than 1 percent of its global revenue.
More than 95 percent of the stores set to be closed in the U.S. are within 10 miles of another Walmart. The Bentonville, Arkansas, company said it is working to ensure that workers are placed in nearby locations.
The company added that employees who can't be placed in alternate locations would receive "60 days of pay and, if eligible, severance, as well as resume and interview skills training."
The store closures will start at the end of the month.
The announcement comes three months after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. CEO Doug McMillon told investors that the world's largest retailer would review its fleet of stores with the goal of becoming more nimble in the face of increased competition from all fronts, including from online rival Amazon.com.
"No doubt our business has become both large and broad," McMillon told analysts in October. "It is more important now than ever that we evaluate our portfolio."
Walmart operates 4,500 stores in the U.S. Its global workforce is 2.2 million, 1.4 million in the U.S. alone.
Walmart has warned that its earnings for the fiscal year starting next month will be down as much as 12 percent as it invests further in online operations and pours money into improving customers' experience.
Of the closures announced Friday, 154 locations will be in the U.S., including the company's 102 smallest-format stores called Walmart Express, which were opened as a test in 2011.
Walmart Express marked the retailer's first entry into the convenience store arena. The stores are about 12,000 square feet and sell essentials like toothpaste. But the concept never caught on as the stores served the same purpose as Walmart's larger Neighborhood Markets: fill-in trips and prescription pickups.
Also covered in the closures are 23 Neighborhood Markets, 12 supercenters, seven stores in Puerto Rico, six discount stores and four Sam's Clubs.
Walmart will now focus in the U.S. on supercenters, Neighborhood Markets, the e-commerce business and pickup services for shoppers.
The retailer is closing 60 loss-making locations in Brazil, which account for 5 percent of sales in that market. Walmart, which operated 558 stores in Brazil before the closures, has struggled as the economy there has soured. Its "Every Day Low price" strategy has also not been able to break against heavy promotions from key rivals.
The remaining 55 stores are spread elsewhere in Latin America.
Walmart said that it's still sticking to its plan announced last year to open 50 to 60 supercenters, 85 to 95 Neighborhood Markets and 7 to 10 Sam's Clubs in the U.S. during the fiscal year that begins Feb. 1. Outside the U.S., Walmart plans to open between 200 to 240 stores.
The company published a list of stores affected by the closures midday Friday:
Store location, closing date
Walmart:
#2524: 5502 Monterey Hwy, San Jose, CA, 1/28/2016
#2949: 151 E 5th St., Long Beach, CA, 1/28/2016
#5457: 8400 Edgewater Drive, Oakland, CA, 1/17/2016
#2960: 4101 Crenshaw Blcd., Los Angeles, CA, 1/17/2016
#3507: 2701 Port Covington Drive, Baltimore, MD, 1/17/2016
#3496: 5825 W Hope Ave., Milwaukee, WI, 1/28/2016
Supercenter:
#3814 6525 Glacier Hwy, Juneau, AK, 2/5/2016
#763: 7201 Aaron Aronov Drive, Fairfield, AL, 1/28/2016
#4584: 10400 Highland Rd., Hartland, MI, 1/28/2016
#4369: 1010 Martin Luther King Pkwy., Durham, NC, 1/28/2016
#2837: 4350 N Nellis Blvd., Las Vegas, NV, 1/17/2016
#4342: 22209 Rockside Rd., Bedford, OH, 1/28/2016
#2606: 721 US Hwy 321 BYP S Unit, Winnsboro, SC, 1/28/2016
#883: 14091 FM 490, Raymondville, TX, 1/28/2016
#5493: 7480 Padre Island Hwy, Brownsville, TX, 1/28/2016
#5478: 8201 N FM 620, Austin, TX, 1/28/2016
#597: 7075 FM 1960 Rd W, Houston, TX, 1/28/2016
#3811: 61 Plaza Drive, Kimball, WV, 1/28/2016
Sam's Club:
#4903: 941 Grinnell St., Fall River, MA, 1/28/2016
#6648: 1110 Fall River Ave., Seekonk, MA, 1/28/2016
#6665: 495 Summit Drive, Waterford, MI, 1/28/2016
#6681: 25 Pace Blvd., Warwick, RI, 1/28/2016
Click here for a complete list of Walmart Express, Neighborhood Market and Amigo locations affected by the closures.