WALMART is closing a store in one key city this week shortly after shutting down two other locations.
The mega-retailer closed at least 22 stores last year, and will shut one Ohio location on Friday.
The location on South High Street in Columbus will close for good on February 16.
Walmart is shutting the store just days after it closed two California stores.
The locations in San Diego and El Cajon shut on February 9, per Business Insider.
Despite the imminent closure of the Columbus store, the location’s pharmacy will stay open until March 4, the local NBC affiliate said.
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The closure will impact 177 workers, Walmart told Insider.
CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS
Locals posted on social media to express their dismay at the closure.
One post on Facebook called it a “sad day.”
Another floated a theory on the closure.
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“If they would take the damn self checkouts out of there [and] unlock everything they wouldn't be having issues like that,” they posted. “We need people to actually work at all the big stores like that instead of technology.”
While self-checkout machines have caused frustration for many Walmart shoppers, there are several other possible explanations for the shutdown.
Walmart typically closes a store when the cost of running it is not worth the money.
When the company shut down stores last year, it said low profitability was to blame.
The U.S. Sun reached out to Walmart for comment.
Loyal Columbus shoppers will still have a number of options — there are over ten other Walmart locations in the area.
The chain will also still serve the area through its delivery services.
WALMART WONDERS
As the Columbus area is losing one of its Walmarts, the chain is preparing to change its physical footprint more broadly.
The company, already the world’s largest employer, is still expanding.
The company recently announced that it would open 150 stores and redesign hundreds more.
The renovations will include changes aimed at creating the “store of the future,” with new layouts rolling out nationwide.
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Walmart recently announced a potential move into TV manufacturing.
Target is taking aim at thieves with a new checkout policy.
