Walmart (NYSE:WMT) has announced that it will be shuttering two stores in North Carolina, and this means job losses for around 300 people.
Walmart to close Wadesboro and Lumberton stores
According to disclosures that the company filed with town officials, the company is planning to shutter the Wadesboro and the Lumberton stores. The Wadesboro store is like the main store in the town where everybody shops. Wadesboro tow officials indicated that they were shocked and saddened about the closure.
A notice filed with the Commerce Department of North Carolina indicates that the affected 80 employees in Lumberton received notification on March 4. The company expects to close the store on April 4, and terminations of employees will be effective from May 8. Equally, for the 205 employees in the Wadesboro store, the story is the same as the company plans to close it by April 4.
Wadesboro Market manager Travis Cutshaw indicated that the employment separations could be permanent. However, company spokesperson Philip Keene stated that they are doing all they can to ensure they can transfer the employees to other retail locations.
Walmart to transfer some of the employees to other locations
Keene added that Walmart was confident that it will find positions for most of the affected employees, and for those that it will not be able to help, it will offer them severance packages. He said that the company had to make tough decisions on the stores and serving their customers in the locations but promised that they are working to take care of associates.
It’s not only the employees who are affected as most residents said that they do all their shopping in Wadesboro. Debra Harrington, a resident of the town, indicated that the store is home to the resident’s pharmacy. She said that she gets all her medication from the stores, and it is where she can get discounts since she doesn’t have insurances. She added that she cannot go to other places for medication such as CVS and receive the discounts she was getting at Walmart.