Common Sense wrote:

 Walmart closures a "double blow" for many frustrated residents

Read the full story here:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/walmart-stores-nationwide-closures-impact-small-towns-employees/

More than 100 Walmarts around the country shut their doors Thursday for good -- many in small towns and rural areas with few other shopping options.

The retailer cites a long-term strategy shift and financial performance. Company shares are down 25 percent over the past 12 months, and the nationwide closures will also impact thousands of employees, reports CBS News correspondent David Begnaud."It's maddening because Walmart chose to do this," said resident Retha Thompson, who feels betrayed by Walmart's decision to leave Whitewright, Texas just 12 months after its grand opening. "They chose to come here and then when they put the other grocery store out of business, they want to close down and leave. I'm mad."


 Walmart is closing 154 stores in 27 states, many of them in small towns. In a statement to CBS News, Walmart said:

"The decision to close some of our stores was not easy and we share in the communities' disappointment. We're always searching for opportunities to serve more customers throughout the country -- especially those in underserved communities. We're now focused on where we can help impacted communities through our plans for charitable giving and expediting the process to work with potential buyers for these locations."
 

It's funny. In the battle of, "Is WalMart 'good'" battles of the last ten years, those on the pro-WalMart side always point to the fact that although they are a massive corporate bulldozer, they are good because they bring low prices to the low and middle class. 

Yet, as we see now, when times are tight, they do what is best for the company and leave their customers to look somewhere else.

I have no dog in the fight, but I think it's worth something to think about.
 

flowergirl wrote:

Do the store closures in any way tie into the Walmart announcement to increase salaries of some employees?

According to this article, they are related

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-01-26/beware-wal-mart-s-raises-are-not-a-victory

 

From one news report I watched the other night it would seem the small grocers that Walmart put out of business might return as the only source of many items.  That story showed how just to get milk or bread meant a travel of at least 20 miles.  I'm sure the local residents would appreciate neighborhood shopping.

I've always been perplex by where some stores were being opened.

There's a little town in West Virginia that couldn't have more that 10,000 people that had a supercenter built.

Not only did it become the only store in town, it became the only employer in town.

Look out unemployment office.

Conspiracy Theory wrote:

I've always been perplex by where some stores were being opened.

Many of the locations being closed are WalMart's experimental "Express" format, basically a WalMart version of a convenience store. From what I've read, they shot themselves in the foot with these because they located most of them too close to their existing stores.

They hoped people would stop by them to supplement their weekly WalMart runs, but instead just found that people were willing to drive the extra couple miles to the big store instead. Guess they didn't do their market research!