What Happens When Walmart Decides To Close A Store?

At the beginning of 2016, Walmart did something unusual. The mega-retailer closed 269 stores, 154 of which were in the United States. While Walmart also opened hundreds of stores around the world last year, keeping its net store count the same, its pullout was devastating for rural communities where smaller retailers had closed their doors when Walmart came to town.

When Walmart closes a store, it’s more likely to open a larger one next door or a few miles down the road than to leave town entirely. If you live in an area that hasn’t spent decades fighting off Walmart and its fellow big boxes, you can probably think of a handful of examples off the top of your head.

Just having a store move down the road can have devastating consequences for local governments and the chain’s strip mall neighbors. In an article published on Medium, Christopher Peak detailed the struggles of the former neighbors of Walmart in Seabrook, NH, when the store moved down the road, breaking a lease that kept the store from selling groceries.

Its neighbors were locked into long-term leases and couldn’t afford to move. Even an optometrist in the same plaza suffered: While the Walmart had a vision department, the locally owned shop benefited from foot traffic and customers who couldn’t be fitted at Walmart.

More here