Walmart Closing 269 Locations

Walmart (Bentonville, Ark.) unveiled Friday that it will be closing 269 stores worldwide, with 154 locations closing in the U.S. This is the company’s first mass store closing.

Forbes reports that all 102 of the chain’s small-format Walmart Express stores will be included in the closures. It is also reported in the article that 95 percent of the closing stores are located within 10 miles of another Walmart location.

The closures will affect 16,000 employees worldwide and 10,000 in the U.S. The company has announced that it will try to relocate employees to other nearby locations where possible and provide 60 days of pay to other eligible employees.