Walmart Closing Four Chicago Stores

Walmart (Bentonville, Ark.) has disclosed plans to close four stores in Chicago. This latest announcement comes on the heels of the retailer’s decision two months ago to close three stores in suburban Chicago, as well as one in its headquarters city.

Below is an excerpt from Walmart’s’ statement on the latest closures, which involve three of the brand’s smaller-scale Neighborhood Markets and one Supercenter:

“We know the community will have questions about why we are closing these locations. The simplest explanation is that collectively our Chicago stores have not been profitable since we opened the first one nearly 17 years ago – these stores lose tens of millions of dollars a year, and their annual losses nearly doubled in just the last five years.

“The remaining four Chicago stores continue to face the same business difficulties, but we think this decision gives us the best chance to help keep them open and serving the community.

“Over the years, we have tried many different strategies to improve the business performance of these locations, including building smaller stores, localizing product assortment and offering services beyond traditional retail. We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the city, including $70 million in the last couple years to upgrade our stores and build two new Walmart Health facilities and a Walmart Academy training center.

“It was hoped that these investments would help improve our stores’ performance. Unfortunately, these efforts have not materially improved the fundamental business challenges our stores are facing.”

The stores being closed, effective April 16, are:

• Chatham Supercenter, the Walmart Health center, and the Walmart Academy, 8431 S. Stewart Ave.
• Kenwood Neighborhood Market, 4720 S. Cottage Grove Ave.
• Lakeview Neighborhood Market, 2844 N. Broadway St.
• Little Village Neighborhood Market, 2551 W. Cermak Road