PRAIRIE GROVE -- The first Wal-Mart Express store opened in Prairie Grove on June 3, 2011, and now the store is one of 269 stores the retailer plans to close in coming weeks.
Prairie Grove's store will shut its doors Jan. 28.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., announced its plans Friday morning to close stores in the United States and globally. Within minutes, the news spread through multiple media sources.
Of the 269 stores, 154 are in the United States and 102 of these are Wal-Mart Express stores, the smallest-format stores that began opening in 2011 as part of a pilot program initiated by the company.
In Arkansas, 10 Wal-Mart stores will close, including Express stores in Gravette, Decatur and Gentry. Other closures in the U.S. are 23 Neighborhood Markets, 12 Supercenters, seven stores in Puerto Rico, six discount stores and four Sam's Clubs.
Sonny Hudson, Prairie Grove mayor, said he received a courtesy call from Michael Lindsey with Wal-Mart corporate headquarters Friday morning, giving him the bad news about the store closing.
"He let me know that the store would be closing Jan. 28 and the building would be up for sale," Hudson said.
Lindsey told Hudson that employees would have time to apply for jobs at other stores and would receive compensation packages.
City officials and others have heard rumors Wal-Mart has purchased land along the bypass for a new store. Hudson asked Lindsey about those rumors but did not receive any response, nor did he expect to receive a response, Hudson said.
Hudson said he also told Lindsey the Prairie Grove store was too small from the beginning.
"It has to be making money because it's so crammed full," Hudson said.
Closing the store not only will affect employees and citizens who shop there, it will impact the city's sales tax revenues, Hudson said. Some customers will just move from one store to another. A new Dollar General store is scheduled to open soon and this will help with sales tax collections, Hudson added.
Larry Oelrich, the city's director of administrative services and public works, said city revenues received a "significant bump" almost immediately when Wal-Mart Express opened in 2011.
"The store affected us when they came in and will affect us when they go out," Oelrich said.
Randy Sterling, store manager in Prairie Grove, received the news Friday morning and was able to confirm the closing of his store. He said the Prairie Grove store has more than 30 employees. He said he could not comment further.
Some customers at the store Friday morning had already heard about the announcement.
Jim and Dawn Turner live in Prairie Grove but shop at Walmart in both Farmington and Prairie Grove.
"We'll just shop in Farmington," said Dawn Turner.
Jim Turner said he was surprised because the Prairie Grove store seems to stay busy.
"It will be a missed store in Prairie Grove," said Dawn Turner.
Mary Webb said she shops weekly at the Prairie Grove store but also shops in Farmington.
"This is a lot closer," Webb said. "It's going to hurt this community."
About 16,000 associates will be impacted by the decision, 10,000 of them in the U.S. The company's announcement noted that more than 95 percent of the closed stores are within 10 miles of another Wal-Mart and the hope is employees will be placed in nearby locations.
Wal-Mart spokesman, Brian Nick, on Friday said employees will be paid through Feb. 10 and then receive pay for an additional 60 days. The goal is to help associates get placed in other stores. If that's not possible, severance packages will be provided to eligible employees, Nick said.
The decision to close stores, Nick said, was "a matter of looking at the overall portfolio," feedback from customers and is part of the company's three-year growth plan. He said Wal-Mart is "fully committed" to its Neighborhood Market formats and its Supercenters.
According to the news release from Wal-Mart Stores, the company will focus on strengthening Wal-Mart Supercenters, growing its e-commerce business and expanding pickup services for customers.
General News on 01/20/2016