Sam's Club closing dozens of stores (Memphis: home, to buy, minimum wage)

[PSLCarPool]

Sam's Club, the membership warehouse owned by retail giant Walmart, is shutting down or converting 63 stores, a Walmart official confirmed Thursday.

Of those locations, about 50 will be going out of business for good. Roughly 10 of those locations are closing their doors as soon as Thursday, while the remainder will be shuttered over the next three to four weeks, the Walmart official said.

Additionally, about 10 to 12 Sam's Club stores are slated to be closed temporarily as the retailer converts them to regional distributional centers to help ramp up its ability to fulfill online purchases. While those stores will reopen in a new role, workers previously employed at those locations are not necessarily guaranteed a role in the new positions

The company would not immediately say the specific locations that will be affected by the closures, or the number of employees that would be impacted. But at the three Indiana locations, 419 employees will be affected according to state filings. And in his note, Furner confirmed that the first of the stores to transition into a distribution center will be in Memphis.

Furner said that the company would try "to place as many associates as possible in new roles at nearby locations.''

The closures came the same day that Walmart said it would lift the hourly minimum wage in the U.S. to $11 and giving out bonuses of up to $1,000.

Sam's Club is closing and converting dozens of locations,

[SeetheUSA]

I'm pretty sure we have nothing to worry about here in the land of Port St Walmart.

[pslhomie]

My guess is between the super stores and grocery stores the model is not needed anymore.

[FlaLadyB]

I would prefer Sams stay open since we don't have a Costco. Im not a Walmart grocery shopper and some things I prefer to buy the "large economy size" ...because it does cost less.

Thinking that if they are going to convert to distribution centers, they are ramping up for a fight against Amazon?

[pslhomie]

Some of you might be old enough to remember ordering out of a catalog. In fact the Amazon model has been around for well over 100 years except now they have the internet. Places like Sams and Costco are great but I wonder if they can hang on long enough for Amazon to go belly up.

[boston904]

Originally Posted by pslhomie

Some of you might be old enough to remember ordering out of a catalog. In fact the Amazon model has been around for well over 100 years except now they have the internet. Places like Sams and Costco are great but I wonder if they can hang on long enough for Amazon to go belly up.

I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon

[pslhomie]

Originally Posted by boston904

I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon

That's what they said about Worldcom and Enron among other giants. Already competition for Amazon is heating up. At some point people will be fed up with ordering on line and will begin to go back to stores. In fact in some places it's already happening. With Amazon wanting to intrude in all aspects of your life there will be a line.

[brendagrrl]

Originally Posted by pslhomie

That's what they said about Worldcom and Enron among other giants. Already competition for Amazon is heating up. At some point people will be fed up with ordering on line and will begin to go back to stores. In fact in some places it's already happening. With Amazon wanting to intrude in all aspects of your life there will be a line.

YA RIGHT
Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American electronic commerce and cloud computing company based in Seattle, Washington that was founded by Jeff Bezos on July 5, 1994. Wikipedia


Customer service: 1 (888) 280-4331


Stock price: AMZN (NASDAQ) $1,315.39 +20.81 (+1.61%)
Jan 22, 12:14 PM EST - Disclaimer


Headquarters: Seattle, WA


Founder: Jeff Bezos


Founded: July 5, 1994, Seattle, WA


Subsidiaries: Audible Inc., Whole Foods Market, Zappos, MORE


Did you know: Amazon is the world's largest internet company by revenue. wikipedia.org

[SeetheUSA]

Sorry homie, I don't think you're right on that. People LOVE ordering online. Amazon has the market knocked. They are Walmart without having to mingle with the Walmart shoppers. We all dread going to that store because of 2 things- the other shoppers, and the ridiculous lines. It is so easy and convenient to shop at home and avoid both of those irritations.

Amazon continues to be innovative as well. They are finding new ways to get those orders to you as quickly as possible. I don't see them slowing down at all for a long time.