Walmart 2023 Closings

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
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Re: Walmart 2023 Closings

Post by veteran+ »

Alpha8472 wrote: March 12th, 2023, 12:42 pm That's a good idea. Sam's Club is really getting popular these days. The club format restricts entry to members and shoplifting seems much more under control.

Sam's Club has been improving quite a bit on many levels and the company is gaining more customers. Why not convert to Sam's Club? The company still owns or leases the buildings. Costco is so packed with customers that there is plenty of demand for more club stores.

A major reason why stores are seeing more shoplifting is a lack of staffing. If there are fewer employees to watch for shoplifters there will be more theft. Employees can talk to customers and say, "Can I help you with something?" Just talking to shoplifters and letting them know they are being watched will cut down significantly on people stealing. Every little bit helps.

Companies these days are cutting employee work hours and trying to save costs. These employees are valuable in that they watch for shoplifters and deter shoplifting. More cashiers would mean less need for self checkout where most of the theft occurs. People who would not blatantly rob a store will willingly undercharge or try to cheat at the self checkout.

We need to provide plenty of fast and efficient cashiers and these cashiers can be much faster than self checkout. Then you will reduce a significant amount of theft.

Companies don't realize that spending a little more for more employees will save money by reducing shoplifting. Employees are a good investment.

Test out these self checkout free stores. Add more cashiers and more employees to help customers. You will see better stocked shelves, more sales, better customer service, and less theft.
Exactly!

World Class Customer Service and even simply Good customer service solves a lot of things and especially theft.
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Re: Walmart 2023 Closings

Post by BillyGr »

storewanderer wrote: March 11th, 2023, 10:50 pm I would add additional security and apprehend shoplifters more frequently. Problem is, if the police won't respond, what good is an apprehension?

I would also set up a way where there would be no way to get to the return area from inside the store. Returns would basically be a window out front and if you had a return the only way to get to/from returns would be from the exterior and once you were done with the return you would be routed back outside. I suppose they could barricade a path from the entrance also... That would be a bit of a safety issue for returns though.
At least if you catch them and take the items away, you still have the items to sell to someone who will actually pay for them. :)

As to that returns set-up, that is basically what Lowe's stores have. You enter the first set of doors, then you turn at a 45-degree angle left (or right, since like most chains they have a reversible design) to do a return. Everyone else goes straight (or slightly the opposite direction) to get into the store itself.

They still have a section of the service counter that can be accessed inside the store, which makes sense as customers may need to go there for other issues (something that rang up incorrectly or similar), but no way to go from one to the other for customers, just for the employees behind said counter.
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Re: Walmart 2023 Closings

Post by BillyGr »

Super S wrote: March 12th, 2023, 11:17 am Some of these things could be addressed in a Sam's Club format, which restricts entry to begin with.
Do they actually do that? I may have been in one once or twice, but not recently. BJ's that we have here did that when they first started, but now only check people leaving, no one checks for a card upon entry.

Maybe since you'd have to go into the store anyway to get such a card (as a new member), plus the registers won't work without one, and then someone checking receipts at the exit will eliminate most issues that looking for a card at entry would (particularly since it is far harder to hide items there, being the size most are, and anyone with a bag, even reusable, would need a receipt to get out, which they couldn't get without a card).
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Re: Walmart 2023 Closings

Post by Super S »

BillyGr wrote: March 12th, 2023, 4:28 pm
Super S wrote: March 12th, 2023, 11:17 am Some of these things could be addressed in a Sam's Club format, which restricts entry to begin with.
Do they actually do that? I may have been in one once or twice, but not recently. BJ's that we have here did that when they first started, but now only check people leaving, no one checks for a card upon entry.

Maybe since you'd have to go into the store anyway to get such a card (as a new member), plus the registers won't work without one, and then someone checking receipts at the exit will eliminate most issues that looking for a card at entry would (particularly since it is far harder to hide items there, being the size most are, and anyone with a bag, even reusable, would need a receipt to get out, which they couldn't get without a card).

I can't speak for Sam's Club, but they do check at entry at Costco.
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Re: Walmart 2023 Closings

Post by storewanderer »

BillyGr wrote: March 12th, 2023, 4:28 pm
Super S wrote: March 12th, 2023, 11:17 am Some of these things could be addressed in a Sam's Club format, which restricts entry to begin with.
Do they actually do that? I may have been in one once or twice, but not recently. BJ's that we have here did that when they first started, but now only check people leaving, no one checks for a card upon entry.

Maybe since you'd have to go into the store anyway to get such a card (as a new member), plus the registers won't work without one, and then someone checking receipts at the exit will eliminate most issues that looking for a card at entry would (particularly since it is far harder to hide items there, being the size most are, and anyone with a bag, even reusable, would need a receipt to get out, which they couldn't get without a card).
Policy on this at Sam's Club has changed multiple times over the years. For a while until maybe 2020 their policy was to let everyone enter and not ask anyone for a membership card. Then they started to ask for a membership card again. Then COVID happened. At that point it seemed sometimes they asked and other times they did not. In recent months I find they always ask for a membership card again.
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Re: Walmart 2023 Closings

Post by ClownLoach »

storewanderer wrote: March 13th, 2023, 11:03 pm
BillyGr wrote: March 12th, 2023, 4:28 pm
Super S wrote: March 12th, 2023, 11:17 am Some of these things could be addressed in a Sam's Club format, which restricts entry to begin with.
Do they actually do that? I may have been in one once or twice, but not recently. BJ's that we have here did that when they first started, but now only check people leaving, no one checks for a card upon entry.

Maybe since you'd have to go into the store anyway to get such a card (as a new member), plus the registers won't work without one, and then someone checking receipts at the exit will eliminate most issues that looking for a card at entry would (particularly since it is far harder to hide items there, being the size most are, and anyone with a bag, even reusable, would need a receipt to get out, which they couldn't get without a card).
Policy on this at Sam's Club has changed multiple times over the years. For a while until maybe 2020 their policy was to let everyone enter and not ask anyone for a membership card. Then they started to ask for a membership card again. Then COVID happened. At that point it seemed sometimes they asked and other times they did not. In recent months I find they always ask for a membership card again.
I've never seen them not ask in 5+ years, and I have seen them call for a Manager to chase down people who walked in and didn't show a card when asked (but kept walking). Same as Costco.

However in most states you can just say you're heading for the pharmacy and they have to let you in. Pharmacies may not require membership.
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Re: Walmart 2023 Closings

Post by storewanderer »

ClownLoach wrote: March 13th, 2023, 11:14 pm

I've never seen them not ask in 5+ years, and I have seen them call for a Manager to chase down people who walked in and didn't show a card when asked (but kept walking). Same as Costco.

However in most states you can just say you're heading for the pharmacy and they have to let you in. Pharmacies may not require membership.
All I've seen here if someone says they do not have a card is that they need to go over to the customer service desk and talk to that desk. I'm not sure what happens if someone doesn't comply. The person checking memberships is in the foyer where the carts are and there is a second door to get through to actually walk into the store.
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Re: Walmart 2023 Closings

Post by Super S »

I accidentally posted in the wrong place. Sorry.
Last edited by Super S on March 21st, 2023, 3:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Walmart 2023 Closings

Post by arizonaguy »

They seem to have announced a new wave of closings today.

Brooklyn Center, MN (1200 Shingle Creek Crossing)

This is an 11 year old store located on the site of a former mall (Brookdale Mall) and apparently the area is a high crime area. The Target in the area closed in 2019.

South Bend, IN (3701 Portage Rd)

This looks like a 1990s build supercenter that was recently renovated. There's a Meijer across the street. It doesn't really seem to be a shrink / theft / crime related issue. Google reviews seem to state that this store has been severely understaffed for a while. Judging by google maps this area just doesn't seem to be a high volume retail corridor and the Meijer probably performs better than the Walmart does.

The Brighton. MI store that closed in 2018 and the Plainfield, IL store (closed earlier this year) were also across the street from Meijer.


Cahokia Heights IL (1511 Camp Jackson Road)

This is a Division 1 store in a very economically depressed area. I'm sure theft / crime / shrink played a factor here.
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Re: Walmart 2023 Closings

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

arizonaguy wrote: March 21st, 2023, 1:48 pm They seem to have announced a new wave of closings today.

Brooklyn Center, MN (1200 Shingle Creek Crossing)

This is an 11 year old store located on the site of a former mall (Brookdale Mall) and apparently the area is a high crime area. The Target in the area closed in 2019.

South Bend, IN (3701 Portage Rd)

This looks like a 1990s build supercenter that was recently renovated. There's a Meijer across the street. It doesn't really seem to be a shrink / theft / crime related issue. Google reviews seem to state that this store has been severely understaffed for a while. Judging by google maps this area just doesn't seem to be a high volume retail corridor and the Meijer probably performs better than the Walmart does.

The Brighton. MI store that closed in 2018 and the Plainfield, IL store (closed earlier this year) were also across the street from Meijer.


Cahokia Heights IL (1511 Camp Jackson Road)

This is a Division 1 store in a very economically depressed area. I'm sure theft / crime / shrink played a factor here.
Brooklyn Center is definitely one of the rougher areas around MSP. The Walmart that's closing competes with a Cub Foods. Up the street from the Cub, before you get to I-94 is Sun Foods, an ethnic market with Asian, Middle Eastern, and African foods. That store is a former Rainbow, I think it closed when Fleming sold Rainbow to Roundy's.

South Bend looks to be a 2001 model Supercenter. I think lack of access is what did this store in (there are no exits off I-80/90 going directly to the store).

Brighton closed in 2016 during the big Walmart purge.
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