Nine Stores Closing in California
By Terry Miller
The ever-growing online business world has deeply affected retail businesses, particularly in the past year.
As a direct result of stiff competition by online giants like Amazon, Wal-Mart said last Friday that it will close 269 of its stores globally, including 154 in the U.S., nine of them in California, as the company looks to “reposition itself in a difficult retail climate,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Two stores in Los Angeles – one on Crenshaw Boulevard and one on West Cesar E. Chavez Avenue – as well as one in Oakland, closed last Sunday.
A Wal-Mart store in Long Beach and Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets in Altadena, Bell Gardens, Hawaiian Gardens, San Bernardino, and San Jose will call it quits at the end of the month.
The closures include Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club locations, and will affect 16,000 employees globally. About 1,040 California employees will be affected.
Wal-Mart is just the latest chain to announce store closures after the retail industry struggled through the holiday season.
Last week, Macy’s said it will be closing 40 of its department stores, cutting 4,800 jobs, and Sears Holding Corp. said it will be closing a number of Kmart stores across the country, including three in California.
