In person shopping has been on the decline for years, and especially after the pandemic when online shopping was the only way to get anything for most people. The one type of retailer that seemed to have escaped that fate was grocery stores and by extension, places like Walmart or Target that sell everything under the sun.
But lately it seems like this reprieve is ending, and these retail giants are also suffering the economic impact of high operating costs and low profitability. Maybe online shoppers have finally figured out the substitution game, after all it has been years.
Walmart closing down stores
Despite being one of the most popular chains in the country due to its versatility, Walmart is rethinking its strategy. Having noticed the decline in in store shopping, the giant started restructuring last year and has continued its efforts to try to remain profitable. Some of these efforts regrettably involve shutting down some of their stores, albeit first they have tried improving layouts, experimented with self-checkout kiosks and even giving them a refresh, but there are some locations that are just not up to par and need to close down.
The stores that we know have closed so far this year are located in:
- Dunwoody, Georgia (Ashford Dunwoody Road).
- Marietta, Georgia (Walmart Neighbourhood Market on Roswell Road).
- Towson, Maryland (1238 Putty Hill Ave.).
- Columbus, Ohio (3579 S. High St.).
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin (7025 W. Main St.).
- Aurora, Colorado (10400 E Colfax Ave.).
- San Diego, California (2121 Imperial Avenue).
- El Cajon, California (605 Fletcher Parkway).
- West Covina, California (2753 E. Eastland Center Dr.).
- Fremont, California (40580 Albrae Street).
- Granite Bay, California (4080 Douglas Boulevard).
These stores join the ones that shut down their doors last year, but despite seemingly being a never ending shut down cycle, the reality is that Walmart has plenty of stores nearby. The ones that they decided to shut down are in areas where there is low population density, another important retailer like Dollar Tree competing for market action or uninterested consumers that make operating the stores not profitable.
Not all is lost for the giant retailer, Walmart has announced that it will be opening more than 150 new branches shortly in underserved or really popular locations, which should help the company shore up its investments, but the decrease in presence in certain areas was a necessity for their bottom line even if it negatively affected consumers in the area, who are now left with less options and a lack of small stores that were swallowed up by Walmart in prior years.
Despite adversity, Walmart continues to try to improve its stores in order to remain relevant and profitable, strengthening key areas of the business to appeal to the overstimulated masses. The areas where they are trying to improve are:
- Modernization of stores and improvement of the customer experience.
- Supply chain optimization to reduce costs.
- Expansion into strategic markets with new store formats.
- Technological innovation to increase operational efficiency.
Additionally, some experts have noticed that they may be trying to implement a new business model. The retailer recently acquired a shopping center in Monroeville. While this might seem counterintuitive, after all malls have been reportedly dying for years, it could be the start to a new business model that we have never seen before and it might give the retailer the opportunity to transform their stores into a more modern and efficient version that caters better to the needs of their consumers.
Only time will tell whether the changes that they are making will make a positive impact on their bottom line but if there is something we can guarantee is that Walmart is not giving up without a fight.