Over the past few years, retail giant Walmart has been actively closing locations that it deemed “underperforming.”
In 2022, the big-box retailer shuttered a handful of stores nationwide, but in 2023, closures were more widespread, with Walmart shuttering almost two dozen locations.
For a while, it felt like closures were slowing down, but they seem to be picking up again this year. Read on for a full list of the Walmart locations closing for good in 2024
1 San Diego (2121 Imperial Ave.)
One of the first Walmart’s to go in 2024 was the Walmart Neighborhood Market at 2121 Imperial Ave. in San Diego, which officially said goodbye on Feb. 9, Best Life previously reported.
The store, which was located in the Logan Heights neighborhood of San Diego, was a big loss for shoppers, who said they were worried about where they would go after the store was gone.
“I think it’s great for me, plus the neighborhood. It’s real convenient for me,” South Park resident Shane Evans told NBC 7 San Diego before the Walmart closed. “The reason I came out yesterday, I get my ribeye steaks here. I go in there and there’s nothing.”
Evans also pointed out that Albertsons is the nearest grocery store, but “the prices there are a little outrageous.”
2 El Cajon, California (605 Fletcher Pkwy)
Another Walmart in the San Diego area closed to the public on Feb. 9, this one in El Cajon at 605 Fletcher Pkwy. As with the Logan Heights store, customers were surprised and upset to hear the busy store was on the chopping block, while others said they were concerned about the loss of Walmart creating a food desert.
“I hate the fact that they’re closing,” Art Floto, a regular shopper at the location, told CBS 8 before it closed. “When I heard that, my stomach kind of turned over.”
In a statement previously provided to Best Life, the company explained that it decided not to renew its leases at the San Diego-area stores. Walmart said it makes decisions to close stores using several different factors—and as with other shuttered Walmart locations, these stores haven’t met performance expectations. This was compounded by the fact that Walmart couldn’t meet mutual lease agreements with property managers at each location.
“We are grateful to the customers who have given us the privilege of serving them at our San Diego and El Cajon stores,” Walmart spokesperson Brian Little said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to serve them at any of our many locations across the area, on walmart.com and through delivery to their home or business.”
Associates at the closing stores were allowed to transfer to a nearby location, the company said. Walmart also noted that there are still over a dozen stores and warehouse clubs in the San Diego area.
3 Columbus, Ohio (3579 S. High St.)
A Walmart location was recently shuttered in the Midwest, as it didn’t meet financial expectations, CBS-affiliate 10 WBNS reported. The store, located at 3579 S. High St. in Columbus, Ohio, closed for good on Feb. 16, Little confirmed in a statement to Best Life. The store’s pharmacy, however, remained open for a little while longer, closing officially on March 4.
As in California, the 180 employees at the Columbus Walmart are eligible for transfer and are being paid through May 3. Eligible employees who don’t want to transfer by that date will be paid a severance.
“We are grateful to the customers who have given us the privilege of serving them at our store on High Street in Columbus,” Little said in the statement. “We look forward to continuing to serve them at any of our many locations across the area, on walmart.com and through delivery to their home or business.”
Currently, there are no additional Walmart closures planned for this region.
4 West Covina, California (2753 E. Eastland Center Drive)
It was recently announced that a fourth Walmart would be closing in the coming weeks. The company confirmed plans for another closure in California—this time in West Covina, the Los Angeles-based news station KTLA reported on Feb. 26. This store, which is located at 2753 E. Eastland Center Drive, is set to shutter this month, on March 29.
A Walmart spokesperson told the news outlet that the company went through a “thoughtful review process” before deciding to close the West Covina Walmart.
“We have nearly 5,000 stores across the U.S., and unfortunately, some do not meet our financial expectations,” they said. “While our underlying business is strong, this store hasn’t performed as well as we hoped.”
Walmart also confirmed that there are no additional SoCal closures planned for the immediate future, and all 237 employees from the West Covina store are eligible to transfer to another nearby location.
“We are grateful to the customers who have given us the privilege of serving them at our store in West Covina,” Walmart Communications Director Alicia Anger said in a statement provided to KTLA. “We look forward to continuing to serve them at any of 16 other locations across the area, on walmart.com and through delivery.”
5 Granite Bay, California (4080 Douglas Blvd.)
Now, it appears that California is set to lose a fourth Walmart store in 2024. The company confirmed that a Walmart Neighborhood Market in the Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay will close next month, The Sacramento Bee reported. Located at 4080 Douglas Blvd., this store will be shuttered for good on April 12.
“This decision was not made lightly and was reached only after a careful and thoughtful review process,” Anger told the newspaper on March 12. “We have nearly 5,000 stores across the U.S., and unfortunately, some do not meet our financial expectations. While our underlying business is strong, this store hasn’t performed as well as we hoped.”
The Granite Bay store employed a total of 81 associates, all of whom will be paid through June 14 and have the option of transferring to another store, according to Anger. She also said there are currently no other planned Walmart closures for the Sacramento area.
Best Life reached out to Walmart to determine if there are any more closures planned for 2024, and we will update this story with its response.
Walmart is simultaneously expanding its footprint.
While isolated closures are certainly frustrating for local shoppers, Walmart is actually upping its store footprint on the whole.
As part of ongoing expansion efforts, the big-box retailer is planning to build or convert more than 150 stores over the next five years, Best Life previously reported.
The first two new stores under this initiative are Neighborhood Markets set to open later this spring in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, and Atlanta, according to a Jan. 31 press release.
“We’re also finalizing construction plans on 12 new projects we intend to start this year, along with converting one of our smaller locations to a Walmart Supercenter,” Walmart CEO John Furner wrote in the release.
