Walmart closing four more stores; says they lost ‘tens of millions each year’

Walmart will be closing four more stores this year, the retailer announced on Tuesday.

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The stores, located in the Chicago area, “have not been profitable since we opened the first one nearly 17 years ago,” the company said in a news release.

“These stores lose tens of millions of dollars a year, and their annual losses nearly doubled in just the last five years,” Walmart officials said, explaining the reason for closing the stores.

According to the release, the other four Chicago stores “continue to face the same business difficulties, but we think this decision gives us the best chance to help keep them open and serving the community.”

Walmart went on to say that community leaders could not help make the stores more successful for the company.

“Community and city leaders have been open and supportive as we met with them over the years to share these challenges. As we looked for solutions, it became even more clear that for these stores, there was nothing leaders could do to help get us to the point where they would be profitable.”

Associates who work at the four locations will be able to transfer to other locations, the news release said.

These stores will close to the public by Sunday:

• #5781 Chatham Supercenter, the Walmart Health Center, and the Walmart Academy, 8431 S. Stewart Ave.
• #3166 Kenwood Neighborhood Market, 4720 S. Cottage Grove Ave.
• #5645 Lakeview Neighborhood Market, 2844 N. Broadway St.
• #5646 Little Village Neighborhood Market, 2551 W. Cermak Road

The pharmacies at these locations will remain open to serve patients for up to 30 days.

The closings come a month after Walmart announced a spate of store closings across the U.S.