Walmart Closing 269 Stores, Naugatuck, Waterbury Staying Open

By GREG HAMBRICK (Patch Staff)

Retail giant Walmart is closing 269 stores, the majority in the U.S. The Walmart Neighborhood Market in West Hartford is the only Connecticut location that will be closing, the company announced. The store, located on 333 North Main St., will close to the public on Jan. 28.

Click here for a full list of Walmart locations closing in 2016.

In the U.S., the company announced all 102 Walmart Express locations will be closed, as well as 23 Neighborhood Markets, 12 Supercenters, seven stores in Puerto Rico, six discount centers, and four Sam’s Clubs.

A list of U.S. stores that are closing will be available on the company’s website at approximately 11 a.m. CST.

The company will assist the 10,000 U.S. employees impacted by the closed stores. The first option will be attempting to relocate the employees to nearby locations.

“Closing stores is never an easy decision, but it is necessary to keep the company strong and positioned for the future,” said Doug McMillon, Wal-Mart Stores president and CEO. ”It’s important to remember that we’ll open well more than 300 stores around the world next year. So we are committed to growing, but we are being disciplined about it.”

Walmart will open 50 to 60 Supercenters and 85 to 95 Neighborhood Markets in the next year. Sam’s Club plans to open in at least seven new locations.

(Photo: Patch archives)