Walmart To Close Lincolnwood Pickup Prototype, 2 Other Suburban Stores

LINCOLNWOOD, IL — The pickup-only Walmart location in Lincolnwood is set to permanently close next month, less than four years after it began operations.

The 40,000-square-foot "Lincolnwood Walmart Pickup Point" opened in a former Dominick's store at 6840 N. McCormick Blvd. in July 2019.

There is no customer access to the interior of the building. Rather, customers are directed to park in designated spots in the lot to pickup their order.

Company officials plan to close the store to the public on Feb. 17, according to Walmart spokesperson Felicia McCrainie.

"This decision was not made lightly and was reached only after a thorough review process," McCrainie told Patch in an email. "As this is a pickup and delivery only location, we have taken what we learned from this location and made it part of how we operate Pick-up and Delivery from our surrounding stores. "

Two full-service Walmart stores in the Chicago suburbs are also slated for closure — the Homewood store at 17550 S. Halsted St. and the location at 12690 S. Route 59 in Plainfield.

"There is no single cause for why a store closes and our decision is based on several factors, including historic and current financial performance, and is in line with the threshold that guides our strategy to close underperforming locations," McCrainie said.

Walmart representatives issued an official statement encouraging consumers to spend money at its other stores or on its website.

"We are grateful to the customers who have given us the privilege of serving them at our Homewood, Lincolnwood, and Plainfield locations," it said.

The Lincolnwood location was the Arkansas-based retailer's first free-standing pickup location in Illinois and its largest such facility in the nation, company officials said at the time.

“Walmart’s commitment to bring this new innovative service to the Village of Lincolnwood will create new jobs and generate new revenue for the Village, while providing a great new service for our residents,” then-Village President Barry Bass said in a statement following a ribbon-cutting.

"The Walmart Pickup store was a welcomed member of our business community, and its closing was unexpected," Lincolnwood Mayer Jesal Patel told Patch.

"With this change comes an opportunity for another business to positively impact Lincolnwood and the surrounding area," Patel said in a statement. "The Village will actively work with the center to attract that next business."

Village officials in Homewood posted a copy of an email they received Wednesday from Walmart Corporate Affairs Director Ahmed Young, which said March 10 will be the store's final date.

"Young was unable to provide a clear qualitative or quantitative reason for the abrupt closure, but shared that the store 'did not meet Walmart’s financial expectations,'" village staff said on social media. "The Walmart store has been one of Homewood’s largest revenue producing stores for years and services shoppers from various surrounding communities including Thornton, Glenwood, East Hazel Crest, Markham, Harvey, Hazel Crest South Holland and Flossmoor."

The Plainfield store's closure came less than a year after marking a "regrand opening" with an expanded grocery section, new register lines and a $1 shopping area, Patch reported at the time.

Walmart has been undergoing a review process of its more than 5,000 stores and closing those that haven't "performed as well we we'd hoped," officials said. Employees of the shuttered stores are eligible to transfer to other locations.