Sam's Club To Close Farmington Hills Location

In a letter sent to the Michigan Workforce Development Agency and Farmington Hills Mayor Kenneth Massey today, Sam’s Club gave notice it will close Club #4812 located at 32625 Northwestern Highway in Farmington Hills. According to the letter, sent by Sam’s Market Manager Darryl White, the Sam’s Club in Farmington Hills employed 158 workers. A similar letter was sent to both Workforce Development and Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero today by the Lansing Sam’s Club market manager, Chris Axer, informing the state and the city that Lansing’s Sam’s Club will close, too, impacting 172 employees.

White’s and Axer’s identically-worded letters said employees were told of the Farmington Hills and Lansing Clubs' closings today. “The Club will close to the public on January 26, 2018. All hourly employees at the facility will be terminated effective March 16, 2018,” both letters stated. The letters further state that the company expects the terminations to be permanent, adding “There is no union representative, recall or bumping rights.” Employees will be allowed to apply for open jobs at other Sam’s Clubs or Walmart stores.

Sam’s Club, an offshoot of Walmart that requires yearly membership, is known for selling items in bulk, offering many items at discount, and operating discount gas stations at Club locations. News media nationwide report that dozens of Sam's Club outlets closed today without notice. Areas affected include Farmington Hills, along with Indianapolis, Memphis, Louisiana, Atlanta, Houston and parts of New York. As many as 60 stores may close, with thousands losing their jobs.

The letters were sent as official notice of facility closure “pursuant to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (the "WARN act") of 1988,” according to White and Axer.

Farmington Hills Assistant City Manager Gary Mekjian told Patch officials weren’t surprised by the announcement. “I don’t think we were necessarily surprised. I think we had an understanding that their revenues were down at that particular store. There were plans they approached us with for a fueling station, but they pulled those plans in fall, which gave us pause,” Mekjian said. While this is clearly a setback, Mekjian says it doesn’t affect the way the city views further dealings with Walmart or Sam’s Club. “We’re open for business. We have relationships or would like to have them with all kinds of national retailers, so we’d never close the door on anybody,” Mekjian explained.

While Farmington Hills can’t do anything directly to assist the terminated workers, Mekjian says that the city’s economic development director reached out to Walmart to offer Farmington Hills’ help in repurposing or reusing the soon-to-close Club facility in town. “Walmart has a lease on the property for the next several years,” Mekjian said, explaining that he’d read many news reports suggesting the big box retailer may need fulfillment centers nationwide. Farmington Hills wants to “facilitate that transition if possible,” Mekjian added.

File photo by Danny Johnston/Associated Press.