Walmart moves higher after 11,200 job cuts at Sam’s Club
NEW YORK, N.Y.—Shares of Walmart Stores Inc. moved ahead Monday morning in the first trading since the retail giant announced on the weekend that it’s slashing 11,200 jobs at Sam’s Club warehouse stores.
In New York, Walmart (NYSE:WMT) stock lifted 20.5 cents to US$53.14, as other U.S. retailers also moved on the news, pulling the entire sector higher.
Walmart said it will close 10 underperforming warehouse locations, at a cost 1,500 jobs, as it works to improve sales at its Sam’s Club stores.
Sam’s Club has fallen short of expectations for the Walmart chain in the U.S. and abroad.
Walmart already pulled its Sam’s Clubs stores out of Canada, laying off 1,200 people at six stores in Ontario last year.
Sam’s Club had been in Canada for only about five years. Walmart Canada president and CEO David Cheesewright said at the time that the stores didn’t perform to the company’s standards no fax payday loans.
In the U.S., Sam’s Club employees found out about the cuts during a mandatory meeting on Sunday morning. The stores are undergoing various changes as the company turns over the task of in-store product demonstrations to an outside marketing company.
The job cuts represent about 10 per cent of the warehouse club operator’s 110,000 staffers across its 600 stores. That includes 10,000 workers, mostly part-timers, who offer food samples and showcase products to customers.
Walmart also eliminated 1,200 Sam’s Club workers who recruit new members.
During Walmart Stores’ most recent quarter, revenue at the Sam’s Club division slipped nearly one per cent to US$11.55 billion while U.S. Walmart stores posted a 1.2 per cent sales increase to $61.81 billion.