Sam’s Club at Cortana abruptly closed today, impacting 176 local workers. It is one of at least 63 reported closures across the U.S. and is expected to impact thousands of workers.
The Baton Rouge location is the only reported closure in Louisiana, and the Siegen Lane Sam’s Club will remain open, according to employees, who had a planned meeting about the move today. The store opened in 2012 near Cortana Mall after being relocated from Airline Highway.
The company’s layoff date was posted as of March 16 in a WARN notice sent to the Louisiana Workforce Commission, but employees of the Walmart next door and the other location of Sam’s Club say the location closed today. The notice says 176 workers are affected by the closure.
The move comes the same day as Walmart, which owns Sam’s Club, announced it was boosting starting pay to $11 an hour and giving a $1,000 bonus to certain employees.
Sam’s Club, replying to a message from a Twitter user criticizing the chain, says it decided to close a series of clubs to “better align our locations with our strategy.” The move came after a “review” of the firm’s existing portfolio.
Messages to Walmart’s corporate media office went unanswered today, and the manager of the Cortana Sam’s Club also did not respond to messages. The phone line at the location was down, and the company removed information about the location on its website.
Ten of the affected stores will turn into ecommerce distribution centers, the Associated Press reports. The Baton Rouge location is not one of those stores.
