Of the 269 stores worldwide that Walmart announced today it will close later this year, 154 are located in the U.S. and eight are in Louisiana. The stores are located in Clinton, Colfax, Independence, Iowa, Kentwood, Lake Arthur, Mamou and Zwolle, and all will be closed on Jan. 28.
While no existing Baton Rouge stores will close, today’s announcement throws into jeopardy a planned Walmart Express store at the corner of Old Hammond and Airline highways. That’s because the company is closing all of its 102 Walmart Express convenience stores, which it has been developing since 2011. All eight closures in Louisiana are Walmart Express stores. Attempts to reach a Walmart spokesperson by this afternoon’s deadline for comment on the planned store in Baton Rouge were unsuccessful.
“Walmart instead will focus on strengthening Supercenters, optimizing Neighborhood Markets, growing the e-commerce business and expanding pickup services for customers,†Walmart says in a news release announcing the closures.
In August last year, Walmart inked a 20-year lease for property at 9745 Airline Highway with plans to develop its first Walmart Express in the Baton Rouge market. Mark Hebert of Kurz & Hebert Commercial Real Estate represented the land owner, Giovanni Mucciacciaro Enterprises, in the deal. Hebert says he hasn’t heard anything about the fate of the planned Walmart Express store, but adds Walmart has been making lease payments since September.
“I would think that it would benefit them to still clear the property and at least improve the ingress and signage along the highway,†says Hebert, noting the property is located next to an existing Walmart Neighborhood Market.
The Walmart Express was to include an 1,800-square-foot convenience store and eight fuel pumps, developed on two adjacent parcels.
—Steve Sanoski
