BENTONVILLE, ARK. — Bentonville-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is set to close 269 stores in the U.S. and globally. In total, the stores to be shuttered represent less than 1 percent of both global square footage and revenue. Wal-Mart Stores will close 154 locations nationally, including 102 of the company’s smallest format stores, Walmart Express. Click here for a full list of the stores set to close. Walmart intends to focus on strengthening the company’s Supercenters, optimizing Neighborhood Markets, growing e-commerce and expanding pickup services for customers. Also included in the closures are 23 Neighborhood Markets, 12 Supercenters, seven stores in Puerto Rico, six discount centers and four Sam’s Clubs. The company is closing 115 stores internationally, including 60 loss-making stores in Brazil and 55 primarily small, loss-making stores in other Latin American markets. Domestically, Wal-Mart intends to open 50 to 60 Supercenters and 85 to 95 Neighborhood Markets in fiscal 2017. Sam’s Club also intends to open seven to 10 new locations. The financial impact of these closures is estimated to be approximately 20 to 22 cents of diluted earnings per share from continuing operations, with approximately 19 to 20 cents expected to impact the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016. Wal-Mart’s stock price closed on Friday, Jan. 15 at $61.92 per share, down from $86.69 per share at this time last year.
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