Wal-Mart Stores will start closing some of its 24-hour supercentres for at least a few hours each night, aiming to use the time to better stock shelves and organize stores for the peak shopping rush.
The move will affect about 40 U.S. stores, including those in Philadelphia, New Jersey and Maryland, beginning next week, said spokesman Brian Nick. About two dozen 24-hour locations already had their hours reduced this spring, and more stores are slated to go through the process later, he said.
The change is a sign of retreat for a company that helped bring convenience and all-hours shopping to many parts of America. Chief executive officer Doug McMillon is taking the step as part of his drive to improve the shopping experience at Wal-Mart’s U.S. stores, where customers have complained about empty shelves, long checkout lines and poor-quality produce. McMillon has already raised starting wages and cut a layer of management in stores to try to improve the situation.
“Based on a recent review of our customers’ shopping patterns, we have made the decision to adjust hours at some of our stores,” Nick said. “This is the kind of decision we make on a store-by-store basis and will allow us the ability to reallocate resources to serve our customers during peak shopping hours.”
In New Jersey, at least three 24-hour Wal-Mart supercentres near New York City, including one that opened in April, will start closing from midnight to 6 a.m. on July 26. Employees at those stores said they were surprised by the move since they are often busy during those hours.
Brian Yarbrough, an analyst with Edward D. Jones & Co., said he’s sceptical the overnight closures will significantly improve workers’ ability to stock and prep the stores. Rather, he thinks it may be a trial run to see if Wal-Mart can reduce overhead by cutting store hours without losing sales. Since few other retailers are also open 24 hours, customers may just shift their shopping to when the store is open rather than take their business elsewhere.
Bloomberg News, edited by ESM
