Sam's Club closing Central Florida store We always do the best that we are able to to determine the perfect blog posts that you can read on line. I do know you will enjoy this short article. The Sams Club store in Fern Park near Orlando is among dozens of stores the chain is closing, an employee at the store said Thursday. The chain said on Twitter that the closures are happening because it decided to better align our locations with our strategy, but it didnt post any official announcements or warnings online. The news came on the same day that parent company Wal-Mart announced it would increase starting wages and give one-time bonuses to some workers and expand parental benefits changes that will affect more than 1 million American workers, Associated Press reported. Some Sams Club employees arrived at stores Thursday to find closed signs on the door, according to multiple media reports. Business Insider reported 63 stores were closing, and that someone in the company confirmed that number. The company says it employs more than 100,000 associates at 650 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, with an average of 175 per store. The Fern Park location was closed Thursday, but the employee said it would reopen Friday for two weeks before its last day. It will have limited hours for that time, from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Outgoing phone messages at other Central Florida stores indicated they were all open, and the Fern Park location was the only Sams Club on the closure list published by Business Insider. Closing clubs is never easy and were committed to working with impacted members and associates through this transition, the company said on Twitter. Sams Club spokesman Philip Keene said employees at closing stores will be paid for 60 days, and there are attempts to relocate those workers to nearby Wal-Mart Supercenter and Neighborhood Market locations. Those employees that cannot move to other stores may be eligible for a severance package. The goal is to keep people working for the company, Keen said. This is not about laying off people but more a decision about the building and the business.
Social-media users were quick with backlash in their posts slamming the company for the lack of notice, and asking why such a cutback was being made as corporations benefit from the recently enacted federal tax cuts. In response to requests for a store closure list, the company only responded with a link to the store location web page, which only identifies stores that are still opening. Although Wal-Mart has been doing well, and cited tax legislation for helping its bottom line, Sams Clubs same-store sales, excluding fuel, came in slightly below expectations in August.
Kyle Arnold contributed. pbrinkmann@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5660; Twitter is @PaulBrinkmann http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/orlandosentinel/~3/NxMDAEmTcMs/os-bz-sams-club-closing-201801 11-story.html