Walmart says it is closing an underperforming West Covina supercenter on March 29.
Employees at the 2753 E. Eastland Center Drive store, including pharmacy personnel, were notified of the closure on Monday, Feb. 26, the company said.
“This decision was not made lightly and was reached only after a careful and thoughtful review process,” the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer said. “We have nearly 5,000 stores across the U.S. and unfortunately some do not meet our financial expectations.”
Walmart closed 24 underperforming stores across 14 states and Washington, D.C. in 2023, including two in Georgia, two in Oregon and eight in Illinois.
“These stores lose tens of millions of dollars a year, and their annual losses nearly doubled in just the last five years,” Walmart said in a press release addressing the closures.
The company closed two more locations on Feb. 9 of this year — a Walmart Neighborhood Market in San Diego, and a Walmart in El Cajon.
All 237 workers at the 120,000-square-foot West Covina location are eligible for transfer to other Walmart locations and will be paid through May 31, the company said. Those who choose not to transfer will receive severance pay.
Pharmacy staff will work with customers to transfer prescriptions to other nearby Walmart locations, the company said.
“We will still employ thousands of associates at 16 stores in the Covina area, including at a supercenter that is less than 4 miles from this location,” Walmart said. “We have invested in our associates, and we want to keep them in the Walmart family.”
City officials could not be reached to comment on who might move into the Walmart space once it becomes vacant.
Walmart spokeswoman Alicia Anger said the company is grateful for the customers who have frequented the West Covina store.
“We look forward to continuing to serve them at any of 16 other locations across the area, on walmart.com and through delivery to their home or business,” Anger said in a statement.
Walmart operates another supercenter in Covina with additional stores in La Habra, Duarte, Baldwin Park and Rosemead, among other locations.
The company said no additional closures are planned for the region.
The West Covina store opened in 2012, moving into a space previously occupied by a Mervyn’s department store. Mervyn’s closed three years earlier when the company went out of business.
When news of the store’s opening was announced in August 2012 many were happy to have a major retailer moving into Eastland Center. But others feared it would squash competition — a retail trend referred to then as “the Walmart effect.”
Mike Touhey, the city’s mayor at the time, welcomed the store and the jobs it would bring.
“The job growth is good because we lost a similar amount of jobs when Mervyn’s closed,” Touhey said.
At that time, the store was expected to employ 150 workers and generate about $500,000 a year in sales tax revenue for the city.
Walmart operates 309 Walmart and Sam’s Clubs locations throughout California that employ more than 100,000 workers.
