The largest retailer in the world, Walmart, announced on Wednesday that it was shuttering two of its stores in San Diego County.
Despite sales topping more than $600 billion last year, according to the National Retail Foundation, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based big-box chain will not be renewing leases at the Walmarts on Fletcher Parkway in El Cajon and on Imperial Avenue in the Logan Heights neighborhood of San Diego.
Both stores will close on Feb. 9.
Walmart has nearly 5,000 stores throughout the United States; two less in San Diego will leave the county with two dozen others of various sizes, including at two other locations in El Cajon and five others in America's Finest City.
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The company said that, while its business overall is strong, the stores that are closing have not performed up to expectations.
Employees of the Walmarts that are closing will be eligible for employment at other stores Walmart owns, the company said in a news release.
“We are grateful to the customers who have given us the privilege of serving them at our San Diego and El Cajon stores," Walmart spokesman Brian K. Little said in an email sent out on Wednesday. "We look forward to continuing to serve them at any of our many locations across the area, on walmart.com and through delivery to their home or business.”
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The news will be a blow to shoppers at Parkway Plaza, which had already seemed to be struggling to attract business to the El Cajon mall. The other location, on Imperial Avenue, is not nearly so large, but the self-styled "neighborhood market," located in an area where there are few supermarkets, will likely be missed in the community regardless of its bottom line.
