2 Walmart stores in southeast Missouri to close Friday, October 21st 2016, 10:12 am CDT Saturday, October 22nd 2016, 8:58 am CDT Written by Alycia Dobrinick MISSOURI (KFVS) -
Walmart has announced that its stores in Piedmont and Caruthersville will be closing in early 2017. Additional Links Bootheel mayor, residents 'devastated' by closing of Walmart
According to a Walmart spokesperson, the company made the decision not to renew the lease for those locations.
Associates learned of the decision on Friday, October 21.
The company released a statement about the decision:
“After careful review of a number of factors, we have made the difficult decision to not renew the lease at our Caruthersville and Piedmont stores. We care deeply about our associates impacted by this decision and our priority is to take care of them. Our goal is to find them as many opportunities to continue to serve our customers as possible.”
Betsy Harden with Walmart said the company hopes to place employees at other locations.
If that is not possible, eligible employees will be offered severance packages.
Both stores are set to close on January 20, 2017.
According to Walmart, the Piedmont store employees 75 people and opened in 1987. The Caruthersville store has 85 employees and opened in 1977.
According to the Piedmont Chamber of Commerce, the next closest major shopping location is in Poplar Bluff or Fredericktown, both are about a 40-minute drive.
The Chamber said Piedmont currently has a Town & Country and Dollar General location in town. Both can be used for shopping.
The Chamber board and City of Piedmont will meet in the coming weeks to discuss what they will do next. They said it's still a big shock for the community.
Stores closest to Caruthersville include one in Dyersburg about 22 miles away and one in Kennett that's about 23 miles away.
The Caruthersville mayor said he plans to help employees find new jobs.
